Staying Healthy While Backpacking Solo: 7 Easy Rituals
Free simple exercises for a quick positivity boost while long-term travelling or solo backpacking.
Build your routine to stay healthy on the road and find what matters to you.
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Sometimes, our body speaks; it’s our duty to listen.
Small rituals can help boost our morale, motivation, energy, and mental health while travelling. With a healthy mind comes a happy body. They can then form one unit, and connect.
Ever noticed that motion is in the word emotion? Our emotions move through our body, affect our organs, skin, bones and muscles—negatively or positively depending on the emotion itself—and sometimes negative motions can get stuck somewhere: in our stomach, back, neck, throat...
If the mind is distressed, the body will feel it, and symptoms may appear. Insomnia, stomach pain, severe muscle aches, weakness and exhaustion are a few. If there’s no underlying medical condition, these symptoms usually don’t go away despite all the medication one may take. Symptoms may be very strong for some, while others may not feel much. Sometimes they appear quickly, for others, it might take years before they show up and suddenly violently burst inside.
Rituals can help us listen to and understand the signals our body expresses from time to time, and take the necessary steps to feel better. Rituals can support us when we’re suffering from burnout or depression, lack of self-love or motivation, or when we’re plagued with anxiety and fear. These are feelings solo travellers often face when travelling long-term, so it’s important we take a moment each month to tune in with our emotions.
The body is a powerful messenger, urging us to change course when we’re on the wrong life path. And for that, we should be incredibly grateful.
I’m sharing my favourite, most efficient rituals with you because I truly believe in their power. Use them:
Some rituals are available to download as free ready-to-fill cheat sheets.
Let’s start with the easiest of all: The Gratitude Ritual (with a twist) ︎︎︎
For a better reading experience, hit Scrolling Mode or just scroll down.
Small rituals can help boost our morale, motivation, energy, and mental health while travelling. With a healthy mind comes a happy body. They can then form one unit, and connect.
Ever noticed that motion is in the word emotion? Our emotions move through our body, affect our organs, skin, bones and muscles—negatively or positively depending on the emotion itself—and sometimes negative motions can get stuck somewhere: in our stomach, back, neck, throat...
If the mind is distressed, the body will feel it, and symptoms may appear. Insomnia, stomach pain, severe muscle aches, weakness and exhaustion are a few. If there’s no underlying medical condition, these symptoms usually don’t go away despite all the medication one may take. Symptoms may be very strong for some, while others may not feel much. Sometimes they appear quickly, for others, it might take years before they show up and suddenly violently burst inside.
Rituals can help us listen to and understand the signals our body expresses from time to time, and take the necessary steps to feel better. Rituals can support us when we’re suffering from burnout or depression, lack of self-love or motivation, or when we’re plagued with anxiety and fear. These are feelings solo travellers often face when travelling long-term, so it’s important we take a moment each month to tune in with our emotions.
The body is a powerful messenger, urging us to change course when we’re on the wrong life path. And for that, we should be incredibly grateful.
I’m sharing my favourite, most efficient rituals with you because I truly believe in their power. Use them:
- to prepare your return after a long solo backacking trip
- to stay healthy on the road while travelling long-term
- whenever you need a quick positivity boost
Some rituals are available to download as free ready-to-fill cheat sheets.
Let’s start with the easiest of all: The Gratitude Ritual (with a twist) ︎︎︎
For a better reading experience, hit Scrolling Mode or just scroll down.
The Gratitude Ritual
In the morning:
Say thank you for this day + three things you look forward to (it can be as simple as having a cup of coffee).
Right before going to sleep:
Think about five positive things that happened during your day and say thank you for this day. If it's too hard, you can start with three. Gradually, you'll find it easier to focus on the positive aspects of your days.
Personally, when I go through difficult times, it's sometimes really hard to find even one positive aspect in my day! But I try to think deep, and always end up finding that one positive moment that makes each day count.
Affirmative Self-Talk
How we talk to ourselves has a huge toll on how we feel - and how our body feels. Try to practice affirmative self-talk as much as you can, especially when you feel down or when you're going through tough times. It can be when you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning, or before a meeting with your colleagues. The more you say it out loud, the easier it becomes to believe in what you say.
Some examples:
"I love and accept myself as I am."
"My biggest success this week was..."
"5 good things in my life right now: ”
"I'm excited about..."
"I felt proud of myself when..."
"Damn, I look good"
Positive Visualization
This is a quick and efficient way to get into a positive mindset or motivate yourself to reach your goals.
Lay outside in the sun, or somewhere comfortable and private in your home or hostel if you’re travelling. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and start imagining your ideal future.
What does your home look like?
What is the view outside the window?
Who are you with?
What are you doing?
How are you feeling?
Dive in. Let go.
Self-Grounding Exercise
Ground yourself in the present moment to relieve stress and anxiety. Try to spend at least 2 minutes on the exercise, and if possible, outside or in nature:
1) Identify 5 things you can see (eyes)
2) Identify 4 things you can touch (hands)
3) Identify 3 things you can hear (ears)
4) Identify 2 things you can smell (nose)
5) Identify 1 thing you like about yourself (mind)
Now see if it made a difference.
This ritual is extremely efficient when you feel stressed - you can practice this exercise before an interview, a big presentation, or an important meeting for example. It helps you connect with your body and your surroundings, so you can clear your mind and focus on what matters.
Focus on your breath. Take your time.
Download and print your cheat sheet here.