Travelling around is exciting and inspiring. New countries, architecture one has never seen before, getting oriented and trying all the strange food is just like being born into a new world again.

First you look around and have no clue who those people are. They share your place and communicate somehow with you, even only nonverbal. But who are they? What are their values? Their dreams and sorrows?

After a while it becomes familiar and you become more brave: Let’s test their food. Totally odd combinations like pineapple and chili or beef with cherries. The first bite is taken carefully. All taste buds are extremely excited and hopeful to get born into a new world of food. Maybe you are lucky, maybe… And without any prejudices one can fully enjoy this new world.

What happens next? We take in as many experiences, pictures, smells and flavors as possible just to make sure we don’t miss anything. The jigsaw has to be complete.

I am an advocacy for the theory that one needs to join a sports club or a gym while travelling to be able to suck in the surrounding.

If you workout while travelling you get your head free and start at a totally less stress level than before. “No, we are never stressed while travelling. Are you kidding?” Come on, be honest. We are stressed while travelling. It’s exhausting to orientate oneself all three days or weeks again from the scratch. I am always tensed while exploring a new city asking myself how to find the way back or where to go next. Definitely, there’s need for lowering my stress level.

Maybe you made the experience that children add a plus on your stress level. Just because they are children. They have to be demanding, asking 251 questions per day and fight with their sister. It’s like that. Otherwise, probably you gave them to much tranquilizer…

Gyms do often have child care. There were days in our life, when child care sounded like paradise! If that happens to you, you can kill two birds with one stone. Workout, lower your stress level, your children have fun and you can relax.

Some advanced gyms offer a broad variety on children courses as well. Our 4 year old was able to have tennis lessons on Mauritius, learn swimming and dancing – all in our gym. We had tennis lessons by ourselves. One of the top 5 players in Mauritius worked there as a tennis trainer. In other countries one wouldn’t be able to have such a high class and professional coach.

Not to forget the socializing. Who has time to go in the mornings to the gym? Normally house wives, expats or free minded, self-employed persons. Maybe worth to get in contact with them. They normally have all the insider tips.

Some people told me that they loved the new world of spices and food combinations so much, they put at least 5kg weight on. So imagine you travel for 6 months per year… 30kg more weight at the end? Not possible. We are rather balanced and fit.

Btw: every gym we joined had short term memberships. Some even daily passes.