Hello my friends! MAK here! Today we are going to be talking about fitness on the road! As people who love to be active it’s important to us to get regular exercise as we travel. However, it can be hard to make that happen depending on the season and climate we’re in. We’ve found that the best way to get consistent exercise is actually to have a few different options at any given time. 

We’ll take a look at all the different ways we get exercise out on the road, as well as the gear that makes those activities possible! 

Above is the video that we made that details the “what” and this blog post will dive deeper into the “how”. We recommend giving that video a watch, then continuing into this post post to learn about the gear!

Though this blog post was made in partnership with REI, the opinions are entirely our own.

Please note: The links provided in this blog post are affiliate links. If you end up purchasing some of these pieces of gear we get a very small portion of the sales. Thank you as always for supporting us and our life on the road, it gives us the opportunity to share so extensively with you all!

We’re going to start close to the truck and share what we do in and around camp for exercise.

Jump Roping

 Jump roping is a great source of cardio that can be done no matter where you are and requires VERY little gear. Plus, it takes up hardly any space in our camper!

Abs, Strength Training,yoga, pilates, bootcamp, & stretching

All of these things can easily be done from camp and require the same gear to make them possible. Here’s what we carry:

Ground Mat

Ours is by Slow Tide, this gives you a little extra room around your mat if you are in a dusty place. It also doubles as a picnic or beach blanket!

Travel Yoga Mat

Ours is by Yogo, it packs down incredibly small! However, this mat is incredibly thin, so I recommend the Manduka for more padding.

Foam Roller

There is nothing better than using a foam roller after a workout or long drive! It just helps get everything feeling nice and limber again!

Yoga Block

I love this block so much! I’ve had it for years. The curved sides are nice for yin & restorative yoga when using under your back!

If I was to suggest any gear to you, these would be at the top of the list because they’re so versatile. For as long as we’ve been traveling, we’ve been carrying these things. We only carry one of each and take turns if we’re both needing to use the same things. The only thing that I didn’t mention is weights and that’s because we don’t actually carry any with us. Instead we use rocks, canned goods or a filled water bottle!

I’ve never been an avid runner, but since getting on the road we’ve started to run because it’s another form of exercise that can be done from anywhere! It’s also a great way to get out and explore the area!

Trail Runners

If you have been on our website before you’re likely familiar with our deep love for the La Sportiva Bushidos! No one makes better trail runners in our opinion!

Garmin Instinct Solar Watch

This watch is great for tracking my runs to help me know when to turn around. It keeps track of distance, path of travel, and elevation gain and loss on a run. It also can track hikes, swims, bike rides, YOU NAME IT!

Patagonia Blackhole Hip Pack

This hip pack is perfect for carrying my phone for music or a guided run class. I also put my keys in it and anything else I could want to be with me on a run!

Hiking and backpacking are some of our favorite things to do on the road and they’re one of the main reasons we travel full time! Hiking is great because we nearly always have access to some form of trail system and it helps you get to know the area in a more intimate way.

There are a lot of gear crossovers between hiking and backpacking which makes carrying the gear needed for both quite easy if you’re living in a small space!

Gear for Day Hikes:

Day Pack

Owen loves his Osprey Daylite pack. It’s comfortable and has enough room for a hydration bladder, food, and an extra jacket!

Water Bladder

These are great because you can carry a bunch of water with you when you hike! It’s also nice to have the straw because you don’t have to stop hiking whenever you need a sip of water!

Water Bottle

If a bladder isn’t your style or you want to bring a hydration tablet we recommend a separate water bottle! We love the Hydro Flask Trail series. They’re lighter than their standard bottles and keep water cold for a long time!

Hydration Tablets

It’s really important to stay hydrated when you’re hiking or backpacking. We try to drink 50% standard water & 50% water with an electrolyte of some form in it. Nuun are our favorites because they come in an easy to carry tablet!

As mentioned earlier we use our La Sportiva trail runners instead of hiking boots because they’re lighter, dry faster, and in our experience had better grip in tough terrain! 

Gear for Backpacking

Backpacking Pack

The Hyperlite 2400 is our bag of choice. Owen and I are both convinced it’s the best backpack we’ve ever owned. It’s water resistant without a rain fly, comfortable, super light weight, and as versatile as they come! We also use this pack for climbing gear!

Trekking Poles

I used to not be a fan, but they make all the difference in the world when you’re carrying a weighted pack. We’ve been rocking the Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Z Trekking Poles for the last few years. They are also great for added traction on steep uphills.

Light Weight Hydration

When backpacking we switch to using Platypus Soft Bottles because they’re light weight and fit nicely into the water bottle pockets. The reason we use these over a hydration bladder with a straw is that when the bladder runs out you have to unpack your entire bag to get to a bladder. We also like to designate one for fresh water and a second one for electrolyte water.

Garmin inReach

Safety is paramount when backpacking. We take our Garmin inReach Mini with us on almost every hike. It can track your location, send out messages even without service, get location specific weather reports, and send out emergency SOS signals. When we did the John Muir Trail we had our inReach tracking us and it recorded onto an online map so my parents could check in on us!

In the last year I’ve started carrying my backpacking pack instead of a day pack and have really loved it. I’ve been trying to find a way to carry one less backpack with us!

If backpacking is something of interest to you, I’d recommend our John Muir Trail gear guide videos because they have EVERYTHING you need to know about the gear!

Climbing! We love it so very much. It was what we did with most of our free time before hitting the road. So it’s always a treat to get some climbing in. However, climbing can sometimes be challenging to get the right weather and conditions for. Anytime we find ourselves camped in proximity to boulders, we try to climb anything we can get our hands on.

Gear for Bouldering (Outdoor & Gym)

Crash Pad

This is used to give you a comfortable place to land when bouldering outdoors. We use the Black Diamond Circuit Crash Pad. It can also serve as a couch! Just lean one side of it against the tire and you have a comfortable place to lounge ‘round camp! If you have a little more room than we do, we recommend the Organic Simple pad. It’s our all time fave!

Climbing Shoes

I can’t recommend a specific climbing shoe to you since each brand seems to fit differently. Every shoe is made for a specific type of climbing and everyone’s foot is different! If you can, go in somewhere and try on every shoe you can get your hands on. That’s the best way to develop an opinion and know what will work best for you! But for those who are curious Owen and I historically use shoes from 5.10.

Chalk Bags & Chalk

You will need chalk no matter what type of climbing you do! If you are sport climbing (or any type of rope climbing) we recommend a smaller chalk bag with a waist belt. That way you can take your chalk onto the wall with you. For that style bag we recommend a chalk ball with a little added loose chalk. If you’re bouldering we LOVE the chalk bucket because the chalk is easier to access than in the small bag. For this style of bag, we recommend all loose chalk.

Gear for Sport Climbing

We also carry gear for sport climbing but we only sport climb in established areas to be sure the rock has fixed gear throughout the climbs. If you’re unfamiliar with this gear and what it’s used for but are interested in learning, we recommend heading to your nearest climbing gym. There you can often take a class to learn the ins & outs of rope climbing and safety!

Owen and I are ex-swimmers (and actually met on the swim team in college) so the water will always feel like home to us! We love to get in some laps any time we can. Swimming is a great workout, admission to public pools is often affordable, and they always have showers in the locker room! Owen and I both carry a training suit, cap, and goggles. Thankfully these things take up virtually no space in the truck!

Of all the ways we get exercise on the road, surfing is BY FAR my favorite. Sadly, it’s also the one that we get to do the least. We love being on the coast, but often coastal areas are largely made up of private land, making it difficult for us to spend long periods of time near surfable waves. For that reason we like to take surf specific trips to Mexico, the coast of Canada, quieter beach areas, and more recently Alaska of all places! 

Gear for Surfing

Wetsuit

Surfboard… duh ;)

Leash

Wax

Hood, Gloves, & Booties (if the water is really cold)

Locking Roof Rack - which is essential for us

Thank you for stopping by our blog. It means the world to us that you come here to learn something new. Hopefully this makes getting regular exercise while you’re on the road a little easier. 

I’d also like to take a moment to thank REI! They’ve helped make it possible to live and work from the road for all these years, and that’s enabled us to pass along a little of our experience on to you all!

Now that we’re getting to the end of the year we’re looking for some more topics to cover next year. If you have anything you’d like us to share or are interested in learning about, toss it in the comments! Cause at the end of the day it’s important to us that we are sharing things that are useful to you! ❤️

Love, MAK