Is Strava tourism the next big thing? Here’s how to use the app while on vacation

If you haven’t logged your explorations on Strava, have you even traveled?

Stava, the app launched in 2009, has become the fitness tracker du jour, booming in recent times and now boasting over 120 million users worldwide who diligently record their every move, whether it s It’s running, walking or cycling, in the city, in the countryside and everywhere else, even on vacation. Or rather, should we say, especially on vacation.

According to the company’s 2023 Global Report, last year was a banner year for Strava athletes on the go. “They don’t put their feet up when they go on vacation, that’s for sure,” the report said. As noted, bike rides uploaded to Strava by athletes outside their home state or country were 24% longer than at home, while “downhill skiing” and “snowboarding” were the sports most likely to be downloaded by Strava users while traveling, followed closely. hiking and stand-up paddleboarding.

It has become so important for people to follow their routes that users are hiring”Strava Jockeys” to complete their workouts for them to ensure they don’t lose their streak. But real athletes continue to log miles no matter where they go in the “Strava Tourism” trend, exploring the world one (well-tracked) mile at a time.

If you’re new to the app or heading out on the first trip you want to track, Strava has shared some tips.

“The Maps tab in the Strava app is the perfect place to start exploring. Here you can drop a pin on dynamic, community-powered maps for wherever you are or plan to go, and we’ll show you the best routes to run, run, hike, or ride from this location,” Brain Bell, Strava VP of Global Communications, shared with. Travel + Leisure.

Want to plan an entire trip around one route? Bell explained that you should start with the Global heat map: “It provides a snapshot of where people on Strava are logging their activities around you and can give you a heads up on some of the best places to run, ride, hike, walk or even play snow sports .”

And if you want to dig even deeper into your vacation destination’s sports scene, Strava also offers its nightly and weekly heatmaps, which show popular activities recorded from sunset to sunrise. Then you can visit the Points of interest section, which shows popular starting points, local hotspots and useful stops like bathrooms, cafes and viewpoints along the route, which are all added by the community, meaning that locals and fellow travelers all weighed in with their favorites.

“Finally, if you want to walk the trails, Strava Routes are a useful way to navigate and discover the best routes in any trail network, with recommendations based on where people are going,” Bell added. “Simply go to the Maps tab in the Strava app to find or create your next route, powered by data from the heat map community.

However, if you’re looking for ultra-popular routes, you’ll definitely find them in Greece and Croatia, which saw the highest share of activities uploaded by athletes from other countries, according to the 2023 report, followed by Luxembourg and Austria.

And if you’re in your vacation destination for a while and want to make local friends, there’s one more thing you can do: join one of the platform’s nearly 900,000 clubs.

“Users can search for local clubs in their destination, which could be useful for finding a local running, walking or hiking club or discovering fun activity-oriented events in the area,” Bell said.

To find them, simply open the app, select “Groups” from the navigation menu at the bottom of the home screen and search for groups around you. Then post about it on social media so everyone knows it’s really you and not your Stava Jockey.