I’m often asked how to stay active and healthy while on the road. Since we frequently travel, I have plenty of opportunity to figure out what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to exercise in hotel rooms and vacation homes. While at home, I practice yoga, and I find that continuing a yoga practice while traveling is one of the best ways to feel revitalized, energetic, and healthy during busy and uncomfortable travel days.
The Jade Yoga Travel Mat is the mat I have stashed in the back of my car for both weekly use at home (I like the thinner size) and while road tripping. I’ve also easily fit it in a carry-on for air travel. This mat is just 1/8th inch thick, making it Jade’s thinnest and lightest mat. It’s 24 inches wide, and comes in two lengths: 68 inches and 74 inches. I find the 68″ mat works perfectly for me at 5’4″. The longer mat would simply be thicker while rolled up, and may not fit as nicely in luggage.
What I like about Jade: their mats provide the best grip I’ve found, which is great especially for a relative beginner yogi like me. The grip actually overrides the need for a thick mat; my feet never slip whether I’m doing my yoga practice on a hotel balcony, a carpeted hotel room, or outdoors. Plus, Jade mats are eco-friendly. The rubber is made sustainably from rubber trees and contains no PVC, EVA or synthetic rubber product. Cool fact: Jade plants a tree for every mat made.
I just returned from a 28-day road trip throughout the Pacific Northwest, during which I practiced yoga with my Jade mat on the sun deck of a San Juan Islands lodge, in the tiny room of a rental cabin at Mt. Rainier, at a dude ranch in British Columbia (tricky on a lawn), and on the balcony overlooking the Cascades of a hotel room. When not in use, I stashed the mat, rolled up, in the back of our van with our other luggage. Had I time to take a yoga class during my travels, I would have saved some cash by bringing my own mat.
The 68″ mat sells for $59.95 on the Jade site or on Amazon, and comes in five colors: black, teal, midnight blue, olive green, and purple. The purple is closer to a deep eggplant. My mat weighs in at about three pounds, making it easy to bring along and carry to and from hotel rooms.