A combination of sweat and tears blurred Josue De Paz’s view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as he crossed the finish line of the 2025 TCS Sydney Marathon. He had traveled nearly 26 hours to run 26.2 miles on the opposite side of the world.
De Paz is just one of millions participating in a new trend called “sweat-jetting,” where people travel to pursue fitness, athletics, and exercise retreats. TripAdvisor’s Trendcast included it as the #1 travel trend in 2026, and Accor Hotels is reporting a 50% increase in interest in “workout vacations.”
“The race itself was an absolute stunner, running over bridges, commercial areas and residential areas, giving me the best tour of Sydney that I bet not many people get to see,” says De Paz, CEO and co-founder of non-profit Honor Your Dreams in New York City.
For runners, marathons have become a different way to experience a new country. De Paz has completed marathons in Chicago, Tokyo, and Sydney, as well as marathon training in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Copenhagen, and Mexico City. “It’s been my absolute favorite way to get to know a city in a more intimate way,” he says.
When it comes to sports, padel is one of the world’s fastest-growing games, with new courts popping up by the jungle in Bali and inside churches in the Netherlands. “I became obsessed with padel when I moved to Dubai, and I wanted to find a way of combining my experience in curated travel experiences. So, I started Global Padel Adventures,” says founder Nick Wade.
Padel players use Global Padel Adventures group and private padel-focused trips as a way to visit new places. “We believe that people want more than top-level coaching when they travel and instead combine food, adventure, local activities and festivals into one trip with a more holistic approach,” says Wade. “People want more than a few days in a glass box.”
Cycling has become another popular way to explore the world. Dylan Reynolds, founder and CEO of Ride and Seek, a cycling tour operator, says, “We’ve seen growing interest in our tour concept. When we started 15 years ago, we were among the first to focus on long-distance cycling tours. Now, the sector seems to be booming.” Ride and Seek runs tours of up to 50 days, across countries like Greece, Japan and Colombia. Much like running in a destination, cycling allows travelers to experience a country in a different, slower way.
“I’m obviously biased, but I think traveling by bike is the best way to see the world. When you combine the riding with cultural immersion, gastronomic discovery and historical context, you gain a real sense of place. There’s also something particularly valuable about the journey itself—experiencing the landscape unfold gradually rather than simply arriving at the next destination. Active travel certainly seems to be having a moment,” says Reynolds. “But for many of our riders, it has become a lasting way of traveling rather than simply a trend.”
