Here’s an uncomfortable truth: fewer than half of American adults get enough aerobic exercise. The CDC puts the number at 46.9% — meaning more than half the country falls short of even the minimum recommendations for aerobic activity. Muscle-strengthening? Only about 1 in 4 adults hit that mark. The hardest part isn’t starting. It’s not stopping.
Miss one session, and the dominoes start falling. One day becomes a week. A week becomes a month. Suddenly you’re starting over — again. Experienced marathon runner Thomas Datwyler understands how easily travel can disrupt a fitness routine.
Datwyler is a tax and accounting professional out of Hudson, Wisconsin, but his off-hours life looks pretty different from spreadsheets and quarterly filings. He’s a marathon runner — and not just any kind. He’s completed all six of the world’s largest marathons at least once, including races in New York, London, Tokyo, and Berlin. Travel is practically built into his calendar. So when Thomas Datwyler talks about staying fit on the road, it’s worth listening.
One useful starting point is to adjust expectations rather than abandon the routine altogether — shrink them.
Most people build fitness habits around realistic targets, not heroic ones. Small, consistent effort beats grand plans that collapse under their own weight. For travelers, that might mean trading a full training run for a 25-minute walk. That’s not failure; that’s adaptation. Somewhere between 22 and 30 minutes of daily walking keeps the body loose, the habit intact, and the momentum alive until you’re back home.
But here’s where it gets smarter: stack your steps wherever you can. Walk back from dinner instead of grabbing a car. Take the stairs. Wander the neighborhood before breakfast. These aren’t workouts exactly — but they add up fast.
The real problem? Most travelers assume the area around their hotel is a dead zone for exercise. Parking lots, highways, concrete. What they don’t realize is that a scenic trail or riverside path might be half a mile away. Download a local running map before you leave. Print one if you have to. A quick search before your flight can turn a generic business trip into something with actual movement built into it.
And when the hotel room is all you’ve got — get creative.
Squats, push-ups, sit-ups. No equipment. No excuses. Twenty minutes of circuit work in a small space can genuinely get your heart pounding. It won’t replace a long run, but it bridges the gap.
The catch? Exercise is only part of the equation.
Sleep and nutrition pull equal weight, especially when a workout isn’t in the cards. Eating well while traveling takes planning — pack snacks, research dining options ahead of time, don’t leave it to airport food courts and vending machines. Sleep is trickier, particularly across time zones. One simple fix that actually works: switch every clock and device to local time the moment you land, and shift your meals to match. Adjusting meals to local time can help reinforce the new schedule.
The bigger picture here isn’t complicated. Travel disrupts routines — that’s unavoidable. But disruption doesn’t have to mean derailment. With a bit of planning and some willingness to adapt, staying active on the road is entirely doable.
Thomas Datwyler has completed the world’s six largest marathons. His marathon experience reinforces the value of consistency, especially when routines are disrupted
