I don't want to sound whiney but I am not a big fan of training while traveling. Obviously, I do it and will when I travel this weekend to be in Michigan with family for a week, but it becomes quite a chore. If I wasn't in the middle of a growth phase I would likely just take the week off.
The ACT of training while on vacation at home in Michigan -- being in a gym where I know a lot of people from as long ago as when I was a teen -- is fun. I also enjoy the old-school gym that I train at when I go back to Michigan, but everything that it entails is more of a stress than it is enjoyable.
I will likely have just as much luggage (if not more) to take that only involves training and my diet for the week I will be gone. I decided to drive because flying won't allow me to take the "things" that I need to take to stay on track 100%, treating the week of training exactly as I would here at home. Training clothes for a week, the entire contents of my gym bag, a cooler with all of my meals, all supplements including intras, pre and post workout supps, etc.. I even am taking Skipload foods so that I don't have to scramble to make do with what is available there vs. what I am used to eating here.
The other stressor is using equipment or machines that I am not used to using all of the time. Different machines will load differently and that means different weight loads, as well. Nothing can ruin a growth phase faster than an injury and that same injury can also ruin a nice, enjoyable vacation, obviously. Of course, there is the time commitment of a couple of hours a day of training that also takes away from the relatively limited amount of time that I get to spend with family during that week, as well (including the guilt of being a bit selfish wanting to stay on track and continue to progress).
I sometimes look back to when I was a teen when all I had to do was leave the gym drenched in sweat and felt like it was the best workout I had ever accomplished. There was no "perfection" and I didn't know there were so many details that I needed to be so precise with to maximize my results. As much as I still LOVE training as much as I did then, there are times where I wish I didn't know everything that I know today about what needs to be done. Of course, at the same time, if I didn't know what I know now, my progress and results wouldn't be as good as they are, either. It's a catch-22: training and dieting could be far less stressful and less of an obligation but at the same time I wouldn't be where I am today without the attention to detail.
Careful what you wish for.
