Fitness experts share easy micro-habits to help you feel good without sacrificing time with loved ones

The holiday season brings joy, family gatherings and plenty of tempting treats. But for many people, it also brings anxiety about maintaining healthy routines while traveling to visit loved ones. The good news is that experts say you don’t need to choose between enjoying the holidays and feeling good in your body.

Dana Santas, a mind-body coach for professional athletes, used to drive 35 minutes each way to reach a gym during holiday visits to her in-laws’ Wisconsin dairy farm. She and her husband were determined to stick to their daily exercise schedule, even if it meant spending over two hours away from family time.

That rigid approach, she now realizes, wasn’t the answer. Instead of forcing yourself to maintain your regular routine or abandoning healthy habits altogether, experts recommend a middle path that lets you celebrate while incorporating small wellness practices.

Why feeling good matters during celebrations

Maintaining some healthy behaviors during the holidays isn’t just about fitness goals. It’s about ensuring you actually enjoy your time with family and friends. Charlotte dietitian Natalie Mokari explains that skipping fiber and protein can affect digestion and energy levels, which may leave you feeling sluggish during celebrations.

However, overly restrictive diets can backfire. Being too strict about food choices often leads to overeating the very items you’ve labeled as off-limits. When people create rigid boundaries around food, they tend to crave those foods even more.

The guilt that comes from straying from health routines can also sabotage your efforts entirely. Many people adopt an all-or-nothing mentality, thinking that if they can’t maintain their full routine, they might as well abandon all healthy habits. This mindset robs you of both holiday enjoyment and the benefits of even small wellness practices.

Add vegetables without ditching tradition

Traveling during the holidays often means less control over meal options. You might find yourself eating at restaurants or enjoying dishes prepared by hosts. The solution isn’t to refuse family recipes or skip festive treats. Instead, focus on adding nutritious options alongside the foods you love.

When reviewing a restaurant menu, order what appeals to you. Then look for opportunities to add vegetables as sides or toppings. A side salad with your meal, lettuce and tomato on a sandwich, or beans with tacos can boost your nutrient intake without sacrificing enjoyment.

Apply the same pairing strategy to beverages. For every caffeinated or alcoholic drink, add a glass of water. On road trips, enjoy your favorite snacks but toss some fruit into the mix as well.

If you’re staying at someone’s home, offer to bring a vegetable side dish or salad. This gesture helps your hosts while ensuring you have nutritious options available. You can also pick up fresh produce at a local store to supplement meals.

The key is staying aware of your fullness levels and prioritizing the foods you’re most excited to eat. Don’t waste energy calculating the exact proportion of indulgent foods to healthier choices. A few holiday meals and desserts won’t derail your overall health.

Move your body without missing moments

Exercise during holiday gatherings doesn’t require gym sessions or structured workouts. Any movement that counteracts the stiffness from travel and prolonged sitting counts as a win.

Listen to your body’s intuitive signals. When you feel tight or uncomfortable, stand up and move in ways that feel good. Stretch tall, rotate your torso, or drop into a squat. These simple adjustments can prevent the aches and pains that come from sitting through long meals and conversations.

Transform sedentary activities into opportunities for movement. Stand during family games or long chats to change your posture. Suggest a group walk outside, even if it’s just 10 minutes in the cold air. Bundle up and turn the outing into quality time with loved ones.

You can also incorporate mobility exercises into downtime. Stretch or use a foam roller while watching movies with family. Pack a resistance band in your luggage for an easy workout option. Place it around your ankles or above your knees for walking exercises that don’t require much space.

Rediscover the fun in movement

Perhaps the most important strategy is remembering that movement can be joyful. Children naturally treat physical activity as play rather than obligation. Take inspiration from the kids at your holiday gathering.

Join them in their new dance moves, play tag in the backyard, or hide during a game of hide-and-seek. These activities provide exercise without feeling like a chore, and they create memories with family members of all ages.

The holidays are meant for connection and celebration. By letting go of rigid expectations and adding small healthy practices, you can feel good in your body while fully embracing time with the people you love most.

The cultural heavyweights worth building an itinerary around as culture and creativity come together in powerful new ways

Community and creativity are reshaping daily life in this edit of storied destinations, set to define the travel conversation for 2026. Each offers more than surface appeal – through architectural ambition, grassroots cultural energy, or a renewed sense of purpose – and rewards visitors willing to look a little deeper.

Where to travel in 2026

Hiroshima, Japan

Eighty years on, Hiroshima is no longer defined by a single moment in time, but by what emerged from it: a city rebuilt through architecture. From the ruins of wartime devastation came a bold modernist vision, shaped by figures such as Kenzo Tange and Togo Murano, later extended by contemporary masters including Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban and Jun Aoki, among others. That legacy feels newly energised today. The launch of the three-yearly Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition this year positions the city as a centre for architectural discourse, uniting Pritzker Prize winners, experimental practices and emerging voices. When the festival is not on, highlights remain plentiful: from Shigeru Ban’s Simose Art Garden Villa to Kisho Kurokawa’s restored Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. Beyond the city, the wider prefecture unfolds as a constellation of design destinations in its own right.

Hong Kong

Few skylines are as instantly recognisable as Hong Kong’s, but to understand the city is to look beyond its serrated outline of glass towers and jade-green peaks. Long defined as a global financial hub and gateway between East and West, Hong Kong today reveals itself as something more layered: a place where heritage, nature and creativity reshape its identity. Icons such as I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower and Norman Foster’s HSBC Building anchor the skyline, while adaptive-reuse projects signal a shift in mindset. Tai Kwun, PMQ and The Mills transform former police quarters and factories into cultural engines. Beyond Central, districts such as Sham Shui Po pulse with everyday life and creative reinvention, where design studios, tofu shops and neon-lit markets coexist. Add to this more than 40 per cent protected green space, and Hong Kong emerges as a city of rare duality – resilient, evolving and deeply alive.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Along the cobbled streets of San Miguel de Allende, colour seeps from every corner. Painted façades, marigold-framed doorways and sunlit courtyards set the rhythm of daily life, anchored by the city’s distinctive pink parish church rising above the rooftops. Long admired for its historic character, the highland town today is experiencing a renewed creative energy, drawing designers, artists and makers in search of light, pace and a deeper connection to craft. Once a magnet for 20th-century painters, writers and intellectuals, San Miguel is again evolving. Studios, galleries and small design-led businesses sit alongside long-established workshops specialising in textiles, ceramics and copper, encouraging close collaboration and a slower, more considered way of working.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Set midway between Europe and China, Tashkent rises from the Central Asian steppe as one of the Silk Road’s most layered cities. Shaped by Arab, Persian, Mongol and Russian rule, it became the capital of an independent Uzbekistan in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Few places reveal history so vividly. Ancient Islamic quarters sit beside Imperial Russian boulevards, Stalinist monuments and the boldly imaginative Soviet modernism of the 1960s and 70s. While parts of that legacy are being reshaped by new marble-clad developments, many landmarks endure: the Hotel Uzbekistan, the sculptural Chorsu Bazaar and a metro system whose chandeliers and marble halls feel closer to a palace than public transport. Emerging from decades of isolation, Tashkent remains refreshingly untouched by mass tourism, with leafy parks, open-air markets and a café culture that feels unhurried and genuine. It is a city rediscovering itself.

Tbilisi, Georgia

The Georgian capital is defined by a fiercely independent cultural spirit forged over millennia and sharpened by adversity. While the country’s political climate is fraught, its creative life remains defiantly alive. Artists, designers, musicians and chefs continue to build, make and gather, sustaining a city where culture functions as both refuge and resistance. Today, Georgian wine, food and hospitality are legendary. New spaces reflect this momentum, including the recently opened Telegraph Hotel, which has quickly become a social anchor for the city’s creative community. From neighbourhood hotels, restaurants and nightclubs that double as communal living rooms, to studios where fashion, art and craft evolve hand-in-hand with tradition, Tbilisi is a city that has learned how to endure.

As one of the superpowers, with a currency that has long been the world’s benchmark, the United States (US) is often considered a city with a relatively expensive lifestyle. However, behind all that, Uncle Sam’s country also has many pocket-friendly tourist destinations and offers impressive natural beauty and outdoor activities.

No need to empty your wallet, US News in “Best Cheap Tourist Destinations in the US in 2025″ shares a series of recommendations for cheap tourist destinations in the US that are pocket-friendly. What are they? Keep scrolling to see the full list.

Recommendations for Cheap Tourist Destinations in the United States

1. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Traveling to the US doesn’t have to be a waste of money because you can visit Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. This place offers various exciting activities, from hiking, mountain climbing, to kayaking. For visitors who want to find out about the history of this national park, the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center is ready to welcome you.

2. Moab, Utah

Moab is a paradise for adventurers. Located between two famous national parks—Arches and Canyonlands, Moab invites budget travelers to hike, bike, or cruise the Colorado River. When night falls, pitch your tent to admire the Moab night sky free from light pollution.

3. Gulf Shores, Alabama

For those looking for a beach vacation in the US but not too expensive, you can take a trip to the Gulf Shores area in Alabama. This place offers beautiful panoramas of white sand and blue ocean. For a more stunning view, ride the Ferris wheel at The Wharf and witness the face of Gulf Shores bathed in the sunset.

4. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Who doesn’t know the Grand Canyon? This valley of steep cliffs can be found in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. In addition to admiring the great canyon, tourists can also visit the shops and historic buildings in Grand Canyon Village.

5. Cannon Beach, Oregon

Cannon Beach in Oregon adds to the list of cheap tourist destinations in the US. Located on the northwest coast of Portland, Oregon, Cannon Beach is famous for its iconic Haystack rocks. Wildlife enthusiasts can also encounter a number of rare bird species, such as tufted parrots and magpie robins.
In addition, this coastal area is also an ideal destination to meet gray whales. Specifically, winter or spring is the right time to see around 18,000 gray whales migrating.

6. Sequoia National Park, California

Many people come to Sequoia National Park, California, to admire the lush giant trees that have lived for thousands of years. Hiking and mountain climbing are some of the outdoor activity options in the place, but you also need to know that this national park area is home to wildlife such as bears, mountain lions, and bobcats.

7. Glacier National Park, Montana

Glacier National Park is the next recommendation for a cheap tourist destination in the US. Located in Montana, this national park is a favorite destination for hikers, especially at Logan Pass. Other activities that are no less interesting are swimming, walking along the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road, or spending time in a picnic area after a tiring hike.

8. Olympic National Park, Washington

Nature lovers will definitely love Olympic National Park in Washington because this national park offers a diverse landscape that includes mountains, beaches, and rainforests. Escape the city life for a moment and be one with nature by fishing, hiking, or meeting various wildlife, such as black bears, bald eagles, and elk, here.

9. Bar Harbor, Maine

As the gateway to Acadia National Park, one of the most beloved national parks in the northeastern US, Bar Harbor offers an affordable vacation experience, especially during the off-peak season, namely during the summer. Here, travelers can take a leisurely stroll along the Shore Path or have a picnic on the shores of Agamont Park.

10. Finger Lakes, New York

The Finger Lakes allow you to do many exciting activities. Like fishing? Get ready all your equipment and go fishing at Lake Sakneateles. Hiking enthusiasts can explore Watkins Glen State Park and its 19 waterfalls.

In addition, tourists can also learn more about the life of Harriet Tubman, an important figure who was a spy during the American Civil War, at the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park.

Five Flower Lake, also called Wuhua Lake, is located in Jiuzhaigou Valley, China. It is famous for its crystal-clear water that naturally shows many colours like blue, green, turquoise, and yellow, making it a stunning natural wonder.

Some places in the world are famous for their amazing natural beauty, attracting travelers from everywhere. Certain lakes stand out because of their unique colors, clear water, and peaceful surroundings. These lakes look magical, almost like a painting, and change their appearance with sunlight and seasons. People visit them to enjoy nature, take pictures, and experience a calm and relaxing environment that feels truly special and unforgettable.

Which Lake is known as the Five Flower Lake?

Five Flower Lake, also called Wuhua Lake, is a beautiful and colourful lake in Jiuzhaigou Valley National Park, Sichuan, China. It is famous for its crystal-clear water that shows many colours like blue, green, turquoise, yellow, and light brown at the same time. These colours are created naturally by minerals, algae, sunlight, and fallen tree trunks under the water. The lake is a protected natural wonder and a popular tourist attraction.

Why is it called Five Flower Lake?

The lake is called Five Flower Lake because its water appears in many colours at once. You can see shades of blue, green, turquoise, yellow, and light brown in the lake. These colours happen naturally due to minerals, sunlight, algae, and fallen tree trunks underwater. The combination of these elements creates a spectacular, multi-coloured effect, like a painting made by nature.

Location of Five Flower Lake

Five Flower Lake is located in Jiuzhaigou Valley National Park, which is in Sichuan Province, China. This park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its beautiful landscapes, including lakes, waterfalls, forests, and snow-capped mountains. The area is protected to preserve its natural beauty, and it is one of the most famous tourist destinations in China.

Why does Five Flower Lake Have Different Colours?

The unique colours of the lake come from several natural factors:

• Mineral deposits: Minerals in the water reflect sunlight in different ways, creating various shades.
• Algae: Tiny water plants contribute to the greenish and yellowish tones.
• Calcium carbonate: This natural chemical affects the water’s clarity and colours.
• Submerged tree trunks: Fallen trees at the bottom of the lake also change the way light reflects.
• Clear water: The water is extremely clean, allowing sunlight to reach the lake bed and show multiple colours at once.

Clear Water and Lake Features

The water in Five Flower Lake is so clear that visitors can see the lake bed, mineral layers, and tree trunks from the surface. This gives the lake a glass-like appearance, making it look magical. You can also notice the details at different depths, which adds to its beauty and uniqueness.

Changing Colours with Seasons

The colours of Five Flower Lake are not always the same. They change depending on:

• Sunlight: Different times of the day produce different shades.
• Weather: Clouds, rain, or sunshine affect how the colours appear.
• Seasons: Snow in winter or flowers in spring can change the lake’s appearance.

Surrounding vegetation: Trees and plants around the lake reflect in the water, adding more shades.

Tourism and Environmental Protection

Five Flower Lake is a major tourist attraction, but it is strictly protected to preserve its fragile ecosystem.

• Swimming, fishing, or touching the water is not allowed.
• Walking on designated paths is encouraged to avoid damaging the surroundings.
• Visitors are educated about the importance of keeping the lake clean.

Interesting Fact About Five Flower Lake

One fascinating fact about the lake is that it naturally displays multiple colours at the same time, something very rare in nature. Its combination of colours, crystal-clear water, and natural surroundings makes it one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.