Wherever You Are Visiting, Don’t Forget That Daily Pains Accrue Regardless
Vacations feel relaxing in theory — but they’re secretly endurance events. That’s why building active rest into them is essential.
I’ve been doing a lot of walking — so much walking that my ankles feel swollen and my hips are protesting in pain. Constantly standing from taking multiple subways and trains in one day just to get to a single destination. And all of this happening while I’m “on vacation.”
I’m very fortunate that my busted knees decided not to fold on themselves from all the walking, climbing, and navigating the sea of people that either flow or crash through everyone else’s way. All while I’m trying not to get separated from my family or get lost.
Despite the cold — previous days were around 19°C, which my sad American brain cannot convert to Fahrenheit on the fly — the usual twisted pain that creeps into my knees gave me a temporary reprieve.
That’s something people don’t talk about much when it comes to vacation.
You expect to leave home, go somewhere new, and do nothing but relax, right?
You’re going to hate yourself for how wrong that expectation is.
Why? Because your body is still active. It doesn’t know you’re on “vacation.” All it knows is:
- you’re walking through stores and crowded streets
- you’re running to catch trains and hoping they’re the right ones
- you’re carrying snacks, water, coats, and souvenirs in your backpack
- you’re navigating someone else’s itinerary
- you’re underfed, underhydrated, and running on overstimulation
Your pains don’t go away.
Vacation or no vacation.
In fact, your existing pain gets worse when you weren’t the one who built the itinerary. Forget about taking breaks. Forget about putting your feet up. Forget about sitting down for more than five minutes. You’re on borrowed time and someone else’s clock, and your body will make sure you know it.
Vacationing, am I right?
Introducing the Merciful Active Rest Days
Most of us pack our schedule like we’re trying to speedrun a country. But pain still accrues, and your body still keeps score. That’s where active rest days come in.
Active rest days are your off days from the gym — except you’re still moving, just less intensely. You’re not pushing your usual weights, you’re not chasing PRs, you’re not doing crazy calisthenics. You’re simply being a slower, softer version of your usual chaotic self.
Each morning while I was on vacation, I woke up as early as I could and, if space allowed, I took 10–30 minutes to myself to engage my body:
- Cat-cows
- Bird-dogs
- Walking lunges
- Shoulder, forearm, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle circles
- Cossack squats
- Regular squats
- Split practice
- Butterfly stretches
- Any stretching I could do with limited time and space
- And contrast showers — from hot, to proper cold (not cool), then back
After warming up and stretching (10–15 minutes), I did two sets of push-ups:
My baseline of 10 reps for the first set, and a smaller second set starting at 5 and slowly increasing each day.
I recorded everything in the Notes app on my phone, and I’ll transfer it to my workout book when I get home.
This technically counted toward my two-day training schedule, but realistically, I mostly managed stretching, mobility, and a little strengthening with my time constraints.
Did Any of This Help?
I want to be very clear: my rushed routine of warming up, doing push-ups, stretching, and taking contrast showers did help.
Until it didn’t.
Active rest is merciful — not magical. It doesn’t erase pain. It teaches you how to manage it when you don’t have your usual tools.
For me, those tools include:
- A foam roller
- A decent amount of floor space
- And, ultimately, TIME
On vacation, you don’t get any of that.
So instead of dragging myself through pain, I moved with intention — because that was all I could control.
You get creative enough to manage your pains. At least until you get back home and return to your normal pain-management rhythms.
Next Time I’ll Be Better Prepared
I underestimated what was going to happen on this trip, and I paid the price over four short (but painfully long) days.
Next time, if I want to keep my training and pain goals in mind, I’m bringing one set of exercise clothes and using the hotel gym or spa facilities. Especially if they’re open 24/7 and there’s a washer and dryer. Clean clothes are as important to your health as sleep, food, and training.
Doing this might mean deviating from someone else’s itinerary — but breaking yourself on vacation and arguing with your travel group is completely counterproductive.
For the Fellow Archivists Beaten Up by Vacationing Too
If anything here resonated with you, feel free to:
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- or quietly reflect on your own vacation-war stories
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whatimtryingoutnow@gmail.com
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