For a lot of people and families, travel is a special treat. Whether it’s a summer beach trip, a winter getaway, or a quick adventure over a long weekend, exploring new places and spending time away from home is often a highlight of the year. But if you or a loved one are in treatment for an eating disorder, travel can feel much more complicated. How can you continue to support recovery and keep up your momentum when you’re in vacation mode? And is it even okay to prioritize travel in the midst of eating disorder treatment? Because effective eating disorder care requires structure, sessions with providers, and sometimes physical limitations, travel may seem off the table until after discharge—but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.

“Traveling with an eating disorder requires careful navigation, as recovery does not take a holiday,” says Equip Lead Dietitian Tanya Hargrave-Klein MS, RDN. “Engaging in treatment in a familiar setting presents its own challenges, and travel can amplify these difficulties.”

But these difficulties are not insurmountable. While travel may not be the best option for some individuals and families navigating treatment, others may be able to fit a trip into their lives without losing momentum or backsliding. Read on for expert-approved strategies for navigating travel while in eating disorder treatment, and guidance on how to determine if travel is a good choice for you right now.

Why travel can be challenging during eating disorder treatment

According to a 2024 study, traveling while recovering from an eating disorder can present a number of different challenges: disruptions to daily routines, adjustments to medication schedules, and the need to spend a fair amount of time being sedentary in an airplane seat (or car or train for that matter). And considering how important routine and structure can be in helping to reduce anxiety, travel can certainly complicate treatment.

Another big factor are the almost inevitable changes to sleeping and eating schedules, which can make it harder to stick to a meal plan and have the potential to trigger, enable, or conceal disordered behaviors like restriction. “This disruption can make it easier to rationalize skipping or not fully completing meals and snacks, which is essential to protecting treatment progress,” Hargrave-Klein says.

Then there’s the mental load of eating under unfamiliar conditions, which is a common difficulty that those in eating disorder treatment face when traveling. “Eating in public or with people who may or may not know about the eating disorder often leads to anxiety about what and how much is consumed. Eating out and ordering from unfamiliar menus can overwhelm individuals, especially those in early recovery,” Hargrave-Klein says.

Finally, a potentially overlooked consequence of travel is the significant uptick in physical activity, which may be an issue for those who have specific caloric requirements. According to one 2023 study, participants engaged in more activity while on vacation, which could be a risk for those in eating disorder treatment. “Trips often involve increased physical activity, such as extensive walking, hiking, or swimming, making it easy to neglect the extra nutrition needed,” Hargrave-Klein says.

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How to decide if it’s okay to travel

Hargrave-Klein says that in her experience as a registered dietitian, it can be helpful to explore a series of questions to assess whether someone in eating disorder treatment is truly ready to travel.

Important questions to consider are:

• Is the patient medically safe to travel and participate in planned activities?
• How might the patient’s psychological health impact their travel experience and the experience of others on the trip?
• How likely is it that the patient can maintain their same meal and snack schedule consistently on the trip?
• Is the patient able to effectively and regularly use coping skills to avoid outbursts when experiencing distress around food, eating, and exercise?
• How active will the patient likely be on the trip, and how does that compare to their typical activity level? Is the patient willing to add extra nutrition to account for increased activity level?
• Are compulsive exercise or over-exercise behaviors minimal or resolved?
• Has the patient had practice eating in restaurants, eating in public, and/or eating with others who do not reside in their home?
• Is it possible to pack, ship ahead, or have delivered supplement drinks (Ensure, Boost), bars, and other dense food items to have on hand at your destination?
• How flexible is the patient about eating in unfamiliar restaurants? Eating food prepared by others? Eating fried foods? Non-organic foods?

Go through these questions thoughtfully, and note how many of your answers support the idea that you or your loved one are ready for travel, and how many indicate that it might be best to stay home. If you have more than a few answers that suggest travel could be a risky choice, it’s probably best to hold off a bit longer. (And remember—this doesn’t mean you’ll never travel again. It just means it’s not the safest option right now.)

Tips for navigating travel during treatment

If you’ve determined that you or your loved one are ready to tackle the challenge of a trip during eating disorder treatment, it’s important to take some precautions to ensure that you continue to make progress toward recovery during your travels. And in cases where you don’t feel ready, but travel is non-negotiable for whatever reason, it’s even more essential to put the proper guardrails in place.

Whatever the reason may be for taking a trip during treatment, iIf you do decide to travel, the strategies below can help you or your loved one stay on track.

Let the treatment team know about your trip as soon as you can

An important part of effective treatment is clear communication with your treatment team, so alerting your providers to an upcoming trip as soon as it’s booked (or even sooner) is essential for advanced planning and preparation. “Work with your treatment team ahead of time and establish cope-ahead plans to minimize and prepare for anticipated challenges” Hargrave-Klein advises.

Plan meals and snacks in advance when possible

While it may not be possible to plan every meal or snack before hitting the road, a bit of research and strategic packing can go a long way in staying committed to a nutrition plan. “Bring along snacks, supplements, and bars in the event meals are unexpectedly delayed,” Hargrave-Klein says. “Check out restaurant menus in advance; plan your order before arriving. Order groceries to be delivered at the time of arrival.”

Maintain a regular eating schedule

Even if planning the contents of every meal and snack isn’t feasible, adhering to a regular eating schedule that closely mirrors the one at home can help re-establish a familiar structure. “Stick to the meal and snack schedule as closely as possible,” Hargrave-Klein says. “It’s easy to skip eating episodes when the schedule is lax.”

Take heightened physical activity levels into account

More movement requires more fuel, and traveling often keeps us in motion, even when the activities are low-key or laid-back. “Even a relaxing beach vacation typically involves more activity than usual,” Hargrave-Klein says. “Add an extra snack on days when you are moving around more.”

Apply therapy skills to real-life scenarios

One potential advantage of taking a trip during treatment is the opportunity to put learned strategies and skills to practical use. “Lean into skills to cope with distress when it arises during the trip,” Hargrave-Klein says. “Practice mindfulness and grounding techniques, cue up dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills, or seek out support from others close to you.”

Stay in touch with your team

One of the great aspects of virtual eating disorder treatment is that it can happen from anywhere. While you may not be able to maintain your regular schedule of provider sessions during your travels, you can continue to check in with your providers and reach out for support as needed. If you’re in treatment at Equip, you can message your providers at any time that you feel you need extra support, and get a response back within 24 hours.

If you or a loved one are currently in eating disorder treatment and wondering whether travel is an appropriate and safe option, it’s best to check in with your treatment team. If, after a frank and honest conversation, the team gives a green light for travel, following the tips above and staying in communication with providers and your support network can ensure a vacation that not only promotes health and relaxation but doesn’t derail recovery.