I found online a very informative article about the best beaches in the Dominican republic which gave me an idea to write the following post. If you are visiting the second largest Caribbean country, then the below tips might be helpful for you. We all know
Everyone’s honeymoon should be an idyllic fairy-tale holidays. We all would agree on that one, right? But frankly, how many of you are worried about eating too many different cakes on your wedding day (women, please be honest with yourselves) and then too many strawberries
Maybe you remember my older post which I published 2 months ago on my other blog where I talked about things to do on Mauritius. Mauritius is one of the beach destinations highest on my bucket list and I cannot wait to get there one
Many people ask me how I stay safe when traveling. It applies to my personal safety as well to my health safety. Well, as a health freak and also a Fitness Health Coach I know pretty well what too do in order not to risk
These days I started planning some of my trips in 2015 and I hope to revisit Thailand in October not just to go there to a travel blogger conference TBEX to meet up with fellow bloggers and potential business partners, but also because each time
When I stayed at the highest situated High Tatras hotel Sliezsky dom, we hiked as much as we could with my dad. The nature of the High Tatras, the highest mountain range in my home country Slovakia reaching 2,665 m a.s.l., offers beautiful views of
I stayed a week at the Samasati Nature Retreat close to Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica. Disconnected from the online world, connected to the nature, animals, myself and yoga. I took a few yoga classes with Max and then also one with Stephanie. Their style
Laura Genutis is a 30-something living in Pittsburgh, PA. who travels often for both business and pleasure. On her website Eclectic Travel Girl she shares photos and stories from her adventures. Aside from travel and photography, she enjoys the outdoors, yoga, biking and reading all of the Internet.
I find it incredibly challenging to stay fit while traveling. In addition to leisure trips and vacations, I travel 30-50% of the year for business. Between long days sitting in meetings, big group dinners and of course drinks and happy hour, it’s nearly impossible to make time for exercise. Especially since I’m not a morning person, I only have the short window between the work day and dinner with clients to try and squeeze in a workout at the hotel gym, a workout in my room or a run outside. It’s a challenge but it’s definitely worth it!
I have heard amazing things about these diets but have never followed any of them. However, as part of my Year Without challenge I’m going to be giving up meat for the month of April. It will be interesting to me to see how it goes, although I typically don’t eat much red meat in general.
I love to do yoga, run or rent a bike to explore when I’m traveling. I also try to walk as much as possible when exploring a new city. In addition to those, anytime I go on a business trip I try to add on a day for an adventurous local activity. I’ve been diving in the Florida Keys climbed Camelback Mountain in Arizona, went surfing in San Diego, and went biking through the Grand Tetons all while I was in these locations on business trips. I always recommend trying a local sport or activity when visiting a new location. It provides an opportunity to something new and unique to the area, and for me it provides something to look forward to on an otherwise strictly business trip
I’ve gotten into meditation through my yoga practice. With my hectic schedule and sometimes stressful travel days, my yoga and meditation practice have helped me to stay in a calm and happy frame of mind. It’s an amazing way to manage stress and stay sane, and it helps me cope with difficult things in life. I hope to expand my meditation practice in the future and meditate daily.
1. If you’re in an inactive office job like me, you have to make time to do something active every single day.
2. Listen to your body while traveling. You’ll begin to feel sluggish if you’re overdoing in with too much unhealthy food or drinking, and not enough exercise.
3. Don’t give up your routine just because you are traveling. Establish a diet and exercise regime that you can use while on the road and you’ll feel so much better because of it!
Christian Eilers is a twenty-something who started the Dauntless Jaunter Travel Site three years ago; originally, it was a travel blog simply for him to document his travels, but since then it has evolved into more of an all-encompassing travel site, with destination guides, reviews, news, and educational material.
It depends on where I go; for instance, if I travel to the Caribbean, the warm air and proximity to green-colored sea seem to invigorate me and give me energy, so I want to hike all day outside and see the sites. When I go to Warsaw in February, when it is -30 C, I want to take a taxi just to cross the street. That’s a challenge enough, I’d say, since the cold makes me not want to be so active, but then it is compounded when the foods I crave when it is cold are heavier, fattier foods.
I have many friends that do, but I need some kind of meat/fish almost daily 🙂
Hmm.. not so many sports of the organized variety. Like I mentioned before, I get my exercise from walking until my shoes have holes in them.
I’m not such a spiritual person, and I wish I could meditate, but your mental state is definitely most important when staying fit, especially when abroad. When you are in a foreign city, you might tend to justify letting go of your diet or exercise regime. “I’m on vacation,” you may say, “I’ll work out and go back to my diet when I get home.” This is dangerous thinking, because we all know how hard it is to get back into the daily life routine once the trip is over.
1. Use everything at your disposal; use your imagination to locate a pull-up bar on a tree limb or curling a gallon of milk at the supermarket for a few sets.
2. Be overly conscious of what you eat while abroad; not only are you probably going to relax your normal diet rules, but you also may not be sure of the ingredients and how heavy they are on your body.
3. Sleep well. It’s often not associated with fitness, but good sleep sets the pace for the following day. You may already start off at a disadvantage if you are experiencing jet lag. A good night’s sleep allows you to feel more energy the next day, helping you to stay active; metabolism is also not affected when you get your normal sleep, therefore helping to burn all those extra calories you might consume while on your trip.
Colin Wright is an author, entrepreneur, and full-time traveler who moves to a new country every four months based on the votes of his readers. He blogs at Exile Lifestyle and tweets a lot.
When I was in Prague a few weeks ago, I took my visit from a completely different perspective. This time it was all about the best places for both healthy food and natural cosmetics. I did my research before I started wondering around the city to really be sure I would give you the best tips.
Here are my tips about how to stay fit in Prague:
Natural cosmetics – I am against all the chemicals in my life and getting 100% natural cosmetics is the key for me. In Prague, I found this super great cosmetic shop Biooo at Namesti Republiky in Kotva shopping mall, where I got 2 things I needed the most – a natural shampoo and a face mask. Check out my full funny review of the Eliah Sahil shampoo and face mask here with photos and videos.
Biooo shop
Eliah Sahil shampoos in Biooo
Raw food restaurant – I highly recommend Secret of Raw restaurant just 5 minutes walking from the main train station. It was my first raw restaurant ever and after fighting with the first days of becoming raw in Slovakia, this visit gave me hope to move forward. The raw meals all tasted way better than those I used to eat cooked. It only proved that raw food is not only super healthy but can be delicious as well.
Secret of Raw in Prague
our huge raw vegan meal
enjoying
Fresh juices – Nude fresh & juicy bar is located in Palladium shopping mall in the food court on the top floor. It’s just a small stall next to the restaurants but a great place to get freshly squeezed juices. You can even choose your favorite ingredients. Fresh coconut water is also available here but I really hope they get a proper knife to cut the coconut as I ordered 2 and the vendors could not cut it so I couldn’t get inside to eat the pulp.
a fresh juice in Nude fresh bar
drinking fresh coconut water
Bio shop – when I was walking to do the photo shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine, just next to it on Victora Huga street I found Bio Smichov shop. I was really surprised by their huge range of different healthy snacks and ingredients. Obviously, even there they offer 100% healthy and less healthier options so if you know a lot about these things like me, just always read the labels before purchasing something. For your biggest surprise (or not), what I miss probably the most now on my raw vegan diet is the chocolate, so I bought a bunch of chocolate sticks and chocolate bars, all raw with nuts and seeds and ate them all on holidays in Portoroz in Slovenia a few days after.
in Bio Smichov
Fresh fruit and vegetables – when walking around Prague, I ran into a number of small stalls with fresh fruit and vegetables. For example one, where I bought my raw lunch – blue berries and raspberries, was just a minute walking from Bio Smichov.
fresh fruit on the streets of Prague
All these places are easy to reach by foot and that’s all you need to be fit in Prague. Walking is the key to both burn the calories and find the hidden gems where other tourists don’t go.
Check out my video when I tried to stay fit in Prague:
In May 2012 when visiting Costa Rica and Panama, I realized that probably the easiest sports to do while traveling around the world is yoga. I first practiced yoga on Bocas del Toro islands in Bocas Yoga studio with beautiful yoga teacher Laura.
Ever since I’ve had periods of time when I practiced yoga every day but unfortunately also weeks that passed without any yoga. It took me time but finally I am sure that practicing yoga is one of the best things to do on the road.
I don’t carry a yoga mat when traveling but you can easily do it without it, trust me. I got used to practice on the ground, on the grass or even in my hotel rooms on the floor or carpets. It is not that tough at all.
Sometimes, I even take a few minutes to just do a yoga position or two, or relax my mind doing meditation whenever possible, especially in the nature, gardens or even my hotel balconies.
When visiting Costa Brava in March 2013, we took a boat trip to Cap de Creus and pulled over at Cala Guilolla beach. I found a pretty amazing old boat there and practiced some basic yoga positions on top of it when my travel buddies were getting ready for lunch.
* Thanks to Richard from Charming Villas for taking these photos of me 🙂
A few days after every morning I froze my ass off doing some yoga positions at the balcony of Hotel Terraza in Roses, Spain.
Back in May 2013, early morning when it was not too hot, I enjoyed the views from my balcony at Marina Fiesta hotel in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
Oh, and after kayaking I took a second for a tree pose on Balandra beach close to La Paz in Mexico too. Look at the beauty beach!
On top of my favorite pyramids ever – Teotihuacan, one of the many archaeological sites in Mexico I visited – I practiced some yoga for a bit too. The photos were taken by my tour guide on top of the Pyramid of the Moon overlooking the Pyramid of the Sun.
Then, in June, when I expected warm weather in Canada, it was pretty cold and rained a lot. I even had to use my fireplace at L’Auberge des Falaises in Charlevoix, tuck myself up in bed and drink warm tea. That was obviously after the morning yoga at the balcony.
I know my head is missing on the photo, sorry. I still have it so no worries 😀
Spending a few days exploring the multicultural Montreal in Canada, I also took a few hours to practice SUP yoga on the river with KSF. It was my first SUP experience and also SUP yoga in general, so took me a while to stand up and learn something, especially when kind of scared of falling into the cold river with my sinus infection. And, it was raining. But Josie, our instructor from O’Yoga was amazingly patient so in the end we all enjoyed our time.
When visiting Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia in summer 2013, we took a canoeing trip along the Danube and when stopped to take photos of the Devin castle, I tried yoga … tried in the river. By the way, check out more sexy photos from the Danube 🙂
With a bunch of Slovak friends we took a road trip to Portoroz in Slovenia and stayed at Majda apartments for 5 days. There, before breakfast, I stretched my bones at the balcony too.
With my friend Lukas practicing early morning yoga in the cold weather in Slovenska Ves, Slovakia.
Waiting for 2 hours at the train station in Krivan, a small village in Slovakia, I decided to strech a little bit when there was no one.
And last but not least, meditation in my home town Snina, Slovakia.
Do you practice yoga around the world on your trips too?
The other day when I was invited to Prague for my interview for the Czech version of Cosmopolitan magazine, I also walked all around the city all day checking out the best places for raw vegans like me. As I believe that one of the most difficult natural things to find is a hair shampoo, I decided to get one in Biooo shop and make a review of it.
Biooo shop is a small eco drugstore with natural cosmetics located in the shopping mall Kotva, at Namesti Republiky (Republic Square) in the historic centre of Prague. It’s right on the left side once you enter.
shopping mall Kotva in Prague
natural cosmetics in Biooo in Prague
organic soaps in Biooo
I was really surprised by the client service me, together with the other clients, got there. The girls working there were all young and smiling and seemed to know very well about the different cosmetic brands sold in the shop. And honestly, they should be experts as you cannot walk around the shop, they have to help you out from the cash desk depending on your needs.
In the end I got 100% natural shampoo from Eliah Sahil made of plants only. It’s powder, not liquid, so the easiest shampoo to travel with – no spilling around your baggage, it doesn’t weigh much (only 100 grams) and you can even pack it as carry-on.
Eliah Sahil cosmetics from Biooo.cz
I tried the shampoo 4 times already within 2 weeks to see some difference as using it just once might not show anything. Afterwards, the hair looks healthy with volume.
As a face mask and healing mud freak, in Biooo I also got a natural face mask from the same company. Eliah Sahil face mask is made of bio plant extracts, algae and fullers Earth – no chemicals, no perfumes, no conservants, no alcohol, no animal testing. The mask is full of E, A, D, B vitamins (even B12), proteins, minerals, omega-6 and omega-9 etc. As well as the shampoo, the mask is also based on ayurvedic ideas.
This is how you end up when applying the face mask 🙂
with Eliah Sahil face mask on
Check out my video review of both the shampoo and face mask:
If you are in Czech republic or Slovakia, you can even buy it online (v Ceskej a Slovenskej republike si mozete tuto bio kozmetiku kupit priamo na predajni Biooo alebo v eshope/cez email/telefonat.) The Eliah Sahil natural shampoo for volume and the Eliah Sahil face mask via eshop here. Check out other kinds of cosmetics they sell at Biooo.cz.
San Francisco is a paradise city for many. You might know already that for me it’s the second favorite city in the world after Barcelona and I fell in love with San Francisco for many different reasons. And it’s also great to stay fit when traveling.
1. walking the hills – avoid public transportation as much as you can and just walk. All the hills will be tough at first but it will make you stronger. I spent 10 days in San Fran and the first 2 days I was literally dying each time I had to go up a hill but then it turned quickly and it became part of my daily routine.
2. fresh juices – if you are in the city center, visit Westfield, the only shopping mall in the heart of San Francisco. On the first floor there is Jamba juice where you can get fresh juices, smoothies and even some salads, fresh breakfast items and other meals. No corn syrup, 0g trans fat and no preservatives. I recommend getting something without dairy and not baked, and ask them to add vitamins/protein etc. I was there a few times during my stay to get juices for both snacks or dinner. The many restaurants on the ground floor of Westfield also offer fresh salads.
fresh salad in a Westfield restaurant
3. fresh fruit and vegetables – there’s a little grocery store at every corner in the San Francisco city center which I truly loved so you have no excuses to just stop by and get an apple, a carrot or a pack of berries. China Town is also a good neighborhood for shopping fresh or Ferry Building for organic fruit and veggies.
fresh vegetables in China town
4. jogging/cycling/skating/walking – so many people do these activities along the piers. I know sometimes the wind or the fog are not very pleasant in SF but on a nice sunny day it is fun!
cycling the San Francisco piers
5. a salad in any restaurant – there’s many restaurants in San Francisco, such as The Plant Cafe Organic restaurant where you can get raw vegetable salads. Easy, fresh and healthy!
a salad in The Plant Cafe organic restaurant
If you are looking for other things to do in San Francisco, check it out here.
I spent a week on board beautifully decorated MSC Preziosa flagship cruising around the Mediterranean sea and I had to experience myself if one of the preconceived notions of getting fat on board a cruise is true.
But it is not that difficult not to gain weight on a cruise. It all depends on you.
1. ditch lifts, take steps instead – each time I was on my own I climbed the steps, both up and down. Trust me, going up to the 15th deck from the 5th where the reception was, or 6th or 7th where most of the restaurants and entertainment were was a bit challenging, especially after a huge meal. The first day I walked around 1,000 steps and then I stopped counting them but it is the easiest exercise you can do when cruising. I am so happy I listened to my friend Dan who gave me this tip when we spoke about what to expect on board a cruise.
Who wouldn’t like to take these beautiful staircase instead of a boring lift??
take the steps, no lift policy on board a cruise
2. there is a gym, personal trainer or yoga classes in the MSC Aurea spa so no excuses, you can hit them any time during the day, or even more times if you feel like (or if your belly fat shows you should).
3. jogging or fast walking around the decks – I saw a bunch of people jogging around the swimming pools. The ship is 333 m long and 38 m wide so there is enough space for you to go around a few times.
4. healthy food – as a person who LOVES eating and really eat at least 5 times per day, if not 6, healthy food was what I was most excited about. Already every night I was looking forward to the following breakfast where I could choose from cereals, many different berries, fresh fruit, green tea, fresh orange juice, coconut and nuts. Then in my cabin in the Yacht club I had a basket of fresh fruit every day and I did eat my favorite fruit. Buffet lunch offered many healthy options, you could make your own salad with olive oil and then get fresh fruit too (even some exotic varieties).
a lot of fruit on board MSC Preziosa
Alright, pizzas, pasta, sandwiches, soups and all the other delicious meals were there too but it was possible to get a bit of those and still make the salad the biggest part of your lunch. And dinners … well, 3 to 5 course dinners were on the plan every single night for us, it didn’t change the fact you could opt for fish, soup, salad or something light and healthy.
To make sure passengers can get the perfect combination of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, the MSC’s nutritionists created ”Deliciously Healthy” daily meals in the main restaurants of the Golden Lobster and l’Arabesque.
fresh berries for breakfast on board MSC Preziosa
5. excursions – you will walk during many excursions once you disembark in the port. I’ll take that as an extra walking. Sometimes it is possible to do sport activities in the ports. Get on one of them if necessary.
6. swimming – a number of pools allows you to spend hours swimming, even if the weather is not warm enough for a dip, there is always at least one indoor pool on board a cruise where you can spend calories gained from the Italian pasta you had for lunch or a yummy dessert from last night dinner.
Swimming on board a cruise possible any time
MSC Preziosa and other cruises do offer hours of finger-licking cuisine but if you want to stay fit, there is always a way. It all depends on your strong will and how much you really want to stay fit on board a cruise! Remember, no lift policy!
I can hear you saying you don’t have time to think of how to burn calories when you are busy traveling. But let me tell you, it is so possible to burn more calories just adding a few things into your schedule.
1. chew a gum – yes, you will hear it many times. Chewing gum is supposed to burn calories. Every little helps, right? 🙂
2. drink green/white tea – green and white tea belong to those drinks that help your body to burn calories without even doing anything else. Yes, polyphenols in them do wonders. Plus they fight all the free radicals. What else could you ask for when just getting your daily water into body?
green tea to burn calories easily
3. do things standing – you would maybe not believe it but if you stand, you get rid of some calories, not that much when sitting though. So all the things I can do while standing and not sitting down, I will.
4. eat breakfast – I mentioned it already. Not skipping breakfast boosts your metabolism which is exactly what you want. And we all love food, so what’s the reason not to include breakfast into your 5 daily meals?
5. spice up your life – spicy food can also be an easy way to less weight. If you like Mexican or Thai cuisine, go ahead. This is not something I personally do though as spicy food or even a bit spicy salsa makes me sick. Not the biggest fan of it.
6. squeeze your belly – this is the easiest exercise to do whenever you want to … on the train, bus, plane, waiting in a Q etc. Just squeeze your abs for a few seconds when breathing out and relax them with a breathe in. Repeat for a few minutes even a couple of times a day.
7. move your legs/feet when sitting – it will definitely burn at least some calories in case you have to be in a sitting position for too long. Anything is better than nothing.
8. eat the peel – your stomach will use more energy to process the vegetable/fruit peel. Obviously, talking about peel you can eat, I mean apple or carrot one, not the orange peel.
9. add cinnamon to your food – it is said that cinnamon is one of the spices that helps burn calories. I use it with every oatmeal and sometimes with apples too.
Are you doing any of these steps to burn calories easily? Would you add any more? Don’t make them your secrets 🙂
