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Hi and welcome to the channel.
Today I'll be sharing 10 simple habits
that are going to help you make the most of your next vacation.
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We all know that regular exercise, getting enough sleep
and eating well are important things to integrate into our daily lives
but, when it comes to travel and there's so much to see
and so much to do,
sometimes it's not realistic to just say
"I'm going to get eight hours of sleep tonight."
These 10 things on their own are easy to implement with little money
and little time involved.
I was skeptical at first but then became addicted
after realizing how much of an impact small daily changes can have.
The first habit that will change your travel experience
is to organize daily.
Something I hate about traveling is the thought of living out of a suitcase.
I feel stressed and overwhelmed when I can't find things
and end up constantly digging through a disorganized bag
full of wrinkled clothing and dirty socks.
A habit that changed my travel experience is to take 10 minutes
whenever I arrive at a new location
to organize my luggage.
Ten minutes is a short enough period of time that it feels manageable,
so you can be confident you'll actually do it,
but it's also a long enough period of time
when you know you'll be getting something done.
Knowing that I was going to be giving myself that time later
to get everything back in place
completely eased that nagging feeling that my whole life is a mess
and everything is so disorganized.
A daily habit that made a huge impact on how much I enjoy each travel experience
is taking the time the night before to set everything up for the next day.
This includes doing anything that can be done in advance,
like counting out change for the bus fare,
printing admission tickets, filling water bottles...
It also means making a list of all the things that can't be done in advance
that I'll need to do in the next morning.
In addition to writing things down, I like to put out visual cues,
for example, I'll put sunscreen right in front of me in the bathroom
so I know that in the morning, when I see it,
I'm going to remember to put it on.
This works in two ways because, by putting it out the night before,
I'm also easing my mind knowing that I'm going to remember,
so I don't stay up all night thinking
"Shut! What if I forget the sunscreen tomorrow?"
Which brings me right in to the next daily habit:
Wear sunscreen, especially on your face.
It's important to get out in the Sun any day that you can,
but you really need to protect yourself,
even if you are someone that doesn't burn
or if the Sun is clouded over;
you're still at risk to damaging your health, your appearance,
and your self-confidence.
If any of these things matter to you, which they really should,
definitely make sunscreen a daily habit.
My fourth travel habit is to do something good for someone else
every single day.
This not only helps make someone else's day
but it's also going to make you feel good about yourself.
My favorite way to do this
is by packing little things with me before I leave Canada,
like maple candy or a moose stuffy,
and then leaving it with my landlord's children,
or a server at my favorite lunch spot,
or really anyone that has made an impact on me
that I meet in the destination country.
Here are a few other ways that you can integrate
doing something good for someone else every day that you travel:
Write a postcard to someone back home,
take a photo of something meaningful or that would represent an inside joke
and then send it over Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger
to one of your friends,
leave a note in your room for the hotel staff,
wake up 10 minutes early
and bring your travel partner some takeaway coffee in bed,
give someone a genuine and meaningful compliment.
Small, inexpensive gestures just like these
can make a huge impact on how you make other people feel
and how you feel about yourself.
This next habit may seem a little too "woowoo" for some of you;
it certainly was for me when I first considered trying it.
Much to my surprise, it's completely changed my life
and it's something that I do every day, whether I'm traveling
or I'm at home...
Practice daily gratitude.
Now, hear me out,
it's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day
of everything that goes wrong
and be replaying the negative over and over again in your head.
When you travel, a lot goes wrong,
but also a lot goes right.
Take a few moments before bed or when you wake up in the morning
to focus on the positive, could be anything,
from your husband sleeping next to you
to the Vietnamese coffee you get to head downstairs
and enjoy with breakfast.
I found this to be the most impactful
when I say what I'm grateful for,
either out loud or if I physically write them down in a book.
If I don't have a journal with me, I'll jot these notes on my phone.
A shift in your perspective
can help you let go of the expectation you have for your trip
and instead focus on what you can appreciate in the reality.
Similar to when my things are in a mess, I get stressed when I feel like I'm a mess.
I get overwhelmed when I know I only have three minutes
for a cold shower but haven't clipped my nails,
shaved or washed my hair in three days;
the overwhelm ends up stopping me from doing any of it.
The unpleasant truth
is that you're not always going to feel your best while you're traveling,
new food, jet lag, long days,
loneliness...
all of this can affect the way that you feel
and make it hard to enjoy otherwise exciting and fun experiences.
Committing to just one self-care or maintenance tasks every single day
adds up to help you feel and look your best overall.
If you get a lot of satisfaction from just checking off a to-do list -
I love it -
then definitely have a look in the description below
because I've created a free downloadable for you
with all of these habits that you can check off as you do them each day.
This next one is unexpected,
it's likely going to blow your mind
so, if you're ready,
drink more water.
I know, I know, it's kind of basic but hear me out.
Travel is going to dehydrate you.
Flying and eating out at restaurants often means excess salts,
MSG, and usually alcohol.
Drinking water is going to help your body and your brain feel its best
while also helping you fight off sickness,
flushing toxins from your body,
keeping your skin clear and preventing weight gain.
Getting enough water might be the simple but often overlooked solution
to many of your travel concerns.
The trouble with getting enough water while you're traveling
is that water is not always accessible,
considering that most places in the world you can't actually drink from the tap.
In order to combat this
and make sure your habit of getting enough water is going to stick,
here are a few actions that you can take:
Carry an empty water bottle that you can refill at fountains
or even in the bottle fillers found around Thailand.
I also love using a Platypus because it's collapsible
and isn't going to take up space or have any weight once it's empty.
If you're staying somewhere longer than one night,
buy one of the five liter jugs
and never ever go to bed knowing that you just ran out of water.
As for making sure that you're drinking quality water
that's not going to make you sick,
be cautious when ordering water at restaurants
and make sure it's bottled.
Your body's not used to the tap water
so, even if the locals drink it, you may not agree.
Never ever drink water with ice.
The ice may not have been made with bottled water
and also may have been placed in your glass by hand.
On the same note, never drink water with fruit,
like lemon or lime in it.
The skin has been touched by many hands, along with a lot of other things,
and, if it comes on the rim of your glass,
I advise you to think twice before dropping it into your drink.
Make sure that, whenever you buy a new bottle of water,
that the lid is actually sealed.
I've been scammed several times where I'll buy water
and the lid won't make the crack when I go to open it,
which means that it was an empty bottle
that was refilled somewhere and then sold to me.
Habit number eight is to commit to getting your heart rate up
every single day;
I don't need to convince you about the benefits of working out
for both your brain and your body.
I also recently heard a quote that was
"You're only one workout away from a good mood."
I feel like that is just so true.
Keeping up with an exercise routine while on your vacation
is the key to not coming back home feeling like you need another vacation.
Yes, relax, indulge,
but remember that one week on the beach
is not worth losing months of progress to your goals
or giving up a good exercise habit that you worked so hard to build.
You'll also enjoy your trip so much more
if you don't spend the whole time feeling bloated, hungover and lazy.
Make a promise to yourself that, regardless of how you feel,
you will set aside 10 minutes every single day to move your body.
This could be doing three push-ups, taking a one-minute break,
and then doing three more,
whatever it is.
The key is to get consistent,
setting aside the time and doing something,
anything that will get your heart rate up every single day.
Research a few no-equipment body weight exercises,
like squats, push-ups and sit-ups.
You can also look at traveling with resistance bands.
I do this because they're easy to pack
and they make a workout much more challenging.
These moves can be done anywhere, like the beach, a field or a park.
This might be silly, but I personally feel pretty self conscious
if I'm just working out outside somewhere in a public space,
unless I'm in Vietnam, because everyone else is doing it too. (chuckles)
If you're silly about this like I am,
then try to see if where you're staying has a gym
or just do what I do and work out in your room.
The physical act of traveling is extremely taxing on your body,
from long flights to lugging around heavy gear.
Travel also tends to be pretty stressful,
meaning you can be all tensed up without even realizing it.
A great daily habit to get into while traveling
is to stretch every single day,
it's going to get your blood flowing and also help prevent any injuries,
which is a really good thing, because it would suck if you...
I don't know... pulled something in your leg
and then you couldn't do all the things that you wanted to do
and that you may have already paid for.
And, when it comes to fitting stretching into your day,
you don't necessarily have to set aside a specific time for it.
Stretch while waiting for the bus,
stretch while the seatbelt sign on the plane is off,
stretch while standing in line at the customs gate,
or waiting for your checked baggage.
The key is to do some research in advance
and arm yourself with a few go-to stretches that you know you can do
whenever you have that extra pocket of time.
Stretching feels so good,
and trust me, once you get into the habit of actually doing it,
you're going to be hooked.
Last but not least,
whether you're traveling alone or with friends,
keeping connection with the people that you care about most
is going to have a huge impact on your mood.
Make a nightly habit to send some sort of acknowledgement
to those you love most and let them know that you're okay
and that you're thinking of them.
My vision of this is to text my mother
or my father every night before I go to sleep,
and it doesn't have to be a big story, it can just be taking two seconds
to send a little emoji and a heart to let them know that I'm okay.
I then get to go to sleep feeling really good
that I know my family's not going to be worrying about me,
and it's also this little reminder that there's someone -
even though they're not with me at the moment -
that cares about me and is going to appreciate the update.
I have a checklist down below in the description
that you can print off with all of these daily habits
for you to keep track of.
It also includes some handy links
to things like stretches for the airplane and hotel room workouts.
I may have also thrown in a few cute little motivational quotes
just because...
I feel like we can all use a few more positive bags in your daily life.
If you enjoyed this video,
please don't forget to give it a thumbs up below,
and I also hope you'll subscribe
to join me back here for another video next Tuesday.
Thank you so much for being here and I hope you have an awesome week.
See you soon. Bye!