“Vacation, not to escape life, but to make sure life doesn’t escape you”

Winter is prime time for vacationing. When thinking of vacation, most people imagine laying on the beach, relaxing by the pool, not having a care in the world. While these are delightful thoughts, vacation for me is a little different.

HikingCamelback

Hiking Heisman

I pack resistance bands, seek out hotels with great gyms or near running paths, even voluntarily choose to go places with 20-degree weather and snow so I can ride my board all day long. I love to stay active when I travel, whether it’s work or vacation – and I recently realized I’m not the only one.

Last week, I spent a few days in Arizona with some of my best girlfriends. I initially planned to go for a run at least a couple of the days and was excited to find out most of the other girls wanted to do the same. As we started planning additional activities, hiking, yoga, and walking around at the zoo all made the list.

Yay, other people who wanted to combine activity with lazy time!

I even arranged for us to do a private functional fitness workout with an old friend of mine, Dale Haines of @762fitness, someone I met during my HARD CHARGE days and who I’ve stayed in touch with, thanks to mutual love of – you guessed it – working out.

FunctionalFitness

Sweat & swell with my favorite girls

From the more intense activities like his class and hiking Camelback mountain to the less-intense goat yoga, walking around the zoo, and easy morning running, I had the best vacation, spending quality time with some of my besties, getting my sweat and swell on, and, of course, plenty of good food and wine.

Best of all, our “up for anything” attitude meant we experienced things we never would have otherwise. Hike and climb up a mountain? Do box jumps, balance on a moving stabilizer, then do an arm workout with giant springs? Do yoga with goats? Check, check, and, I can’t believe I did that, but check!

Some may think vacation is all about doing nothing and relaxing. I think vacation is doing what you love…and relaxing. Since I became a mom, working out is much more of a luxury than it used to be, as is relaxing, so I enjoyed the opportunity to do both. It’s the kind of balance that keeps me well.

Do you like to stay active on vacations? Or do you prefer a whole lotta nothing on vacation? Maybe you’re someone who tries to find a happy medium between the two? Let me know by sharing a comment or tweet me, @LindsayIRL.

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