Mental Health and Emotional Wellness for Digital Nomads
Here's why digital nomads should create a plan for emotional well-being while traveling.
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A decade ago, I was hustling the King’s English in China. I gradually eased out of the classroom, managed to take on freelance writing assignments, and suggested to a friend that I wanted to move away from teaching as a whole.
This same friend asked me if I was trying to become a “digital nomad.”
I’d never heard of the phrase before, but as I briefly researched it, I learned that it was a term used to describe the burgeoning group of professionals who worked remotely and traveled around the world in search of fun, sun and the four-hour workweek.
Two years later, I was about that digital nomad life, handling marketing work for a childcare company. Physically, I was in Vietnam, but most of my hours were spent toiling in front of my computer in my musty Airbnb or at a coworking office space, cranking out content for the man.
I was living the laptop lifestyle and lonelier than I had been since arriving in Asia a few years earlier.
I missed teaching. I missed the classroom. I missed interacting with my students, my connection to my coworkers, flirting with female co-teachers, and my connection to local expat communities.
I was miserable.
There were evenings of salsa dancing and other evenings at the gym, but honestly, while working as a digital nomad, I had difficulty establishing meaningful relationships.
The lifestyle that I stumbled into was anything but glamorous.
Due to previous travel experience, I knew that mental health could be an issue for expats, but I started to realize that it was more severe and possibly more dangerous for digital nomads.
Why Mental Health is an issue for Digital Nomads
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According to "The Internets" there are almost 40 million digital nomads worldwide. Unlike expats working a stationary position or retirees who settle in on location and create relationships over time, a number of digital nomads are continuously on the move. Their lack of community and genuine friendship puts them at risk of isolation, contributing to mental health issues and depression.
Over the last few years, many digital nomads have started to speak out via social media and articles, admitting mental health problems while traveling and the fact that remote work wasn't what they envisioned.
Kindall Tyson, experienced traveler and therapist with Aspire Counseling and Wellness, spoke on some of the initial bouts of depression that remote travelers experience after arriving in a new country, saying, "There's a state of elation 'I did it. I've accomplished the goal!' There is a feeling of excitement.
As you persist, there's reality settling in, frustration, dealing with an adjustment, creating new routines, and you don't know what your day-to-day is going to look like.
We're dealing with sitting with ourselves and our emotions; we're going to be facing bouts of loneliness, managing adjustment issues, and depression."
That moment of sitting with ourselves and our emotions in a foreign culture for the first time can be quite overwhelming. When I first traveled internationally, I was in the camp that thought I'd escape my problems or leave them behind.
What friends and family thought was six months of paradise in Rio De Janeiro was a painful look at myself, and noticing that many of my personality flaws were exacerbated.
Speaking on remote workers and travelers dealing with emotional issues, Tyson said, "They haven't worked through what the desire is for them to go abroad, so they're running from something, and they still have to sit with that, whether they are on the beach, doing work in a beautiful place, but you're still battling isolation, you're still battling traumas that you thought going out on the road was going to cure, and it hasn't because it's an internal emotional thing. You move to a place, you don't know the landscape, and you're faced with the reality of yourself. The false expectations of 'My life is going to vastly improve' when I leave this place I don't feel happy about."
Digital nomads often have that 'Lost In Translation' moment, where they're sitting alone in their hotel or Airbnb bedroom, realizing that their location has changed, but they are the same person they were in the previous country. If you're not content with that, it can be painful. However, there is a way to work through your problems while on the road.
Adjusting to Foreign Cultures as a Digital Nomad
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When travelers arrive in a new country, there's a phase of integration, learning aspects of the culture and language, creating a social network, and adapting to day-to-day life, which is a crucial aspect of maturation as a traveler.
Problems are a part of traveling, and digital nomads should not be looking for instant gratification at any location. It takes time to sense if you're compatible with a location, and it is different for every traveler.
Emily Boland, lifelong traveler and therapist with the Truman Group, spoke on the importance of digital nomads having a reasonable timeline before giving up on a location, saying, "When you land in a place, get a calendar, and put a big red circle, 90s days out.
It does not mean you will be adjusted at day 90; what it means is that until day 90, you don't get to ask yourself, ‘Do I like it here or not? You're just there.’
In the cycle of cultural adjustment, there's the honeymoon, and then around 8-10 weeks, there's 'Oh, this isn't fantastic' and 'I miss home a bit.'
It can also be 16 weeks. If people are chronically moving during that cultural adjustment process, then they never get to the other end of it where they're culturally adjusted.
Some people can navigate a cycle in 3-4 months; it can sometimes take much longer than that, depending on the place and the person."
Months on the road without cultural adjustment and frequently moving can result in or contribute to other emotional problems.
Signs of Depression
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During my six years abroad, there have been instances when I've dealt with bouts of depression. It may be hard to identify at first, but nomads should be mindful of changes in their behavior and any negative thought patterns.
Speaking of early signs of depression, Bowland explained, "I think the biggest thing is for people to trust themselves. We know when our internal barometers are off. Let's say we're someone who typically wakes up at 8 a.m., and you're chronically sleeping till noon. If you typically eat three meals a day, and all of a sudden you're eating seven or not at all, there's a lot of those kinds of markers."
Speaking about additional indicators of depression, Tyson added on, saying, "A heaviness, a lethargy—feelings of despair. You're isolating yourself more. You're not really enjoying things that you once enjoyed; you withdraw, you're struggling with sleep, and your eating habits are fluctuating.
You're using substances or whatever else to numb the difficult feeling that you're experiencing—thoughts of death. I know many people who've had thoughts of suicide, especially when the weather changes.
If people don't realize what those emotions look like for themselves, they can experience depression, and when left untreated, it can lead to horrible outcomes."
When nomads are alone and depressed, there are very few people who can understand them and their struggles.
Digital nomad turned therapist Matt Walsh, with On The Road Therapy, explained, "A lot of people I work with, if they don't have a supportive family, they say, 'My family doesn't get it, my friends don't get it. I'm afraid to talk to other digital nomads about my struggles because everyone is having a good time.'
You don't want to admit to anything, so I've got no one to share how you're truly feeling."
Very few people will understand the emotional struggles of a digital nomad; most remote workers don't open up to casual acquaintances on the road, which is another reason why online therapy is necessary for emotional well-being.
Unresolved Trauma from COVID-19
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As an experienced traveler, I'm noticing an elephant in the room for digital nomads. Many of us haven't dealt with our trauma from the pandemic.
Whether it was isolation, loss of friends or family, and the deterioration of relationships, we still haven't healed. In the wake of the pandemic, there's been an abnormal increase in travel globally, perhaps in an attempt to hide emotional issues.
Speaking on the trauma associated with COVID-19, Tyson said, "As humans, we are not made for that intense prolonged isolation. We try to find ways to escape those feelings of loneliness, grief, despair, and hopelessness. Covid is like this backpack of things and thoughts and experiences, and if we don't take the time to sit down and think empathetically, it's going to follow us."
During the pandemic, I first started therapy and used it during my travels. It provided me with the opportunity to start working through problems that I had been dealing with for several years.
"COVID changed everything; it changed how we think about being an expat or nomad. In my experience, people have a realistic view of what life might be like.
The challenge is that when they come in, it's rarely because 'I moved to a foreign country, and it's harder than I thought.' They usually say, 'I moved to this foreign country, and this stuff that has always been an issue is still an issue, and I need help with it,'" explained Bowland.
Still, there are those who are interested in the digital nomad lifestyle, due to the idyllic articles and videos.
The False Realities of Travel Content Creators
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COVID also birthed a number of travel content creators who've flooded social media with a warped reality of travel and tried to hustle the digital nomad lifestyle.
Some content creators speak about the realities of their digital nomad lifestyle and are honest about their struggles on the road. However, they are in the minority; what sells is the illusion of an ongoing vacation, encouraging others to pursue a life abroad.
"People want to create the illusion that things are great. It's a smoke and mirrors sometimes; when you go to different places, there's this illusion that life is going to improve because I'm somewhere different; it can if you've prepared," explained Tyson.
As an experienced traveler and nomad, I'm the first to admit that life does not improve because you've changed locations. Travel is not a substitution for therapy.
Very few content creators talk about or share their negative experiences or emotional problems with their audience in totality.
Speaking about travel content creators, Walsh added, "It would be better if they had more open conversations about the pros and cons. It can be a wonderful lifestyle; let's not pretend it's perfect. There are tradeoffs, and you need to go into them with your eyes open. It's a shame because, with more balanced content, people would be better prepared."
Digital nomads or potential remote workers should view emotional health and therapy as part of their proactive plans for a successful life abroad.
This way, they are prepared for issues as they arise while traveling. You may be in a stable mental state during your journey, or most of it, but problems arise. A professional can help you work through issues.
Plan for Emotional Well-Being while Nomading
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I wish I had included emotional health and therapy in my travel plans earlier on; it would have saved me a lot of pain and confusion and kept me grounded. Despite that, I'm glad remote work was something that I stumbled into and only pursued the lifestyle with prior travel experience.
Speaking on gracefully entering the digital nomad lifestyle, Tyson said, "I have people who come to me and say, 'I'm going to go and live abroad'. I say, 'That's great, let's create a plan.'
Do a long weekend in Mexico, Costa Rica, or Guatemala. You can ease into it instead of dumping yourself cold into it because that will not be helpful. Anything that you want to work for you, you need to plan for it. You won't be able to plan everything, but there are things you can plan for.
So that there's more success in being able to care for yourself, thrive in your work and connect with individuals, and be mentally well when you venture into nomading, slow or fast, expat or being an immigrant."
Even if you plan, problems will arise when least expected. Not everyone, or every traveler, is prepared for the nomadic lifestyle; others who are experienced still can benefit from therapy.
"If you're doing it [Digital Nomading] as a lifestyle, you need to have a robust sense of self. With my first experiences, I got paranoid out there. There was less mental health awareness at that time.
Definitely these days, it should be on your checklist. Get something in place, and talk to someone about the reasons why you're going and what your expectations are. Some people end up with no meaning or purpose, and they just go from place to place," explained Walsh.
Mental Health and Consideration for Slomading
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When you do decide to take the nomadic plunge, you can create a schedule for yourself that contributes towards mental health, Tyson explained saying "Making sure that you're taking care of your basic needs. Eating, sleeping, exercising, hydration, and connection. A safe, supportive, engaging community. Are you connecting to your support system back home?"
A schedule and plan will allow nomads to create positive associations.
"I think the starting point for people I work with is a routine. A routine is the frame. When we have a routine, usually, a community comes out of that", explained Bowland.
The challenges associated with travel and life never end, however therapy can help tremendously, a professional can help you work through your emotional problems and create solutions for you to work out of any issues you're dealing with.
"I know some nomads who've done great therapy work while moving around. They need to commit to do the work", explained Walsh.
The most successful digital nomads I've met are those who went the slow nomad (Slomading) route. Instead of heading to a new country every few weeks, they worked remotely in one location and established themselves in a community and became better travelers.
"I know some nomads who've said, 'I need some stability now, and the real work that I did, it came from being in one place,'" explained Walsh.
So yeah, there are different ways to approach and adjust to the digital nomad lifestyle. Definitely don't rush in; test the waters with smaller trips, plan, travel, and proactively consider mental health options for your journey.
If you do, you'll make sense of the sometimes and quite often dysfunctional laptop lifestyle, the digital nomad life, and in the process, become a successful traveler.
Online Therapy Resources
Kindall Tyson - Aspire Counseling & Wellness
Matt Walsh – On The Road Therapy