Staying fit/On the Road
Are we asking the wrong question?
I’m writing this from the hostel lobby in Guadalajara, trying not to fall asleep to The Master. Joaquin Phoenix is muttering about control. Philip Seymour Hoffman is monologuing. And I’m somewhere between exhaustion and epiphany.
This trip so far – a month across Mexico – is the kind of experience 19-year-old me would have loved. Back then, I did nine countries in four weeks with no phone data, no plan, and no idea what I wanted. Imagine what it was like this time to have goals and a list:
See Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca
Stretch out in CDMX and (incidentally) record with Peds
Learn Spanish, not just Duolingo-tap it
Eat every regional dish I could find
Swim with whale sharks in La Paz
Sadly, for the biggest fish in the sea, I came too soon. But the rest? Done and then some!
And somewhere in the midst of mezcal, late nights, early mornings, language lessons and zero consistent sleep, something odd happened: I felt good. Mentally sharp. Physically… decent. Not shredded yet, but not soft either. Just able to do what I needed to do. Carry my bags. Show up for my clients. Lift, walk, move, think. And I think other people have noticed this sense of ease too.
In fact, a few mates of mine around Mexico but not quite on my path messaged me this week to ask exactly how I’m “staying fit” on the road – or, in their words, not getting “podgy”.
I had answers. I even made a list:
Prioritise water, fruit and electrolytes
Eat protein-rich breakfasts and stop when full
Walk everywhere
Sleep when you can
Choose tortas over tacos (you’ll thank me)
Popcorn and protein powder when you’re struggling to eat or, ahem, keep things moving
Just because you’re travelling doesn’t mean you can’t say no – to nights out, to walking tours, to drinks, to food
But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that my tips might only scratch the surface of a question that perhaps goes deeper…
Because I’ve been fit and I’ve been fat.
I’ve been skinny, skinny-fat, lean, muscly-fat, lean-muscly.
I’ve had gym phases where I felt strong but hated how I looked.
I’ve been lean and miserable and fat and miserable.
I’ve carried 10kg more and 4kg less than I am right now and loved both states of being.
I’ve been every version of “fit” you can think of. And none of them felt like something I could “stay”.
Because fitness, like everything, is a moving target.
And when I don’t move, that’s when I notice it.
You know the feeling:
Irritable. Restless. Tired but wired.
Snacky, snappy, off-kilter.
You stop reaching out. You stop letting people in.
You’re not depressed. Just… unaligned. Like a shoulder socket that’s nearly, but not quite, in place.
And yet: I could get myself from Guadalajara to San Diego via LA, on four hours of sleep and two lungs full of double-click menthol nightclub smoke. I haven’t driven on the “right” side of the road since 2020 – but I did it. Because sometimes fitness isn’t reps or steps or body fat percentage. It’s the ability to cope, show up, and just get through.
This isn’t “CEO grindset” or #noexcuses. This is lived-in resilience. Adrenaline. A willingness to keep going when your back’s against it. And it counts.
As Peds said to me in Mexico City:
“…especially when you’re travelling, you’ve got to do it tired, otherwise the bus is leaving without you.”
That’s fitness too.
I don’t think you want to “stay” anything
The want to travel is a sign that you want [to] change.
Whether it’s to break up routine, or to learn, or to run away, you wouldn’t book the flight if you weren’t drawn to a sense of something different or new.
And the beauty of travelling is that you know (at some point), just as you arrived, you’ll have to leave.
So, my advice to you reading this, as it is to my mates, as it is to my clients, finally typing a conclusion from my hostel bed overlooking the pier of Ocean Beach, is to not worry about being who or as you were before you booked the trip.
Be the person who is on the trip, who tries everything because they might never get the chance to again, who has an upset stomach because they ate too much, or didn’t wash their hands, or had to learn about drilled ice, who walks everywhere because they want to drink it all in, who sleeps more because they’re moving more, who trains hard if not harder because they have a different energy, who doesn’t train at all because it just doesn’t feel necessary right now with all the steps and fresh fruit and sunlight.
I’m really glad I booked the ticket. I’m really glad I feel this way. I couldn’t be glad about any of this, if I’d prioritised staying the same.
Podcast
This week I catch-up with a fellow traveller in Peds, an entrepreneur, begrudging Millwall fan and Latin America lover in every way. The full episode will be out audio-only on Apple Podcasts later today and in surround-sound technicolour on Spotify or YouTube from Thursday morning, and you can catch a snippet of it right here:
And that’s it from me! I’ve just seen the forecast for the wedding, and maybe I do in fact need the blazer to go with those trousers…pray for me ;)
Much love, and I’ll see yas in the next one
J x
P.S. If you’ve ever worried about losing progress while travelling, forward this to a mate who’s feeling the same. Or reply and tell me what “fitness” looks like for you right now. I always read them.