Writer. Expat. Foodie.
When we lived in the United States, it was easier because Greg belonged to a gym and I had some equipment at home. That all changed when we sold it all to move around the world.
We’re living the dream we had. We sold it all and moved abroad to live a digital nomad life. It’s working, more specifically, we’re working. We’re making it happen.
We originally decided to live a digital nomad life, as a family, because we could. We both essentially work from laptops and there was no reason to stay tied to Arizona.
We homeschool our daughter so that wasn’t a factor either. In the following picture we’re investigating a dead bat that was brought to us as a gift from the cat of the house.
We wanted to run and explore the world. We wanted to move around and change it up on a regular basis. And. We wanted to save money. Living abroad, in many places, makes it easier to save money if you’re living the digital nomad life.
So, here we are moving around Europe at a pretty quick clip, living a digital nomad lifestyle. Taking trains and planes (I can’t decide which I like better, though probably trains). We’re trying different areas and seeing if we fancy anyplace in particular to stay longer.
I heard someone describe it: speed dating countries.
[Read more…] about My Digital Nomad Life (So Far)
As a digital nomad, traveling and staying fit doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, for me, fitness is a priority now. I have finally, in my 40s, figured out one of the things that makes me feel the best.
Sound silly? Like, who doesn’t feel great when they’re fit?
It’s more than that for me thought.
I’ve had many periods in my life where I relaxed my exercise, and I cut loose with my food choices. In these times my body composition changed. I put on a few pounds. I had some softness around the midsection. No big deal, right?
In fact, that’s what I kept saying, “No big deal, I’m still in good shape.”
I see women of all shapes and think the ones with curves are very pretty and just as attractive as those without them. In those times I encourage myself that it’s ok I have gained a few pounds. It never gets higher than about five pounds anyway.
Then, I figured something out. I realized that I regularly go back and forth with the same five pounds. Get too relaxed with food and exercise, gain a few pounds, feel kind of “off” and not comfortable in my clothes (I’ve always disliked anything tight on my waist – even back in high school I always opted for a baggier waisted option, something that hung a bit more lose.)
Then, I’d lose the few pounds, which required exercise and good food, feel AWESOME.
Back and forth. Again and again.
After leaving to travel the world, my soft waist came back from lack of exercise and my eating changed to omnivore with mostly good choices, but not good enough to maintain my treasured leanness.
I feel STRONG!
To be clear, it’s not about being skinny for me. I don’t want to be skinny. It’s not a body image disorder, at least I don’t think so.
I’m into a strong and lean body for me. Tight.
It’s very much about how I feel physically inside my body and outside. I have this total bad-ass feeling when I’m in really good shape. I feel like I’m in control of my life. I don’t feel lazy. And, I think there’s something to that.
So, I finally said to my self, “SELF! I figured out something that positively benefits my life experience, and that is to be lean and strong.”
[Read more…] about 4 Tips for Staying Fit While Traveling the World (Digital Nomad)
When it comes to fitness, I’m the kind of gal who typically likes to just get into the gym and do my thing. I lift weights (pretty heavy) and I do my fair share of cardio to get a nice sweat going. I like to change it up though. As with food, variety is a key ingredient to staying motivated with exercise. I mean…who are we kidding? There are usually other things people would rather be doing than exercising – that is until NOW!
Here is one of my favorite ways to exercise while having FUN at the same time. Exercise-Fun? Oxymoron some of you are saying??? I think not! This is the perfect activity for all of you who regard exercise as a 4-letter word (you know who you are). It’s rebounding! This is one of my all-time favorite ways to get my lymph circulating, heart rate up and have FUN at the same time! Seriously.
Having a rebounder in your living room by the TV is a great way to get more exercise into your life without ever having to step foot in a gym if you don’t want to. It doesn’t matter what level of exercise you’re used to (or not used to, I should say – haha).
The proof is in the pudding…It even worked on my mom! She was one of those people who hated exercise (4-letter word is what she’d say to me in response when I would tell her she needs to do it more). True story here – She went to meet her husband at the gym to work out, but she didn’t feel like exercising because she hated it. So, here is what she did. She arrived at the gym a few minutes early, went to the water fountain and splashed water on her face. Then, when her husband arrived to work out, she said, “WHEW! I’ve been here for a while now, just had a great work out, sweatin’ my butt off, as you can tell. Well, I’m heading home now.”
So, you see…she has always hated exercise until now. Ever since she started jumping on her rebounder, she’s HOOKED! She loves it. It’s helping her lose weight, giving her confidence, and making her feel better than ever.
Here is what she does: Every day while she’s making her juice, she sets her kitchen timer in 15-minute increments. Every time it goes off during her time in the kitchen juicing, she jumps on her rebounder for 5-minutes (that’s all it takes to start getting a good workout). She’ll do this a few times a day and before you know it, she’s had some great physical activity to take her health to a whole new level. It’s quick, fun, and effective. Personally, I like to keep mine in front of the TV so I can jump on it during commercials.
Here’s a popular Rebounder. Have Fun!!!
Here it is, after one o’clock in the morning and I am still buzzing with energy. It must have been that delicious Super Star Chocolate Vanilla Power Smoothie I made earlier. Or, maybe it was my Blueberry Omnipotent Smoothie (water, frozen blueberries, hemp protein powder, maca powder, Vitamineral Green Powder, cinnamon)…Or maybe it was the awesome salad sandwich I had for dinner. Who knows, but here I am, still buzzing with beautiful energy so I thought I’d do a little planning for my Saturday.
It’s been a wonderful day! The sun was shining bright, the sky was brilliantly blue, and I was filled with vibrant energy all day long. Lovely.
Exercise:
I didn’t get to the gym, so I jumped rope 3 separate times (2-3 minutes each). I followed each jump rope session with a set of 35 push-ups and a set of walking lunges down my street. I wore my ankle weights all day, everywhere. And, my dog walked me around our big block twice.
Food:
Breakfast: 4 cups smoothie (1 cup water, 3 bananas, 3/4 pound strawberries, 2 tbsp fresh rosemary and dill combined)
Dinner: veggie bowl of 4 cups diced carrots and cucumbers, 1 cup packed alfalfa sprouts, 1/4 cup fresh basil, and 1/4 cup mustard seed dressing
Dessert: large piece of pumpkin pie