Originally Posted by
gfunkdave
- Be rigorous in monitoring your diet and keeping it healthy enough that you don't start gaining weight. Careful with alcohol
- Exercise regularly. I love the idea upthread about speedwalking through cities.
- Be sure your family/friends know what they're getting themselves into with your absence
- Try to settle on one airline/alliance for the bulk of your travel. Since you're in MAD, I assume that will be Iberia/BA/OneWorld
- Get a lounge membership
- Remember to take a vacation. Being in airports frequently is the best way to turn me into a foaming-at-the-mouth misanthrope.
Agree with every single one of these. Even if it's just one mile a day on the treadmill that's better than nothing.
Also learn to say no to the free bread offered whenever you go out and look into salads for lunch.
It's also important to find out how your body adjusts to timezone shifts to help combat jetlag and hit the ground running. From many months of IAD - LAX weekly travel I found that for me it's about eating on the timezone I'm going to (which essentially translates to an extra breakfast going IAD - LAX and only breakfast and then a meal that serves as lunch and dinner when going LAX - IAD). That strategy has worked for me wherever I travel in the world but of course everyone is different so it's important to find out what works for you body.
EDIT: I also typically held the belief that I was entitled to one "nice" meal a week (potentially a team dinner) and the rest of the week I would eat healthy. I usually would make the "nice" meal Wednesday night so it was a nice little reward for the long week and for being healthy the other days of the trip (I was on a M-Th travel schedule).