5 Tips for Staying Fit on the Road as a Digital Nomad
Guest post by Lance Cody-Valdez, Founder of free-lance-now.com
An often lesser discussed topic for digital nomads, is regarding how to stay fit and healthy on the road when nomading. Travel days and time spent settling into a new destination might disrupt your routine; some destinations might not have a gym readily available; and it’s not uncommon to indulge in excess calories when you arrive to a destination as a digital nomad and want to sample the local cuisine.
With these varying concerns, it does usually take a bit of effort to transition your health and fitness routine to a nomad lifestyle, but it’s completely doable.
Below are 5 tips for staying fit on the road as a Digital Nomad:
1. Plan Your Meals and Snacks Ahead
We get it- savoring the food of a new destination is one of the most exciting aspects of digital nomad travel. You should absolutely sample some of the local cuisine, but it’s wise to try to balance constant eating out with a few planned healthy meals made at home, several times a week.
For travel days when you might have few options to eat from beyond airport food which is usually high in excess calories, keep snacks, such as water, nuts, and fruit, handy to keep you satiated with healthy bites.
2. Dedicate time in the Week for Self Care
Self-care is an important element of mental and physical health, especially so if you’re traveling frequently, as travel can be taxing on your body. Take time to recharge and take care of yourself when you travel. It can be as simple as scheduling 30 minutes to read a book not related to work, taking a leisure stroll outside, or starting your morning with even ten minutes of silent meditation.
By reducing stress with a self care routine, your body will be in a better position to stay healthy and fit on the road.
3. Prioritize Sleep
Most digital nomads are pretty hard workers. If you’re a self-employed digital nomad, its also not uncommon to work late nights and struggle with detaching from your business in the night, and potentially having insomnia from anxiety.
While this is easier said than done, it’s important to prioritize sleep as much as you can when traveling on the road as a digital nomad. This is especially so if you’re nomading in a different time zone and your body is going through the early days of transitioning to the new zone.
Sleep is absolutely essential to physical and mental health. Give yourself time to wind down every night before getting a full night of sleep, and potentially consider limiting your personal “scroll time” on social media so that you can detach from work and technology better.
If you’re a coffee drinker, be mindful also of having too many cups of java past the afternoon as it may affect your sleep.
4. Be strategic when Selecting your Nomad Accommodation
If you have a fitness routine that includes going to a gym, running outside or other outdoor activities, it could be wise to research where you can do this in your nomadic destination, and strategically book accommodation close by.
Another option could be to look for coliving accommodations or hotels with fitness centers.
Having these fitness options close by will make you more likely to stick to your fitness routine.
5. Consider a Virtual Fitness Program
If your nomad destination doesn’t have any gyms close by, and doesn’t have any feasible walking/running paths to stay fit, another option to keep your fitness routine going is to consider a virtual fitness routine.
Youtube hosts many different fitness routines for free that you can search for things like kickboxing, aerobics, yoga, and more.
There are also several streaming memberships you can explore like Apple Fitness, Peloton, Dailyburn, and more.
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About the Author Lance Cody-Valdez: A few years ago, burned out and miserable from his job in corporate marketing, Lance Cody-Valdez decided it was time to invest in himself. He quit his job the following day and used his meager savings to stay afloat as he built a career as a freelance writer and content marketer. He created free-lance-now.com to help others use freelancing to escape the 9 to 5 daily grind.
About us: Adventurely is where remote work meets adventure. Join one of our month long meetups for digital nomads & remote workers happening in Oaxaca, Mexico City or Playa Del Carmen Mexico! 🇲🇽 ✈️💻