Having no fixed abode, it can be pretty difficult to keep on top of your health issues while you are travelling. But it's not impossible. Read on to see how you can stay healthy while being a digital nomad.
Eating well
One of the most important aspects of keeping healthy is what you eat. But keeping an eye on your diet can be tough when you are never in the same place for long.
The first problem is that when you arrive at a location, one of the biggest pleasures in to immerse yourself in the culture. Part of that is, of course, trying all the edible delicacies that they have to offer.
This can quickly escalate into meals out every night and even in the day if you don't have nay easy access to cooking facilities. That is where you need to show some restraint. You have to pick things that you want to try of course, but you also need to be aware of what you are consuming. Perhaps a good balance is if you know you will be going for a high fat or calorie loaded specialty in the evening, you could eat salad and fruit in the day.
The second issue is that of eating enough. It doesn't matter how full of wanderlust you are. The thought of eating some of the weird and wonderful things that are on offer in some parts of the world can make your stomach turn. Of course, combine that with being busy seeing the sights and completing your work projects and it can be so easy to forget to fuel up. So it can help to locate some quick, easy and healthy snacks like cereal bars when you arrive in a new place.
Another issue with eating when you are travelling is finding food that suits the way that you eat. For example, vegan foods are available in a lot of places. But there are still some areas like Romania and Eastern Europe that are a bit behind the times with vegetarian and vegan food. Of course eating vegan is both a moral choice and a good way of safeguarding your health as your travel.
Exercise
Exercise can be a tricky one when you are living the life of a digital nomad. It is important that you build some activity into every day. This can be tough because it's hard to establish a routine when you are moving from a place to place and accommodation to accommodation. Add in project work and looming deadlines and it can be hard to prioritize exercise over all of the other things that you have to do at any one given time.
In fact, it might be more useful to set a daily target for your movement goals, but be flexible on when you achieve that. Maybe you can start the day with a run or walk to explore a new area. Or take a break during lunch and stroll around the city to see it on foot and burn some calories.
There are some gyms that you attend for a one off payment too, although those can be expensive. Cheaper ways of getting our daily exercise fix are free activities like running, walking or hiking.
Or if you are in a city with the face ties you can hire a bike. Then you can use this to get around and keep fit at the same time. The another option is to follow an exercise routine that you don't be any equipment for like this one. But it can be hard to find the space to do the workouts if you are staying in a hostel.
Know your location
Another essential element to keeping healthy when living the life of a digital nomad is to know your location. There really is no excuse to not know what sort of situation you are travelling too,, as this info is just a click away using the internet.
It can be helpful to research your destination, or at least to know the health basics of the place you will be visiting before you get there. In that way, you can avoid some of the more significant health risks.
For example, it is worth checking your government's travel information, to check that they place you will be going is safe to travel to. It is also a good idea to check the general medical information of your intended destination.
Then you can make sure that you have the correct shots and medication like malaria tablets before you go. In fact, you can now get malaria tablets online, without a prescription if you are travelling to places like Africa and South America. So there is no excuse for not being medically prepared.
Is is also a good idea to check and see what people are saying about things like drinking the water, or eating vegetable and fruits washed in that water. You could also check on local hygiene customs as well, as these can often spread diseases to visitors that local people have built up an immunity to.
Access to professional medical staff
With no fixed address and non-English speaking staff, getting a doctor’s or medical appointment can be more trouble than it's worth. But for any longer term traveller or digital nomad, you have to make a commitment to look after your health and not just ignore it because you are away.
Happily, there are some more convenient ways of doing this now. Apart from the local services such as doctors, dentists and the like. You can also get access to online doctors and psychological help via your mobile device. These are usually premium services, so you have to pay for them, but they can help with many medical issues.
There's also solutions online for finding a doctor or dentist while travelling. For doctors the best solution is likely zocdoc and for dentists Emergency Dentists USA (at least in the USA). Finding a dentist abroad is more complicated and you'll probably best be served by speaking to the host where you're staying and asking for a recommendation.
Alcohol
Alcohol can be the traveller's friend or the traveler's curse. Travelling regularly can start to seem like one big holiday. But when you have the responsibilities of meeting client expectations and deadlines drinking all the time is not practical.
If at all possible try to stay within the UK guidelines for alcohol consumption day to day. As they will help you maintain your health and also please your clients. As you won't be dealing with massive hangovers every morning!
