Long haul flights, sleep deprivation and the pressures of work can make business travel stressful and exhausting.
It’s hard to keep your health goals on track when you’re jet lagged and possibly dealing with a major weather change, preparing for a critical presentation, and facing the temptation of indulgent client dinners.
These tips can help you clear your head, lower your heart rate, keep you focused, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Ditch driving
Skip the taxis and rental cars when possible and find a more active way to get to your meetings.
Not only is walking good for you, it’s often the best way to explore an unfamiliar city. New York, Vancouver, Paris, Buenos Aires, Boston and Miami (to name a few) are designed for pedestrian exploration.
Whether it’s the narrow cobblestone streets of Boston’s Beacon Hill, the secret staircases of Los Angeles or the Lake Champlain waterfront park in Burlington, Vt., seeing the best sights often requires being on foot.
If the office is far from the hotel, opt for public transit if possible. While in San Francisco, hop on a cable car for a thrilling ride up steep city streets. In Stockholm and Sydney, take a ferry boat and enjoy the destressing properties of the sea air.
Jump on a bike in one of the roughly 1,000 cities worldwide, from Paris to Portland, that offer bicycle-sharing systems. Rates vary depending on city but are generally low-cost and in some cases are free for the first 30 minutes.
Swap happy hour for a culture fix
Heading to the hotel steakhouse for drinks and appetizers isn’t good for your sense of adventure. The solution? Squeeze in a visit to a local museum.
Viewing art is a great way to decompress after a long day with your colleagues – and, yes, the museum probably has a restaurant. Here are some of the many museums that offer drinking and dining options in addition to quality culture:
- The American Sector, National WWII Museum, New Orleans
- Taste, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
- Café Modern, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
- Café NOMA, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
- Terzo Piano, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
- Laurel Kitchen/Art Bar, Puerto Rico Museum of Art, San Juan
- The Modern, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- Untitled, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York City
- Ray’s and Stark Bar, LACMA, Los Angeles
- New American Café, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Provenance, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
Want a chance to expand your network and learn some local history while you dine? Consider signing up for a unique non-restaurant dining experience like Eatwith, which offers outside-the-box culinary adventures, or Feastly, whose chefs offer extraordinary dinners in exclusive private locations.
Get off the treadmill
Even if your hotel offers a gym, you’re not going to see much besides the standard machines and barbells.
If the weather permits, why not head outdoors for a jog, pick-up game of tennis or basketball or a visit to a local park or riverside path. Here are some of the best city parks for outdoor recreation:
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco
- Forest Park, Portland, Ore.
- Balboa Park, San Diego
- Discovery Park, Seattle, WA
- Charles River Esplanade, Boston
- Zilker Park, Austin, TX
- Hudson River Park, New York City
