If you’re on a diet, or following a specific eating regime, travel can make it hard to follow your plans to the letter. Rich cuisine or tempting delicacies are one thing. But if you’re vegetarian, vegan, gluten free or have other dietary restrictions, it can be hard to make sure you eat right when travelling.

Thankfully these days, the world is a little easier to navigate for those following diets. From translation apps to the global awareness of different diets, you’re less likely to end up accidentally breaking your diet while travelling.

If you’re planning to travel long term, our tips to help you stick to your diet could help.

Things to consider when matching your diet with long-term travel

There are many ways and plenty of information about how to eat healthy while traveling. Whether you are “addicted” to exploring new places, or you are spending a lot of time traveling because of work, it is useful to know them. Even if you are preparing to relocate to a distant location, there are tips you can follow to stay healthy. It’s easy to fall for attractive restaurants, room service, and even under the influence of local cuisine, so resisting the temptation requires an above-average amount of planning and preparation. It can be challenging, but it’s doable with some persistence and creativity. So, here are a couple of things to consider, depending on the situation you are in.

Eating healthy as a tourist

People enjoy visiting and exploring various exotic places. In most cases, it involves traveling for a prolonged period of time. While experiencing all of that can be fulfilling, your body needs a special diet in order to endure such an effort. To take care of it during a long-term trip, you have a few options:

• Self catering – If you’re staying in an Airbnb or hostel, you will likely have access to cooking facilities. Local ingredients can make cooking while travelling a great way to stick to your diet and try new things. Take a local cookery course for some useful extra food ideas and skills.
• Explore the local cuisine – While traveling around, you will encounter various cultures and habits. Every country will have it’s own fantastic food. If you research the food in advance, you can often find versions of local food to fit your dietary requirements.
• Eat healthy snacks – Nuts, dried fruit, pre-prepared sandwiches and fresh fruit can be used as healthy snacks as you are exploring.
• Practice smaller but more frequent meals – This is the best way to always have enough energy and keep your metabolism in the right condition.
• Research healthy restaurants where you are going – If you are exploring for a day, see if you can find a couple of restaurants in that same area before you set out. That way you’ll have something to aim for when you start to get hungry.
• Drink plenty of fluids – A very important way to prevent exhaustion while traveling.

Eating healthy when travelling for work

When traveling for business reasons, it can be tricky eating well and enjoying the local cuisine. Going between meetings, having rich and indulgent business lunches and airport meals isn’t always the healthiest way to eat.

• Avoid fast food chains. Yes, they’re reliable and a good way to avoid stomach upsets, but they are a fast track to an unhealthy lifestyle.
• Find recommended healthy restaurants before you arrive where you’re going. There will be websites, local recommendations and blogs to help you choose.
• Street food stands can be very useful for healthy and quick eating, but they may not always have the highest standards of hygiene. Take a look at the set up and if it looks like food has been standing for a while, or if the equipment looks poorly maintained or dirty, try somewhere else.
• Business lunches can be very indulgent and involve lots of rich food or alcohol. This is obviously fine on occasion, but if you’re regularly enjoying these occasions it can take it’s toll. Learn to use moderation and try and respectfully decline if you think you have had too much.
• Bring pre-prepared food for when you’re on the go. This will help you avoid eating low grade food while travelling.

What to do when moving long-distance

As a part of the long-distance move, throwing away perishable food a week before the trip is part of the process. When you try to get your loved ones ready for a big trip, planning out your meals in advance is a priority. Here is what you can do to prepare:

• Pack some food for the trip – a small cooler or insulated bag will do the job. This is the best way to have vegetables, fruit, and other healthy foods at hand’s reach.
• Plan the route – check your map if there are some restaurants on the way to your new home. Check their menus and see if they can provide appropriate food. If you are staying longer than a day, see if they have a fridge in the room.
• Don’t disrupt your routine – depending on your traveling arrangement, see if you will be able to make stops on the road. If so, prepare a healthy meal and stick to your eating schedule.

Don’t underestimate the power of rest

Another important thing that you need to keep in mind when traveling long-term is to rest properly. Whether it is excitement or obligations that won’t let us sleep, it’s important to find the right rhythm.

Finally, from time to time you should give yourself a break and treat yourself with some “forbidden” foods. It’s in our nature to bend rules and the same applies to our eating habits. Without it, we wouldn’t have such vibrant dishes sprinkled around the globe. So, while eating healthy food is good for the body, indulging every once in a while is good for the soul.