5 things I wish I knew about traveling internationally for pickleball tournaments

Traveling for pickleball is one of the most exciting and surreal experiences of my life. And while I wouldn’t trade it for anything, the reality of international pickleball travel is far from easy. It’s actually one of the most demanding things we’ve ever done — emotionally, logistically, financially and physically.

It’s only May and over the past 5 months we’ve been on a while stretch across Australia and Asia, finding ourselves in Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand, all while while attempting to balance performance, recovery, logistics, and… life beyond the court.

Even though I’d consider us more experienced travelers, no amount of travel blogs could prepare me for what it feels like to live out of a suitcase and see the world while helping your partner compete at a professional level. So if you’re someone chasing a sport, a dream, a quarter-life crisis or just trying to survive your next trip with your relationship intact, here are five things I wish I knew before jumping into international pickleball travel.

Flying to different countries for tournaments has some pretty incredible perks: new cities, cute cafes, sightseeing, amazing food… list goes on. But when you’re travelling for sport (especially without a team and on your own budget and schedule), a lot happens behind-the-scenes that’s a little less glamorous.

Things like navigating new systems, planning food and transport, trying to balance performance and recovery, and still remembering to enjoy the moment and live life. So while we usually take a few days to immerse in new cultures and see the sights, let’s be clear…pickleball dictates mostly everything.

Here are a few things we consider:

• Timing. We aim to arrive at the host city at least a full day before a tournament to acclimatise, drill, and get a proper sleep.
• Accomodation. Where we stay has to balance practicality and comfort, and location is usually chosen based on proximity to the venue (or accessibility to public transport).
• Packing. Our luggage is also 40% pickleball things. The massive bag, paddles, balls, overgrips, tape, massage guns, court shoes, stretch bands, familiar snacks, shaker bottles, electrolytes, protein powder, etc., are all calculated into our weight limits.
• Leisure. Even touring around is strategic. If our sightseeing days fall before the tournament, we try not to book a walking tour of the city, avoid super late nights, and skip street-food adventures pre game-days. So while we do explore, it’s with a real awareness that ultimately we’re here for pickleball (because unfortunately, for now, doing well in tournaments is the primary way these trips are funded).
• Nutrition. As much as we love trying new eats, we are extra careful about food hygiene, hydration, and rest, especially in places where the water isn’t safe to drink or food prep standards are different to what our bodies are used to.
• Snacks. No matter where you are in the world, tournament days are loooong, average 7am to 8pm. To make this part easier, our first mission in any new country is usually to find the nearest convenience store. We like to stock up on:
  • Bananas and other local fruit (safe bets for digestion)
  • Salty chips to help with cramping
  • Beef jerky or protein snacks
  • Candy for a sugar spike (fun to try local treats)
  • Boiled eggs for an easy breakfast and milk for protein shakes
  • Bottled water (especially in places where tap isn’t drinkable)

SO, while we have heaps of “is this real life?” moments, we’ve also been on the floor of a random venue using Google Translate as a lifeline and peeling boiled eggs from a ziplock bag.

Tati’s hot tip:

If you’re traveling for pickleball and want to add on a holiday, where possible, plan this for after the tournament rather than before. This way you don’t have to worry about some of the things I mentioned above – you’re free to walk and try new foods and party the night away without having to worry about feeling 100% for playing!

No matter how organised we try to be, the week before any big trip can be pretty chaotic. Everything from finalising bookings, last-minute shopping for essentials, wrapping up work, and usually also packing… hehe.

Leading up to China, we’d just come off a tournament in Tweed Heads and had a mid-week trip to Pimpama for the announcement of the Australian Pickleball Championships. I hadn’t even unpacked from the last trip before it was time to start packing again.

It sometimes feels impossible to “settle back in” knowing we’re heading away again just as quickly, so I like to make a checklist to ensure I’m not forgetting anything and can make the most of our time at home.

Here’s a mini ‘week-of-travel’ checklist I use for the essentials:

Admin + logistics

• Double check visas and passports (and pop them in safe place)
• Confirm flight itinerary
• Book/confirm transport to/from airport and hotel at our destination

Packing prep

• Print/pack physical copies of visas/docs
• Pack all the pickle things
• Add recovery tools: massage gun, resistance bands, tape, etc.
• Buy/pack airplane snacks and hydration (protein, electrolytes, bars, etc.)
• Locate adapters & chargers, charge power banks
• Top up supplements
• Choose a comfy plane outfit

Money + tech

• Buy/load travel eSIM or activate roaming
• Exchange currency
• Download key apps (translation, rideshare, transportation, Google Maps offline)
• Update playlists/download shows for flights
• Charge kindle/headphones

Body + mind

• Schedule a light training session + rest day before leaving
• Adjust sleep gradually if crossing time zones
• Be strict about taking supplements (pre/probiotics, digestive enzymes, vitamins)
• Do a brain dump list of anything unresolved at home
• Check in with each other: expectations, priorities, support
• Water the plant babies to keep them happy 🙂

Tati’s hot tip:

Do your research before exploring somewhere new! things like weather and climate, cultural norms, religious norms, the political landscape, primary languages (and memorise or jot down a few key phrases), typical foods, etc.

A lot of big professional athletes travel the world with agents, coaches, managers, physios, publicists, etc., but unfortunately pickleball in Australia is still a baby sport without those luxuries. So hi, it’s me, the 5-in-1 special.

Much like regular travel, tournament travel requires so much planning. Scouting flights, applying for visas, researching venues, choosing accommodation, scoping practice courts, budgeting meals, navigating language barriers, and building in enough flexibility. We’re also constantly calculating investment vs. reward, especially as Joey is still juggling a full-time corporate job.

A few examples of things we might contemplate before a trip:

• Is it worth saving $150 on a flight if it means arriving at midnight? What does transportation from the airport look like?
• Are we there long enough to splurge on the nicer hotel with a kitchen or can we make it work with the basics?
• After budgeting flight, accommodation, expenses, and time off work… is the prize money worthwhile?
• Are there cool cities nearby or a cheap flight away that are worth visiting?
• How accessible is the venue (and the larger city)? Are there any special apps I need to download?
• What’s the time zone difference and how should we start prepping before the tournament?

And a few things to consider during the trip:

• What’s the easiest/fastest/cheapest way to travel to and from the tournament venue? What’s local transport like?
• How long will tournament days be? Can we plan for sit down meals or quick and easy?
• Is there quick (and gut-friendly) food near both the venue and the hotel? What are the local fast food chains?
• Where’s the nearest pharmacy/convenience store for meds, snacks, etc?
• Any local allergens/conditions to be aware of (i.e., air quality)?

Tati’s hot tip:

Even if you’re an on-the-fly kind of traveler, highly recommend looking up even the top 2 must-do things when visiting your destination. Sometimes you’ll find classes, shows, viewing platforms, tours, etc that need pre-booking and it’s fun to have a thing or two that you know you can look forward to! and a bonus tip… always download your destination language into Google Translate. You need wifi/cell data to be able to do this, so it’s smart to add it before you head to the airport! it’s so helpful for translating things via typing, speaking, or through photos of signs, menus, ingredient lists and more.

Most of the time, it’s pretty amazing traveling the world with your best friend. Getting to experience all the highs and lows together is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. That said, the joys of international travel plus working, training, planning, winning, losing etc means it’s not always rainbows and butterflies… but like, that’s just life.

Even though we have a pretty solid routine down, being in new places can just be pretty intense. And you can’t plan for everything.

I always like to say — it’s like we’re together but we’re not. Sometimes we land and go straight into tournament mode where our heads are in two different places, we’re tired, and someone has to be in charge of dinner tonight. Or there are stressors we don’t have time to fully process because we’re already onto the next thing.

Here’s a few things we do to combat the pendulum swing:

• On extra busy days, check in with each other in the morning/at night
  • What are you looking forward to today?
  • Anything big on your mind?
  • How are you feeling after (that experience, today’s matches, this update)?
  • Anything I can do to make ____ easier?
• Hold space for honest conversations – anything goes here
• Honour each others’ needs and personal space – whether that’s quiet brain rot time, squeezing in a gym session, doing a separate activity, etc.
• Squeeze in a morning cuddle or quick hotel breakfast before heading to the courts
• Separate tournament days from holidays as much as possible

At the end of the day, we try to be mindful that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime moment and not take that for granted. So it’s a commitment to do the easy and the hard parts with each other.

Tati’s hot tip:

Create small rituals that are just for the two of you, no matter where you are. Ours mostly revolve around food, like trying something new from the McDonald’s menu or picking at least one new local snack from the mini marts. Those little things give us a sense of home in the chaos.

Sometimes I catch myself walking to a tournament venue in a new city and think, “how did we get here?”

Travelling for pickleball has shown me parts of the world I never imagined visiting. It’s also introduced me to people, communities, and cultures I never would have met otherwise. And because we’re not always doing the curated tourist experience, we end up seeing places for what they really are, which has definitely made me more observant, more open, and more aware that I really am just one tiny human on a massive, massive planet.

A few things I remember to be grateful for each day:

• The privilege of choice — to go, to rest, to say yes to something uncertain
• A healthy body that allows me to travel
• Having a safe and comfortable home to come back to
• A partner who shares the same dream and is willing to navigate the chaos with me
• Modern technology that helps me understand and communicate more easily
• Nature, fresh air, the sounds of wildlife
• Help from strangers

Of course, it’s not always easy. But I wouldn’t trade this season for anything. We get to be part of something growing and we get to build something together.

Tati’s hot tip:

Say yes to the adventure. even if it’s hard, or scary, or new.

No matter how much we plan or how many checklists we tick off, travelling for pickleball always brings its surprises and challenges. It’s rewarding and chaotic and full of lessons we’re still learning in real time. More than anything, it’s a reminder of how lucky we are to chase something that excites us, to grow through discomfort, and to do it all side-by-side.

If you’re navigating your own version of this — whether it’s for sport, work, or your own personal adventure — I hope this gives you a small window into what it really looks like, and a few tools to make the journey just a little bit smoother.

Tell me… where are you heading to next?!

xo,

Tati