Man running through an airport with a basket of vegetables

Traveling can come with a lot of stress. Because of this stress, our health often takes a backseat during a trip. Even if we go into a trip with high hopes that we’ll be able to stick to our goals, something will inevitably go awry at some point. It’s best to go into these situations with good planning and preparation to set yourself up for success. Here are some tips we’ve put together from our experiences traveling while trying to stay active and keep up a high protein meal plan.

Stay hydrated

One thing that tends to fall by the wayside when traveling is water intake. Try to make an intentional effort to get plenty of water while you are en route and also throughout your stay. A bluetooth-based tracking bottle like a Hidrate (affiliate link) can help with this, but isnโ€™t necessary of course. You can also set up some alarms and timers on your phone to go off three or four times every day to remind you to chug a glass or two of water.

Get some sleep

Itโ€™s a good idea to try to stick to a sleep schedule as close to your daily routine as possible. Itโ€™s often a struggle to get good sleep in a new place, especially in the first few nights you are there. A lot of places also have unexpected lights, sounds, and other stimuli that you arenโ€™t used to at home that can disrupt your sleep. Consider bringing a sleep eye mask to block light and use a noise maker app on your phone to play sleep sounds. This will help drown out any strange sounds at your accommodation. You can also bring your own pillow, although this option is a lot more workable when you are driving instead of flying.

Eating en route

While you are actually traveling between home and your destination, things can get pretty dicey for food since you generally have limited options when you finally get hungry. Our favorite on-the-go high protein snack is dry roasted edamame (affiliate link). It comes in small bags that are easy to tuck into your pocket or bag, and it has 20g of protein for 200 calories. We also like Catalina Crunch (affiliate link), a cereal type snack with 11g of protein per 110 calories, and you can eat it right out of the bag.

If youโ€™re driving, especially if you are vegan, you may be relying on gas stations to be able to grab healthy options on the go. Most gas stations have a section of protein bars and cookies. Lenny & Larry protein cookies are at pretty much every store and they are vegan too! They are a good source of protein on the road, even if the calories are a bit high. Other good options if your protein is already in good shape are nuts and fruit. Most gas stations will have some fresh fruit somewhere near the register.

Taco Bell is also a great option for healthier options and protein, even as a vegan or vegetarian. Almost anything at Taco Bell can be ordered โ€œfresco styleโ€ which removes the cheese and sour cream and replaces it with vegan pico de gallo. The fresco style bean burritos are vegan and a pretty decent source of protein for a fast food option.

Plan ahead for local food options

A great way to get a head start on setting yourself up for success while traveling is to do some reconnaissance on the local food options at your destination. You can use a variety of options for this, such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Yelp, and Google Maps. Vegans and vegetarians can get a little extra help here by using the awesome app HappyCow.

Once you have the lay of the land, you can plan ahead and determine where the healthy options are, where the outstanding not-so-healthy ones you may want to indulge in are, and which nights you might want to check out which options. This will help you maintain some of the structure you left behind at home, and itโ€™s always good to feel like you have a plan.

Grocery run

You can avoid having to pack a lot of food and healthy snacks if you plan to hit a local grocery store as soon as you get in town. This will allow you to save money and calories by limiting how many times youโ€™ll have to resort to restaurants that donโ€™t have anything special to offer.

Try not to buy so much that you end up having to decide to take food back home or throw it away, but get just enough to give you options that will keep you from making bad food-related decisions.

Book an AirBNB

A great option for traveling is to book an AirBNB instead of a hotel. This is mainly because itโ€™s easy to find an AirBNB that has a full kitchen with a stove and refrigerator/freezer. Combine this with your grocery run, and it can be like you never even left home. If you donโ€™t know if you will have access to a blender it may help to bring a small smoothie blender like a Magic Bullet or NutriBullet

Here are some options we like to make that are easy:

High Protein Blueberry Smoothie Bowl

High Protein BBQ Tofu

Bonus points if you can snag an AirBNB in an area that has walkable sidewalks right outside so you can start the day with some physical activity without too much hassle.

Bring protein powder

One thing that I would recommend packing and taking with you on your trip is some protein powder. You could also pick this up on your grocery run, but a jug is probably going to last longer than your trip so youโ€™ll have to pack it with you to take it back home anyway. You may as well just bring your favorite from home.

This will give you an easy option to get some guaranteed protein into your day with a shake, and maybe even a protein smoothie if you pick up some fruit and veggies at the grocery. On top of the protein itself, this option also helps keep your hunger down so youโ€™re less likely to find junk to munch on.

Planet Fitness

Even if Planet Fitness isnโ€™t something you normally use at home, or it doesnโ€™t have all the equipment you would need for your normal workouts, I would highly recommend grabbing a PF Black membership before traveling. You could just keep it for the month of the trip, or you could keep it year-round if you travel enough to justify it. The Black membership is $25 a month and it lets you use any Planet Fitness gym worldwide. Everywhere I have ever been, there has been a Planet Fitness within about 15 minutes of where I was staying. It is a great option for travel workouts, or even just going in and getting some steps or cardio.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these tips will help make your trip something that you can enjoy without having to stress too much about hitting your goals. Remember though, even if things do go to hell in a hand basket for a few days while you are out of town, you don’t need to let it affect your goals in the long-term. Just get back to your normal routine when you get back home, and everything will work out fine.

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