It can be easy to be healthy while living in an affluent urban area where you are a stone's throw away from a juice bar and an equinox gym. One's surroundings have a huge influence on their lifestyle. Traveling to new places can put a dent in your routine, or maybe you think your current circumstances are inhibiting you from adopting a healthier lifestyle. You don't have to fall victim to your circumstances when it comes to living a healthy life. It is possible to develop habits that follow you wherever you go and wherever you are. Going on vacation or moving to a new place doesn't mean you have to give up on the healthy lifestyle you created or strive to have.
As a park ranger, I find myself constantly in a new location that differs greatly from the last. With these moves, so many elements change such as gyms, food sources, air quality, friends, etc. One can become thrown off track pretty easily, but I have found that through developing some consistent habits and practices, I have managed to maintain a healthy lifestyle which is important to me. Here I share with you some tips on maintaining both physical and mental health.
Become an actual squirrel and hoard your staple foods
Whether on the road or moving to a new place, you never know if your new place will have healthy food options. If I am on the road, I always hoard a large amount of my favorite protein bars. When moving to a new town, I bring my go-to protein powder, my protein bars, and all the supplements and powders I use. I can usually rely on stores having produce/canned goods, so the speciality items are what I usually bring. I always make sure to take a daily multivitamin too, because when my meals are starting from your normal routine, I want to cover all my basis regarding vitamins.
Learn to love to cook
There might be some folks who stop reading right here, but there is no denying that cooking most of your meals yourself can be healthier and save you a lot of money. You can cook for yourself wherever you go, which means you don't have to rely on a place having a healthy restaurant. Being vegan, unless I am on either coast or in a metropolitan area, I'm not guaranteed a place to go out to eat. Sure, I could go to a local joint and get a side of fries and a dry iceberg lettuce salad... But when I've tasted the wonders of vegan buffalo chicken pizzas, philly cheesesteaks, and hot churros with warm chocolate sauce - I don't feel like spending the money on food that doesn't taste amazing or give me any health benefits. Learning to love cooking is honestly so much fun because it makes you more independent and you get to create awesome dishes whenever and wherever you want for so much less money. I like knowing what goes into my food, and at restaurants you don't always get that knowledge.
Use the food-finder app Happy Cow or another one
Maybe you're sick of cooking and want to go out to eat. Happy Cow has changed my life. Wherever I am, I can open the app and it gives me a list of all the vegan/vegetarian/veggie options in my area. I have been in some pretty remote/random areas and found some awesome vegan options!
Diversify your exercises
Ever since the epidemic, home workouts have been majorly trending. I must admit that I enjoy working out in a gym more than my home, but sometimes when traveling or moving somewhere new, you may not have access to a gym. It is really beneficial to learn how to workout in any situation. You can get moving in any location! Running, although sometimes the bane of my existence, is a great exercise to learn to love because you can do it anywhere. My preferred cardio/workout is hiking if I'm not at a gym. Learning some calisthenic exercises using your bodyweight is a great option as well. There are many videos you can follow along to online. The key to keeping active while traveling is to think outside the box with your workouts. A workout could be a kayak trip around a pond, a morning hike, a lengthly walk around a city, or even doing yard work! Think of whatever way you can keep moving - It doesn't have to be in a gym!
Find a community of healthy folk
You might be surprised to find that most places have some type of health community, even if it is only a few people. It is a lot easier to live a healthy lifestyle when the people you surround yourself with are also striving to do so. The people you spend your time with heavily impact our mindset, regardless of how independent we think we are. Subtle energies that people give off can affect us without even realizing it. This is why it is important to try and surround yourself with people who have similar values. If you want to have a positive mindset and live a healthy life, curate your surroundings as best you can to mirror that. Sometimes you find yourself in toxic environments which is inevitable, but try to stick on your positive path. Dealing with toxicity in a community could be a whole different post!
Although it certainly makes it easier, you don't have to have a lot of money or be in the perfect environment to live a healthy lifestyle. Don't use your current situation as an excuse to not make your health a priority. You don't have to be perfect, but there are always ways you can improve yourself wherever you may be geographically, or more broadly in life. Many of us have the right to do what we want with our bodies. Many of us also do not have that right. Those of us who have this freedom, let's not waste this and destroy our true home which is our body. We have our body until the day we die, so let's try and pour as much love into our interior as we can so that we are able to love the exterior world to the best of our abilities. If none of this resonates... then just take away this: Move around and eat veggies, it's good for you.