Staying Healthy Abroad II: Hostels with Fitness Centers

Following up the previous article, this list is meant to help anyone looking for a European hostel accommodation that provides its own gym or access to local centers as a means to keep its guests healthy and happy.

Barcelona Urbany Hostel (Barcelona, Spain)

Globetrotter Inns (Edinburgh, Scotland & London, England UK)

Ulisse Deluxe Hostel (Sorrento, Italy)

Mad Hostel (Madrid, Spain)

HelloBCN Hostel (Barcelona, Spain)

Bath YMCA Hostel (Bath, England, UK)

Staying Healthy Abroad

We all know that any avid health nut plans to work out and eat their vegetables while traveling, even searching for hostels and hotels with fitness centers or parks with beautiful trails. Yet in all the excitement a new city or a new country brings, I get so wrapped up in immersing myself in the culture and in the sights that my daily run, maintaining a balanced diet, and a healthy sleep schedule tend to get thrown on the backburner.

Let's take a look at my routine now. Currently I am a collegiate distance runner with an obligation to my coaches and my team to prioritize my run most days of the week. Three 45 minute runs, two track workouts, and one long run, about 40 miles a week plus two weights sessions. I also pay close attention to the nutritional value of my diet. Obviously once graduation rolls around and I pick up for Spain's Basque Country, this routine is going to change.

Rather than a culture shock, I anticipate experiencing a "lifestyle shock" when I arrive in Spain and spend two months there. I am going to have to acclimate to a new city with a new schedule, and with all the things there are to do (work and play), I really will have to make an effort to time manage or be more flexible with how I maintain a workout routine and healthy lifestyle.

Planning for Rome last summer included excitement about the possibility of running laps in the Circus Maximus, an ancient chariot race track that is open to the public. I bookmarked it in my Frommer's "Rome Day By Day" book with the one hundred percent intention of making it there. I even Google-mapped Parisian running routes along the Seine and along the Mediterranean coast in Barcelona, truly planning on doing what I love someplace magical.

What happened? None of the above. I did not run or work out one single day of that trip. I suppose at that time, I was a short-term traveler trying to relish every minute I had to spare, in the back of mind believing that I could work out anywhere, anytime but I can't always sit below the Eiffel Tower or graze on tapas on the Barceloneta. And while this is true and that if you're away for a relatively short amount of time (I was traveling for two weeks), don't stress too much. However, this summer I will be away for two months and not including fitness in my summer will make for a grumpy, sick me.

So why should you listen to what I have to say since I have already admitted to international failure on the fitness front? Think about the big picture of your travels. You know that, at home, you feel best when you are active and eat right. Why should that change in another country? Keeping that in mind 75% of the time will allow you to keep up energy for those days that you do want to cram in a lot of sightseeing and don't have time for a workout.

That said, as difficult as it might be for Type-A personalities such as myself, don't beat yourself up when you end up sleeping in until noon and wind up not seeing or doing what you had planned for the day. Sleep is definitely most important for the busy traveler. It can make or break an attitude, cure a hangover, relieve stress, level off jet lag, and prevent illness.

For you young hostel guests planning on partying, a few simple rules to follow:

1. Don't, and I mean DON'T, go out every.single.night. I don't care if you've just arrived in Amsterdam from a long weekend living it up in Ibiza. Give your body a break and rest up. Lack of sleep could lead to illness which would definitely interfere with any further plans of enjoying the nightlife.

2. Especially if the hostel has a kitchen, venture to a nearby market and make a meal out of fresh local produce, cheese, and simple whole grains. Saves you money and calories.

3. Hydration, hydration, hydration. Long hours on a transatlantic flight or basking in the rays in the south of France can really do some damage. Refer to rule #1: Dehydration combined with excessive alcohol consumption will inevitably make you sick and hinder your plans!

Moments: Dealing With Loneliness as an Independent Traveler

If there is one particularly lonely moment in life that I will always remember, it was on a tarmac at the airport in Barcelona, sitting on a rickety plane awaiting takeoff. I was twenty-one, on my first European endeavor, one that I chose to go at independently. The flight was delayed an hour and I was left to write in my journal, listening to the group of tweens around me laughing and conversing in Catalan, almost envying their camaraderie. I was not alone in the most practical sense of the word, but I felt heartache for something or someone familiar.

Traveling alone is an amazing rollercoaster of emotion. In college, I don’t think I was your typical sorority girl thirsty for perpetual social interaction. Sure, I loved my friends, but I could also enjoy my Friday nights propped up in bed reading up on my next travel adventure. Despite my independent nature, I found myself desperate for a friendly face as I made my way around Western Europe. What was interesting was that these moments of loneliness were also associated with moments of change. Change is also something I sometimes have difficulty accepting. As a teenager, I was such a “planner” that my parents purchased for me Dr. Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese? so that I might do a little maturing in that area. Yet when I set foot in Paris one day that June to embark on my two-week journey, it’s like I became a different person. Suddenly, my days became all about change, all about flexibility, and all about making it alone.

I had been so happy to be in Europe at all, and proud to have survived a heat wave and first Metro experiences in Paris without the help of any guide or any study abroad organization, that I surprised myself that afternoon as I prepared to depart Barcelona by feeling the pangs of anxiety and yearning for something so simple as companionship. I had just formed what would be long lasting friendships with a few other travelers I met at Kabul Backpackers Hostel that week, and the inevitable departure of each one of us was the change that might have set off those feelings. I was alone once again, heading to Rome for the last leg of the trip, feeling uneasy and unexcited for the final few days. For several minutes, I considered changing plans and staying in Barcelona, a place that had grown familiar. But learning to uproot when it wasn’t always comfortable might have been a pure purpose of my travels.

Luckily, I chose the hostel in Rome well that included a common area with a bar and flat screen TV, perfect for World Cup watch parties. After settling in that evening and deciding to save any sightseeing for the morning, I meandered back to the bar to catch up on the match and attempt conversation with the other guests. Although the room was full and the wine was flowing, I found myself standing alone without a clue as to how to approach anyone. It was like the junior high cafeteria, everyone content in his or her clique and not necessarily open to embracing newcomers. Cue the complimentary Internet access. I felt socially inept and defeated as I slowly made my way through the crowded room to the computers to send a few emails and chat with friends on Facebook. I noticed two American boys around me, talking about their plans for the next day. I don’t know what it is about national pride or relief in meeting your “own kind” abroad, but I instantly felt comfortable to turn to them and say hello. Later, I met several girls that were part of their group and soon enough, we had made plans to visit the Vatican together.

Why was a moment of weakness/loneliness/change also one that I was able to seize? You might anticipate social situations during solo travel to be intimidating, but I would compare it to flight-or-fight response in human nature. Many people have told me that in scenarios of solitude, reaching out for the interaction you know you need feels impossible. However, I felt that navigating any sort of foreign public transportation was also impossible, but I was able to easily adjust when I needed to do so.

An easy answer to the question of dealing with loneliness abroad has always been “Stay at a hostel!” or “Strike up a conversation in line for that gelato!” yet not all personalities find it as easily done. How did I form friendships in Barcelona? Besides the fact that my hostel was known for parties, I was thrown into a room of other independent travelers. I suppose we just understood each other. However, if the situation does arise in a city in which you’re stuck doing everything alone, change your perspective. On that tarmac, I had to remind myself that this loneliness was temporary; that my trip was almost over and in a few days I would be back with my family and back in my comfort zone. A sense of isolation does not have to retain a negative connotation either when you’re lucky enough to be traveling at all. I visited the Roman Coliseum and ruins by myself, and yes, it was lonely and sweaty and quiet, but I was in Rome. Step back and appreciate the experience as something that helps you grow as an individual. Those experiences made up a life bridge from an “old me” (anxiety-prone and self-doubting) to a “new me” (flexible and confident).

Three months from now, I will be returning to Spain for a summer stint working in a hostel in San Sebastian, a beach town along the northern coast in the País Vasco (Basque Country). Again, this trip has been planned with only myself in mind. I fully expect frequent homesickness, seclusion, and apprehension but now, I know it’s normal and good to feel those things. I created these moments for myself because, just like a painful workout results in higher fitness, challenging myself mentally and emotionally results in a higher mental and emotional fitness, and a greater satisfaction in my maturity as a woman.