When many of us take a vacation, more than anything, we seek to relax. We spend long, lazy days on a beach chair or in a hammock and socialize the night away with rum drinks, fancy martinis, and indulgent desserts. Too often, we return home heavier and flabbier than we've been since, well, our last vacation.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Active vacations are often the most relaxing of all. Wait! It's all in defining what an active vacation is. We don't expect you to take up jogging, backpacking, or hang gliding. Rather, we ask the sedentary vacationers among you to spend two to four hours a day doing things. Walking the city streets. Exploring a nature preserve. Going to a zoo. Biking along the ocean. Taking a leisurely rowboat ride.

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