Domestic and international travel is a common component of an elite athlete`s yearly plan. Track-and-field athletes may travel to weekly competition in different countries during the main season (e.g., Diamond League), whereas distance runners and race walkers may complete less frequently in race series spread over several continents. National, regional, and World Championship competitions are held in different cities on annual/biennial schedules, while the Olympic Games held every 4 years typically involve reconnaissance trips and staging camps to familiarize athletes with the characteristics of the host environment. Meanwhile, specialized training camps targeting heat, altitude, or a dedicated training focus may also require international travel. Strategies to manage travel fatigue and jet lag, and to ensure adequate hygiene and appropriate catering in the new environment, can minimize the challenges or deleterious effects of travel. Adjustment to the new location is particularly important when athletes have to compete soon after arriving, as jet lag, unaccustomed environmental conditions, illness, or inappropriate dietary intake has the potential to significantly affect performance. However, lengthy periods of travel are challenging if new surroundings expose the athlete to suboptimal training or nutrition practices that interfere with the larger goals of the annual plan or key mesocycles of training. As the management of new or challenging environmental conditions (e.g., heat and altitude) is detailed elsewhere (Saunders et al., 2018), this review will focus on the challenges around travel itself, adaptation to new time zones, and meeting nutrition goals in a different/foreign food environment.
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