Conference Travel

This past weekend I went on my first trip since returning to Canada last summer. After six months in storage, I dusted off my trusty suitcase and felt totally out of practice with the whole packing routine! I haven’t spent six months in one place without traveling for at least eight years!! Wow. It wasn’t a major holiday or anything of the sort, just a quick weekend away in Montreal, only 2 hours by train. My sister and I headed off together to check out the sights and sounds of the CanFitPro fitness conference as volunteers at the registration desk.

I’ve never attended a conference as a delegate before. Come to think of it, I wasn’t a delegate at this one either, but it’s a little bit closer than my past experiences. There are many similarities to attending whether your working or not. In my past life all of my expenses would be paid for by the company and I felt it my duty to attend as many sessions and learn as much as I could, as well as take my trade show duties seriously. I always felt it was so exhausting. Early morning lectures (6:30 AM at some), several hours at the trade show, sitting in on various sessions throughout the day, then evening symposia. I never found the time or energy to head down to the hotel gym. I found I ate terribly – I eat very consciously and diligently choose the healthiest possible foods. I always felt that traveling for work made staying healthy very difficult.

Well, it seems that while it’s a little bit easier to make healthy choices when you attend a conference on your own accord, it’s not all that different than working one. This past weekend I had very, very early morning starts: 6:00 and 7:30 AM respectively. Only two 3-hour shifts at the registration desk, but then I felt that since I’d paid to get myself there and for accommodation I wanted to attend and learn as much as I could. Cramming sessions into each time slot. Trying to find healthy places to eat (there wasn’t a single thing open for breakfast at 6 AM on Saturday – luckily I brought some Larabars). Find time for the hotel gym – forget about it! I was just lucky it was a fitness conference so the sessions were mostly workshops where you were actually working out. If we hadn’t had such an early morning ahead of us for Sunday I’m sure we would have gone out Saturday night, but we were totally wasted from the long day and after dinner we found our way back to our room and crashed hard.

My saving graces for the weekend were the facts that I’ve traveled enough to know to bring my own snacks. I had unsweetened soy milk for my morning breakfasts (and found a place to buy cereal, but I think next time I should bring my own), healthy snack bars that aren’t loaded down with the types of sugars and fats that I prefer not to ingest, nuts, rice chips, and some fruit. I wished I brought more fruit, but I was able to pick some up.

So my big lesson from the weekend is that traveling makes healthy living a challenge no matter what the situation. I’ve gotten really good at knowing what to bring along with me and how to communicate special dietary needs with hotel staff and the like, but it never ceases to amaze me at how much easier it would be the other way. It is getting a bit better, but overall our society is not set up to facilitate a healthy lifestyle. It’s quite sad really. I suppose the more of us who make different choices, the more those choices will be available because we will change demand.

On a lighter, and more positive note I learned heaps at the conference and my obliques and hamstrings seem to have taken the brunt of the punishment from the weekend workouts. I had fun and hope to save up in order to go next time as a registered delegate so as to fully enjoy all the sessions and perhaps find a little more down time in between.