How to stay healthy (and sane) on a World Tour

One of the things I’ve dreamed of as a dancer my entire life has been to go on a World Tour. And here we are, years and years later – on exactly that. A World Tour. It’s is, and has been, an incredible journey that I could write paragraphs as long as the Nile about. I’m so grateful to be doing sold out shows in stadiums and arenas with phenomenal artists – like what?

But you also have to pay a little more attention to your health. Why? Because traveling constantly, ending shows late at night, dancing and working super hard on the road, intensely being with a group of people at all times, abrupt workout routines, eating different foods that your system can’t recognize, sitting on busses and airplanes all the time – it can definitely get to you physically and mentally.

So here are little health routines I implement on the road that works for me, in order to stay healthy and happy.

Stanley Cups (or whatever brand you want)

There is a reason that popular things become popular and I’m so proud of all of us for making a WATER BOTTLE trendy. Because yes, hydration is hot and necessary, for obvious reasons.

The water stays cold and nice for hours in these, and I drink so much more water when it’s from a straw. I don’t have the largest size, so it’s easier to carry with me.

There are 100% cheaper versions of this one, but here’s a link for referrence!

Health supplements in the morning

I’m not a “Take-50-different-vitamin-pills-in-the-morning” kind-of-girl, but I do take ONE multivitamin pill with an entire Stanley Cup of water, first thing in the morning.

Before Breakfast – Greens Blend

Recently I got Greens Blend which I LOVE. It’s such a convienient way to get vitamins, if you’re not sure you’ll get the exact servings of fruits and vegetables you need in a day. One scoop of Greens Blend in a water bottle is equivalent to 2 servings of fruits and veggies. It has 7 nutritious greens and has vitamin C and K.

There are so many versions and brands that are similar like AG1 (a little bit more pricey because of social media I think?), Blooms etc. etc.

I’m linking to it right here.

Breakfast

Tour is one big buffet – so you’re not 100% in charge of what your options are, but most hotels obviously have lots of different things.

I’ve never – and will never – be on a diet, but I try to be aware of always putting fruits or vegetables on my plate and eggs to make sure I get enough protein to stay full.

I’ve always been a fan of adding healthy little habits instead of focusing on removing the unhealthy ones.

Gym

When I’m in Los Angeles, I usually switch up my workouts throughout the week – Monday could be pilates, Tuesday gym, Wednesday HIIT class etc. etc.

That’s not an option on the road and you never know what the hotel gyms look like. So I bought a booty-band (linking here) and found a ton of YouTube body-weight or dumbbell follow-along-workouts that I do in the morning.

In that way, I don’t have to rely on certain machines etc.

One of the most priviliged things about tour is that you most likely have a lot of free-time outside of rehearsals, shows and traveling to go to the gym.

Stretching

For years I’ve been the industry’s least flexible dancer. Not true, but I’m honestly way more stiff than most people think. I don’t mind the pain of cardio or the pain of lifting weights, but I DO mind the pain of stretching. I really don’t like it. But I’ve set a minimum of TWO minutes of stretching for myself every day.

And turns out all the habit experts are right – if you set a 2 minute minimum, you’ll most likely stay longer. So usually I’ll stretch for 15 minutes a day. My goal is 30 minutes a day, but that might be in a long time from now.

Skin care

News Flash: We wear a lot of makeup on stage.

Double news flash: That’s not great for your skin.

I try to take care of my skin outside of our show. To me less is more, and if I have 8 steps, I most likely won’t get it done when I’m back at the hotel at 2AM after a show – and also I can only bring one suitcase with me.

Morning:

• Facewash
• Vitamin C drops
• Moisturizer

Night:

• Facewash
• Hydration night mask from Drunken Elephant.

It’s very simple. If you want the details, DM me!

Getting preventative massages

Obviously, our job as dancers are very physically demanding, and traveling on top of that doesn’t help the tension in the body.

You don’t want to wait until you have diabetes to eat healthy, you want to eat healthy so you don’t get diabetes.

You also don’t want to start taking care of your body when you get injured, you want to take care of it now so that you don’t get injured.

That’s why massages is a must. Tension in the thighs and hips + wearing a heel on stage all the time can easily affect the knees, So massages help us prevent that.

On tour I probably get one every two weeks, since we don’t have it accessible for free in this camp.

Finding alone time

When you’re on tour, you’re literally with people 24/7, which can be a challenge or at least something you have to adapt to, if you’re introverted or used to spending a lot of time alone.

That’s me.

So one of the reasons I’m usually the first person who’s up and going on a daily basis, is that I need a few hours of alone time every day, to feel content and sane. Let me clarify though: I LOVE spending time with my tour-people and I adore every single person in this camp.

But in the mornings, I go for walks on my own, sometimes I’ll go to a mall to read, drink coffee and work on my computer, to have some Mathilde-time.

That way I can be more energized and social when everyone else wakes up and at the end of the day: do my job better.

Sleep

This one is the toughest to keep up with for me. If I want to work out and do all the abovementioned things, I need to get up early.

But we also go to bed really late – at least on show days. If a show starts at 9 PM we’re done around midnight, then we pack up our costumes, everyone needs to get to the bus and drive back to the hotel – before you know it, it’s 2am.

There are lots of creatives are night owls out there – that’s not me.

But I also get so anxious if I don’t get up before 7am, so often I prioritize getting up early to work out over sleeping.

And that’s not great. So on days where we’re not performing, you’ll find me in my hotel bed around 9.30pm to make up for it.

In LA, I get about 9 hours every night.

Talking to my family

This is an always-thing rather than “just a tour-thing”, but since I only see my family in Denmark about twice a year, it’s important to take *quality time* out to talk to them individually and having in-depth conversations instead of 10 minutes of random small talk.

I always feel better after I’ve talked to them.

Keeping up with social media

My friend took over my TikTok, thank GOD. I made the biggest DropBox folder of all time, and now she’s posting for me and I am forever and ever grateful, since keeping up with TikTok can be so overwhelming and time-consuming.

This has helped me reduce my screen time which has been great for my mental health.

Check out the TikTok here!

Listening and reading things that uplift me

The social media platform I spend the most time on is Pinterest.

I love it. Beautiful photographs, poems, quotes, mental health hacks – there are so many great things on there, rather than IG, TikTok and Facebook.

Book I just read: Atomic Habits. There’s a reason everyone has read it. Because it’s so inspiring and practical when it comes to forming habits and keeping up with them.

Podcasts I listen to:

• Jay Shetty – On Purpose
• Confidence Podcast
• Mel Robbins
• Fries Before Guys (Danish)
• Notes To Self with Payton Sartain (I consider her as an older sister)
• Call Her Daddy – Alex Cooper (Fun interviews, great entertainment)
• Morning Brew Daily: 10-15 minutes of news.
• ShxtsNGigs – Two UK comedians, it’s SO funny and random, but I can’t listen to it more than once a week without my brain exploding, haha.

TV-show I’m obsessed with: Love On The Spectrum, Netflix. It’s my #1 comfort- and feel good show. I’ve watched and rewatched about 20 times.

I’m always on the look-out for routines, habits and things to improve to become even more sane and healthy (which will make me more nice too, you know?), so if something comes to mind, PLEASE let me know.

xoxo

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