Digital nomadism is often seen as the ultimate escape from the grind of the 9-to-5. However, self care for digital nomads is even more crucial than it was in the corporate world. Here’s why:

Simply changing your environment won’t magically solve everything. In fact, digital nomads face unique mental health challenges due to constant changes, unstable routines, and fluctuations in diet, fitness, and surroundings.

That’s not to say nomads can’t be happy—quite the opposite. This lifestyle offers incredible freedom, but it comes with its own set of challenges for digital nomads, particularly around mental health.

Self care for digital nomads looks different from that of remote workers or traditional office-goers. We have to account for shifting environments and everything that comes with it.

After nearly three years of traveling nomadically while growing my coaching business, I’ve learned the hard way how essential it is to maintain a self care routine as a digital nomad in order to truly thrive. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

How to self-diagnose when your mental health needs extra support

There’s a clear difference between setting up self care routines and recognizing mental health challenges. The former helps prevent the latter. Self care for digital nomads uniquely supports your pursuit of freedom and purpose.

As nomads, we often move without a stable, supportive community, so it’s essential to recognize when you need extra mental health support. While virtual nomadic communities can help, it’s equally important to learn the signs that signal a need for deeper self-care.

Here are a few indicators that it’s time to focus more on your mental health as a digital nomad:

• Fatigue: This can be mental or physical. Are you drained by social interactions or work? Do you need more sleep than usual or feel less aware of your surroundings?
• Lack of Direction: Have your goals and dreams started to feel unclear? Are you still traveling with purpose, or has that sense of drive faded?
• Frequent Illness: Regular physical sickness can often indicate mental or emotional strain. Your body may be signaling that it needs rest or extra support.
• Insomnia: Difficulty sleeping or irregular sleep patterns can point to a restless or neglected mind. Do you take time away from screens and social interactions to unwind?
• Withdrawal: A reluctance to engage socially could be a sign of emotional fatigue or mental health issues.
• Irritability: Feeling unusually annoyed or impatient may suggest a disregulated nervous system or unprocessed emotions.

These signs aren’t cause for judgment but are signals from your body and mind to seek care. Recognizing them is the first step in re-establishing self care as a digital nomad, or even seeking professional help if needed.

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Preventative Self Care for Digital Nomads to support Your Mental Health

Morning Routine

With late-night calls, social events, and endless adventures, it’s easy for morning routines to slip. But creating a self-love morning routine is essential for digital nomads to support their mental health.

Prioritize setting aside time in the morning to move your body, journal, meditate, or simply enjoy a quiet coffee on the balcony—without your phone. This intentional time anchors you amid the constant changes of nomadic life.

Personally, I kick off my mornings with a workout, listening to affirmations while lifting weights. Other days, I opt for a 60-minute yoga session. After movement, I journal and meditate, then enjoy coffee (often while watching Stephen Colbert), before diving into work.

Morning routines are a crucial aspect of self care for digital nomads, offering structure in the midst of changing environments. Your routine doesn’t have to mirror mine—it can be as simple as 30 minutes of reconnecting with yourself.

By sticking to a consistent self-love morning routine, you can nurture your mental and physical wellness, prevent burnout, and stay grounded while you travel.

Journaling Routine

Journaling is an important part of self care for digital nomads. While it’s always a powerful way to process your feelings and thoughts, it’s especially crucial when living a nomadic lifestyle. Our lifestyle typically brings lots of new impressions, with new stimuli coming at us practically 24/7.

Give yourself time to process them regularly. You can keep a paper journal or journal via your iPad. Either way, make sure to handwrite your journal.

Daily Exercise or Movement

Many health professionals, including the Better Health Channel, have conducted studies on the positive link between regular exercise and mental health.

It’s proven that people “who exercise regularly have better mental health, emotional well-being, and lower rates of mental illness.” (Better Health Channel).

As a digital nomad, maintaining a regular gym routine can be tough, so embrace the change. Keep your movement consistent, but vary the type of exercise.

Bali is perfect for daily yoga, Thailand is full of martial arts studios, and Da Nang offers a mix of yoga, gyms, and calisthenics spaces at the beach.

The key is to move, lift, and stretch your body every day.

Connect with Home and Friends

Make it a priority to connect with family and friends at least once a month. While you’ll undoubtedly make many new connections on the road, they may not offer the same stability as your long-term relationships.

Regularly call home and try to visit whenever possible. The comfort of home is something that a suitcase or AirBnB can’t fully replace. It’s okay to miss home—acknowledge these feelings and ensure you maintain meaningful connections with what feels familiar and comforting.

Clear Working Hours and Spaces

Working from anywhere offers incredible freedom, but it also requires a disciplined approach to protect your mental health. Establish clear working hours and dedicated workspaces to maintain balance and productivity.

Ensure your AirBnB includes a proper workstation and chair. If not, consider investing in these items and selling them to your host before you leave. Appropriate time management can help create stability, even amidst the freedom of nomadic life.

You might also think about traveling with ergonomic tools, such as a laptop stand, chair slip-ons, and blue light filter glasses.

Additionally, remember that being in a vacation-like destination doesn’t equate to taking a vacation. Plan regular breaks and time off to recharge and avoid burnout.

Create a Business that supports YOUR ideal lifestyle

Digital nomads seek freedom, and while the nomadic lifestyle offers plenty of it, achieving true balance requires intentional business planning. Without careful consideration, traveling and working can become exhausting.

Build a business that aligns with your lifestyle and values, rather than creating one where you feel like just another employee. Ensure that your business structure, team, professional boundaries, and client interactions are designed to support your freedom and well-being.

Creating a business that fits your ideal lifestyle will help you maintain the freedom you sought in the first place. This guide will help you do just that:

Work with a professional

Self care for digital nomads doesn’t mean going it alone. You don’t have to wait until problems arise to seek professional support.

Consider hiring a virtual therapist to help you process and work through lingering thoughts, emotions, and limiting beliefs. Alternatively, a professional coach can guide you in taking active steps toward realizing your future goals.

If you’re looking to accelerate your business growth, enrolling in a mastermind or working with a business coach can provide valuable support.

Investing in professional help can enhance your self care routine and contribute to a more balanced and successful nomadic lifestyle.

Get the right health insurance

A significant source of peace of mind for me while traveling has been investing in holistic health insurance. Many digital nomads choose emergency-only coverage, but I opted for PassportCard, which offers extensive benefits.

For $300 a month, PassportCard provides comprehensive care worldwide without co-payments. This includes annual check-ups, prescription coverage for your glasses, free massages and acupuncture, as well as major treatments like cancer scans, cancer treatment, and pregnancy care. After one year, the premium plan even covers therapy sessions.

Investing in such comprehensive insurance is a valuable step for both mental health and preventative care. Making this investment has ensured me peace of mind across all my nomadic journeys.

Plan for Emergencies

As a digital nomad, you may face more emergencies than the average traveler. Frequent flights, hotel bookings, and adventurous activities increase the likelihood of unexpected issues.

Invest in comprehensive travel insurance to cover flight cancellations, lost luggage, and other travel-related mishaps. Keep a backup credit card and some cash on hand. Maintain a healthy savings account for emergencies, such as needing to return home suddenly or dealing with a problematic Airbnb.

Incorporate health insurance into your emergency plan as well. Travel burnout is a real risk for digital nomads, and having contingencies in place will help reduce stress and ensure you’re prepared for any curveballs.

Travel slowly – Be a Slowmad

Traveling slowly can help you re-establish routines more effectively. Staying in one place for an extended period allows you to secure significant discounts on Airbnb and other accommodations.

It also provides the stability needed to maintain a consistent diet, sleep schedule, work routine, and even gym memberships.

We often stay in one location for up to six months, which enables us to truly immerse ourselves in the area. Shopping at the same grocery store and establishing a daily rhythm can be incredibly grounding.

Slower travel also benefits your business growth by giving you more time and energy to focus on your work. Embracing the “Slowmad” lifestyle can lead to a more balanced and productive experience.

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How to seek mental health help as a digital nomad

Now, seeking support for your mental health as a digital nomad isn’t as easy as calling up a therapist and walking into their office, of course. However, it’s not that hard either. It simply takes a bit of commitment and self-love.

Loving Kindness

The most important thing is to approach yourself and your actions with loving kindness. You’re not wrong, broken, or in need of fixing.

Choosing to seek support is a positive and loving step, and there’s no need for judgment.

Make getting support a priority by scheduling it into your day. Understand that this path is about living a life that’s even more purposeful and fulfilling.

Seek Professional Help virtually.

Many therapists now offer virtual sessions, and some even travel while providing therapy. A quick Google search for virtual therapists or “virtual therapists nomad” can help you find professionals whose websites resonate with you.

BetterHelp is another excellent platform to consider.

If you believe coaching might be more suitable for you, ask your community for recommendations or reach out to coaches you’ve been following. While coaching and therapy are distinct, some coaches with therapeutic backgrounds can offer both.

Join a Mastermind or nomad community led by a coach

Individual therapy might not always be the best option, especially if you’re feeling lonely. Consider joining a mastermind or a nomad community, often led by coaches. These groups usually consist of members on similar journeys to yours.

Masterminds focus less on curriculum and more on the collective spiritual and emotional intelligence of the group. They tend to be intimate, ensuring that all members are seen and supported.

Nomad communities can be larger, and the value you get from them often depends on how actively you engage. Support is available from both the leader and fellow members, provided you seek it out.

These communities offer a great opportunity to build deep connections and find renewed inspiration and support through shared journeys and goals.

Stop traveling for a while

It might be time to pause your travels and return home for a bit. This doesn’t have to be permanent or seen as a failure of your nomadic lifestyle. Rather, it’s a chance to hit the pause button and address any personal needs, such as mending relationships with family.

I spent nearly 18 months back in Germany to repair my relationship with my dad, gaining strength and perspective during that time.

Consider what it might be like to settle down for a while. For me, this meant returning to my home country, but your pause could look different.

Just know that taking a break from traveling is a valid option and can be a valuable part of your journey.

Assess What Does and Doesn’t Work, and Adjust

Even as digital nomads, we can fall into routines and habits that become mindless. Constant travel, repetitive interactions, and daily routines might start to feel automatic, and we could find ourselves in a rut where certain aspects of our life no longer serve us.

It’s important to periodically slow down, step back, and assess what is and isn’t working. This free guide on setting goals will, in fact, help you do that.

As we evolve, so do our needs and desires. This might require adjustments in your business, relationships, travel style, or other areas of your life.

Be open to shifting things around to better align with your current needs and goals.

Final Words

Incorporating self-care into your life as a digital nomad is essential for maintaining mental and emotional well-being amidst constant change.

By establishing routines, seeking professional support, and being mindful of what works for you, you can thrive in this dynamic lifestyle.

Remember, self-care for digital nomads isn’t just about preventing burnout; it’s about creating a fulfilling, balanced life on the road.

Embrace practices like journaling, regular exercise, and staying connected with loved ones. With intention and flexibility, you can ensure that your journey remains not just about freedom but also about sustainable happiness and health.

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Which self care routine will you incorporate into your digital nomad lifestyle? Tell me in the comments.