One of the quiet joys of travel is the way it liberates you from routine. No alarm clock, no commute, no meal prep. For a few glorious weeks, the world is your menu and every day is an adventure.

But that same liberation can make it surprisingly easy to slip into habits that leave you feeling sluggish, heavy, and less than your best. The all-you-can-eat hotel breakfast. The extra glass of wine at dinner because you’re on holiday. The long days on buses that have you barely moving before lunch.

Staying healthy while travelling doesn’t require iron willpower or giving up the pleasures of the journey. It just requires a few simple, practical habits — ones that will leave you feeling more energetic, more present, and genuinely better equipped to make the most of every day.

Here are five tips from our team that work anywhere in the world.

1. Stay Hydrated — and Make It Easy

Dehydration is one of the most common and most overlooked travel health issues. When you’re sightseeing in the heat, sitting on long coach journeys, or adjusting to a new climate, your body needs significantly more water than usual — and it’s easy to forget when you’re focused on what’s around you.

The practical solution is simple: bring a good reusable water bottle and make refilling it a habit. In countries where tap water isn’t safe to drink, ask your tour guide or hotel if they can provide a large shared water bottle rather than individual plastic ones — better for your wallet, better for the environment, and much more convenient.

Be mindful of sugary drinks. Local sodas and sweetened juices are everywhere and can be tempting, especially in the heat, but they add empty calories and don’t hydrate nearly as effectively as water. Save those for an occasional treat rather than a default.

A good rule of thumb: if you’re feeling tired or getting a headache on a long day of sightseeing, drink water before reaching for coffee or food. Dehydration is often the culprit.

2. Be Smart About Food — Without Missing Out

Food is one of the great joys of travel, and we’d never suggest you approach it with anxiety or restriction. Trying local cuisine — properly, adventurously, and enthusiastically — is one of the defining pleasures of any trip.

But there’s a difference between adventurous eating and careless eating. A few practical guidelines will keep you well without dampening the joy:

Choose busy local restaurants over tourist-focused ones — high turnover means fresher food and more reliable standards. Your tour guide or hotel staff will always know the best places.

Stick to bottled water in countries where tap water isn’t safe, and always check the seal on the cap before drinking. In many countries, restaurants will try to serve tap water to tourists — it’s fine to politely ask for bottled.

At the hotel breakfast, resist the default of processed white bread and jam every morning. Most hotel buffets also offer fruit, yoghurt, eggs, and wholegrain options — a better start to the day that will give you far more energy for the sightseeing ahead.

Fresh fruit from a local market is one of the best travel snacks in the world — cheap, delicious, culturally interesting, and far better for you than the chips and chocolate from the tour bus stop. If your hotel breakfast includes fruit, take some with you for the day — most hotels are happy for guests to do so.

Pack a small travel pharmacy — a course of Imodium, some oral rehydration sachets, and a basic pain reliever. An upset stomach is not uncommon when travelling to new culinary cultures and is usually easily managed. It doesn’t have to ruin your trip.

3. Keep Moving — Travel is Actually Great Exercise

One of the things people often don’t realise until they get home is how much they actually moved on holiday. Walking through a medina, climbing a fortress, exploring a market — travel is naturally active in a way that everyday life often isn’t.

Lean into it. A few practical ways to keep moving on tour:

Choose walking tours wherever possible — you see more, absorb more, and get your step count up without feeling like you’re exercising. Almost every destination Two’s a Crowd visits includes guided walking exploration as part of the itinerary.

Start your day with movement — even a short walk before breakfast, some simple stretches in your room, or a few laps of the hotel pool makes a meaningful difference to your energy levels for the day ahead.

Use the hotel gym if there is one — not for a gruelling workout, but for 20-30 minutes to keep your body moving on longer stays.

Try activities you wouldn’t normally do at home — a sunrise camel trek in the Sahara, a bicycle ride through Vietnamese rice paddies, a hike to a viewpoint in Sri Lanka. These aren’t just sightseeing opportunities — they’re genuinely wonderful ways to be active while having the time of your life.

The key is to avoid the trap of long sedentary stretches — when you’re sitting on a coach for a few hours, take the opportunity at each stop to walk around, stretch, and breathe some fresh air.

4. Prioritise Sleep — It Changes Everything

Sleep is the most underrated travel health factor of all. When you’re excited and stimulated by new environments, it can be tempting to stay up late every night and push through on limited rest. For a few days this is fine. Over two or three weeks it accumulates.

A few practical sleep tips for travellers:

Keep your sleep environment cool and dark — pack a travel eye mask and consider earplugs, particularly in busy cities.

Be sensible with alcohol close to bedtime — it helps you fall asleep but dramatically reduces sleep quality, leaving you more tired rather than less.

Give yourself one or two early nights per week — even on exciting tours, a night where you’re in bed by 9:30pm and genuinely rested makes a remarkable difference to your energy for the rest of the week.

Manage jet lag actively — get into the local time zone as quickly as possible on arrival, get natural light in the morning, and resist the temptation to nap for long periods during the day.

5. Be Thoughtful About Alcohol

This is perhaps the trickiest tip to give because the honest answer is different for everyone. Travel and a celebratory glass of wine, a cold beer after a hot day’s sightseeing, or a local spirit over dinner are perfectly compatible — and often one of the pleasures of experiencing a new culture.

But it’s worth being conscious of how easily daily drinking can creep into a travel routine. Wine at lunch, a cocktail before dinner, wine with dinner — the calories add up quickly, the sleep quality suffers, and the energy levels the next morning reflect it.

A few things that work well: alternate alcoholic drinks with water, particularly in hot climates where dehydration amplifies alcohol’s effects. Look for non-alcoholic alternatives that are local and interesting — fresh lime soda in India, fresh coconut water in Southeast Asia, fresh-pressed juices in Morocco. Make the sunset an activity rather than a default drinking session — a walk to a viewpoint, a boat ride, a stroll through the old town as the light changes are often more memorable than the bar.

None of this is about abstinence — it’s about being intentional, so that the pleasures of the trip are genuinely pleasurable rather than leaving you feeling flat.

Healthy Travel is Happy Travel

The common thread through all five of these tips is the same: small, sustainable habits that support your body without getting in the way of the adventure. You don’t have to choose between travelling well and staying well — they’re entirely compatible.

And when you’re travelling with Two’s a Crowd, a lot of the health-supporting structure is already built in. Included meals mean you’re not constantly scrambling for food. Expert local guides mean you’re always in safe, trusted hands. Built-in walking and activity means you’re moving without even thinking about it. And your own private room every night means the sleep is yours to protect.

👉 Browse our current solo travel tours →

By Alice Bastable, Melbourne-based dietitian, and Diane Squires, Tour Host with Two’s a Crowd.