We have a love/hate relationship with the idea of waking up at 5 am while traveling. The idea to wake up earlier than necessary is very popular on the internet and there are so many reported benefits.

Life is better when you have some “me” time in the morning and extra time during the day. For us, waking up at 5 am has been the only way we could start this blog while still working.

At first, we only woke up early on workdays as this gave us time to pack everything into a day. Then we realized we should be waking up at 5 am even when on vacation.

We found that all the benefits of waking up early gave a huge positive impact on our traveling experience. Vacations are better when you wake up early.

Now, every day we wake up at 5 am. We do this regardless of whether we work that day, never leave our home or while on vacation.

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Benefits of Waking Up at 5 AM While Traveling

The biggest reason we have found for getting up early is that you finally get time for YOU. But we quickly learned that by waking up early while traveling we can get time for so much more. The possibilities are endless with how you can benefit from more time.

More Time to Explore

Vacations always go by too quickly so by waking up you get more time during your getaway. This way you can pack in a few more tourist spots, a few more restaurants, and a few more activities.

Get Work Done

In a dream world, vacations would only involve time spent doing just that, but as most adults know that is rarely the case. There are always emails to check or calls to make. Especially since we run this site we always have some work to be done. By waking up early you can get your work done in the morning without it cutting into your vacation time.

Time for Exercises

Some people view vacations as a time to completely relax but since you have less stress it may be a perfect time to get a good workout in. Of course, no one wants to work out instead of trying fun expeditions so waking up early gives you time to do both.

Fewer Crowds

To be honest this may be the main reason why we wake up early on vacations. We love checking places out but sometimes the crowds are too much. By waking up early we seem to sync up to less busy times. It makes exploring less stressful and more enjoyable.

How to Wake Up at 5 am

Of course, nothing is easy the first time you try it so try these tips to help you stay on track with waking up at 5 am while traveling.

Set an Alarm for a Wind Down

Setting an alarm the night before helps to ensure you go to bed at a reasonable time and get adequate sleep. If you feel more rested you will be more likely to wake up instead of trying to get a few more minutes of sleep.

Ours is set at 8 PM. We decided this means no more screen time and only "relaxing" activities such as reading.

Place Your Alarm Across the Room

This is annoying in the morning but that's kind of the point. It becomes harder to push the snooze button when you have to walk over to it. Make sure you have to get out of your bed to turn off the alarm. You may also think that since you are already out of bed you may as well get up.

Do Something You Enjoy

For awhile we were trying to do intense cardio in the morning as soon as we woke up and there are just certain times where that does not sound enjoyable, such as while you lay in a nice comfortable bed.

Now we wake up and either write a blog post or browse the web while drinking coffee. This is a much more calming way to spend the first few minutes awake. This way the jump from laying in bed to being up doesn't seem so drastic.

Play Music First Thing

Music makes everyone feel better right? No better way to wake up then put on your favorite jams and get the morning started. We’ve had our fair share of living in apartments and admit this may be bad for the neighbors. If you live away from others give it a try!

Now that we have a google home smart speaker we have it play music in the other room at 5 am every morning. We have it shuffle a playlist so we don't get sick of one song. It has been life-changing and you should try it.

Sleep in Work Out Clothes

This makes it easier to jump out of bed and start your workout. Since we switched to a smaller wardrobe it helps to sleep in workout clothes instead of having separate pajamas. In the cold months, this can be a big help since having to change can be miserable. This way the clothes are already warm and ready to go. Plus already being dressed gets rid of one more morning task.

We suggest everyone wake up at 5 am every day for adequate “me" time. It doesn't matter if you are at home or on a wonderful vacation, you should wake up early.

The benefits of waking up early are amazing and life-changing. Once you start waking up early while traveling, you'll see how much better your vacation can be.