How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle as a Digital Nomad: Tips for Staying Fit While Traveling

It is pretty difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle as a digital nomad. We travel a lot, have to find our way around new places and adapt to the local cuisine. On top of that, there’s work and the family. So how can you maintain a healthy lifestyle even as a Digital Nomad Family? I have some tricks for you here.

Key for a Healthy Lifestyle: Stay Hydrated

As simple as effective! Just always have a large water bottle with you. We swear for years on Hydro Flask. Every member of the family has one. You can keep track of your water income through an app like Water Reminder if it helps you.

Prioritize your Health

This tip is essential. Because if you put your health last, it can quickly be forgotten. Therefore, plan fixed times for sports. Even or especially when you have to work a lot. Agree with your partner who will take over the kids so that the other can go for a run. Put your sports times on the shared calendar and stick to them.

Find Physical Activities

When you arrive in a new place, try quickly finding out where you can exercise. Be it a gym, a local sports club, a yoga school, or places in nature you can use for your workouts. Also good: find a sports buddy and pick activities you can do anywhere without much effort—for example, HITT training or jumping rope. Whenever you have time: Grab your family and explore the new surroundings on a hike.

Get Enough Sleep

All parents will laugh now, I know. I can’t remember the last time I slept for 8 hours straight. But even though parents don’t have infinite power over their sleep rhythm, they can decide to go to bed early. For example, we never try to go to bed later than 22:30. Boring, I know.

Maintain a Healthy Mindset

Everyone has their way of unwinding and clearing their head. Some need to sweat it out in a martial art, while others meditate or practice mindfulness. No matter what is the right way for you, try to follow that. Always remember: Your body is your vehicle. The saying “A healthy mind needs a healthy body” is no coincidence.

Limit Alcohol and Caffeine consumption

I couldn’t live without coffee. And in the meantime, it has been proven that coffee is healthy in moderate amounts. But studies have also shown that Alcohol, even in the most minor quantities, is unhealthy and destroys brain cells. So the idea that “a glass of wine a day is good” has long been outdated. Nevertheless, I think one should not be so strict here. But you can keep an eye on it.

Plan Healthy Meals

While others are great at this, I find it difficult to prepare healthy food myself and always have it with me. So my trick is to try to buy yummy healthy snacks at the local supermarket, such as nuts, fruits, and muesli bars. The whole family can have them before anyone gets hangry. What helps me additionally is to visit restaurants with a good selection of healthy dishes. And here we are again on the topic of prioritizing: I’d rather spend more money on healthy food than on clothes, for example, or other stuff that doesn’t have a high priority.

Connect with Nature

A recent study found that spending 120 minutes outside each week — which can be broken up into smaller blocks of time — was associated with better health and well-being. Another one revealed that just 30 minutes of outdoor time could lower blood pressure by almost 10%. That’s your sign to go outside!

How do you manage to maintain a healthy lifestyle as a digital nomad? Do you have good health insurance while traveling? Let me know in the comments! Thank you for reading and for making me part of your day!