My Saturday with Roz Purcell: 'Exercise is worth the effort of showing up, because you feel great afterwards'

Roz Purcell is a broadcaster, outdoors enthusiast and creator of The Hike Life. She is one of Ireland's most influential personalities with some 599k followers on Instagram and 52k on TikTok. Purcell is the author of five books and is the new co-host of RTE 2 FM’s breakfast show along with Carl Mullan and Aisling Bonner.

Roz Purcell pictured at last year’s An Post Irish Book Awards which were held in the Convention Centre, Dublin.

06.00

I get up at 6am every day and honestly it never gets any easier! I’ll contemplate if I can get any extra sleep and rearrange my day, but then I’ll get up and brush my teeth, go downstairs, let the dogs out and head straight to my boxing club.

I’ve learnt that it’s worth the effort of showing up because you feel great afterwards. I really enjoy hiking, I’ve been boxing for more than 10 years and I also do some strength training during the week but Saturday mornings are usually reserved for boxing – I find it really helps to get rid of the week’s stress and it’s very social.

08.00

After boxing I’ll go home and prepare for the day. I’ll shower and have breakfast. I’m usually starving in the morning so I’ll have a big breakfast at about 8am. I usually have coffee and toast with some tofu scramble – I swear it’s delicious.

I like to plan for my days off so that I don’t waste that time. Based on what the weather forecast is like I’ll plan a fun day around that. 

If it’s grey and raining all day I’ll swap my big hike for a sheltered forest hike, and I might choose a cafe with cosy indoor seating instead of seating outdoors etc.

My Google maps is covered with pins – it’s handy because wherever I decide to go somewhere I have plenty of options for my itinerary. I am a planner.

09.30

I’ll grab the dogs and head out, whether that’s to a nice forest trail, to a friend’s for a catch up or to the beach. 

My weekend priority is to get out in nature – especially at this time of year when sunrise is late and sunset is early.

After the walk or hike we have a routine of heading to the Fat Fox in Greystones for a cake, a coffee and a ‘puppachino’ followed by Scéal Bakery to get some bread for the week.

Influencer Roz Purcell, in the north Mayo area for a solo adventure.

14.00

If I’m at home I’ll make myself lunch. It’s often a veggie rice bowl. I used to spend all my weekends going up and down the country, mostly for work and book signings, so I’ve been quieter since January. I am enjoying some down time.

That said, I do love to make the most of a weekend and love traveling around Ireland. I don’t get to go home as much as I’d like to but thankfully my parents are up in Dublin and stay with us a lot.

I went to Cork recently with my dogs - there were so many dog-friendly restaurants, cafes and pubs it made the trip so much fun.

Some of our favourites include Sonflour, Nádúr Deli, the Marina Market and being able to bring takeaway from Miyazaki into O’Sho.

15.00

After I’ve caught up with friends, been outside with the dogs for a while and had my fill of coffee I’ll spend the rest of the day relaxing. Saturday is probably my only actual day off so I try to enjoy doing nothing for the rest of the day.

I love listening to a good podcast or watching a great series with my dogs on the couch. Saturday evenings are about watching movies, good food and staying off my phone.

19.00

For dinner I’ll often get a takeaway from my local takeaway Daata. It’s so delicious. I tend to get the garlic naan, aloo baingan and tarka dahl.

I’m such a hermit I don’t really go out on a Saturday night. I’ll go to the odd event if it’s important but I really find it hard to socialise late in the evening. 

I am very social in work and in the clubs that I am part of, but outside of that I like being alone and I love spending time with my dogs.

An ideal Saturday for me would be spent in the West of Ireland, maybe in Co. Clare, hiking with the dogs, heading to the beach and eating delicious food in the sunshine.

21.30

I go to bed at around 9.30pm and I sleep well. I have to say that my superpower is being able to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Roz Purcell, Carl Mullan, and Aisling Bonner. Picture: Andres Poveda.

• Roz Purcell is a broadcaster, author and creator of The Hike Life. She is one of Ireland’s most influential personalities with some 599k followers on Instagram and 52k on TikTok. 
• She is the author of five books including The Hike Life: 50 More to Explore, and is the new co-host of RTÈ 2FM's breakfast show alongside Carl Mullan and Aisling Bonner.