Jan. 10, 2023

How to Improve Your Health & Wellness By Moving Abroad

How to Improve Your Health & Wellness By Moving Abroad

Can moving abroad improve your health and wellness? Tune in as Kristin speaks with a registered nurse about how different lifestyles in different countries impact your health, wellness, and quality of life.

Can moving abroad improve your health and wellness? Tune in as Kristin speaks with a registered nurse about how different lifestyles in different countries impact your health, wellness, and quality of life. Plus, how the culture in the society you grew up in (and live in) can affect your health long-term. 

 

“Just being aware that a lot of your lifestyle is also imprinted by the culture of the society is the first step. This is like an awareness that many of your daily habits can actually be pushed upon you by the culture that you live in. So, you’re also finding a lot more people who are nearing retirement age who are opting to move to different countries so they can have a better quality of life and they can have more affordable healthcare.” - Kristin Wilson

 

EPISODE 189 SPECIAL OFFERS:

 

EPISODE 189 TOPICS DISCUSSED:

  • Increasing your health and wellness by moving to a new city or country
  • Food quality in the US versus abroad
  • Major cultural differences that impact health and wellness: Food, exercise, pace of life, and more.
  • Reasons why people in Blue Zones live longer, happier lives.
  • Finding balance between stimulation and rest.
  • Why food and produce are better outside of the US.
  • How lengthy commuting contributes to an unhealthy lifestyle.
  • How labor laws impact American workers compared to other countries.
  • Health insurance
  • Protecting your physical and mental health at home and abroad
  • The dangers of non-US countries adopting American work and lifestyle practices.
  • Kristin also shares her experience with severe burnout and how that health crisis led her to move to Costa Rica and never look back.
  • Kristin contrasts the lifestyle of the 60 countries she’s lived/worked in with the lifestyle of the United States.

 

RESOURCES

Related Videos:

 

Related Podcasts:

 

Destinations: 

  • Asheville, NC
  • Henderson, NC
  • Knoxville, TN
  • San Jose, CA
  • Sparta Michigan
  • Traverse City, Michigan
  • Blue Zones

Connect with Nurse Julie and Nurse Kathy on Nurse Table Talk

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Connect with Kristin: 

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Support the Badass Digital Nomads Podcast:

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A special thank you to Kristin's Patrons!

Become a Patron for $5/month at Patreon.com/travelingwithkristin

 

Transcript

Sneak Peak

 

Kristin    00:00:00    Even if you want to live a healthy lifestyle, you want to be healthy, the environment is not set up to encourage that, right? And so I took a job in Costa Rica where I could give myself a little bit of a break and have a different lifestyle, and I basically never came back.

 

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.  

 

Kristin Wilson, Host    00:00:38    Hey there, Kristin, from Traveling with Kristin here and welcome to episode 189 of Badass Digital Nomads. Today we're doing something a little bit different on the show and I have an interview of a listener and a YouTube subscriber interviewing me about how to take better care of your health and wellness in a traveling lifestyle or in an expat lifestyle. And this is by nurse Julie from the podcast Nurse Table Talk. And she saw one of my YouTube videos about How I see the US After Living Abroad. She was sharing it with her friends. She felt really inspired and she reached out to me to invite me on her podcast about health and wellness. And so I was inspired by her being on the edge of retirement, I believe she said, and starting this side hustle of a podcast. And she was telling me, as you'll hear in the conversation, how it was way outside of her comfort zone to do that.  

 

Kristin    00:01:53    But I thought that she just really embodied the spirit of what we value on badass digital nomads, which I'm sure a lot of you can relate to if you've ever wanted to pivot in your career at any one time or another. We're all multifaceted people and so I always love talking to people who have a profession in one field, but they have passions and goals in other fields. And so I wanted to help support her. And then also I thought the conversation was interesting and wanted to share it with you as well. So it was great talking with Julie, not just about health and wellness, but also work-life balance and even the societal impact on our health and wellness because health is not just physical health, it's also our mental health, our emotional health. And so we kind of get into why the US specifically, but also other countries now as well are facing so many of these different health crises and how it stems from our lifestyle today.  

 

Kristin    00:03:03    And then what steps we can do to fix that. We have more choices now about how we prevent disease and also how we can heal In this day and age, we're facing a lot of challenges, but we also have a lot more choices. And so hopefully this conversation gives you some more ideas about how you can make small choices that have big impact in your life. Another thing we talk about is countries that have a social safety net and how that impacts their population.

 

Safety Wing

 

And you know, one company that's creating a global social safety net for remote workers and digital nomads and world travelers and global citizens alike is Safety Wing. And we had the founder of Safety Wing, the co-founder on the podcast that I'll link to in the show notes, but they're also our sponsor for today. And a unique thing about Safety Wing is that not only do they have great products like their remote health insurance for remote teams and remote workers, and also their super affordable international travel medical insurance plans, but also you can actually become a Safety Wing ambassador and you can earn extra income by just sharing about safety wing insurance.  

 

Kristin    00:04:34    So there are thousands of travelers and online business owners and entrepreneurs and content creators and just regular people from countries all around the world who are earning an extra side income every month by talking about Nomad Insurance on their website or blog or social media or in their newsletters. And it's really easy and free and fast to sign up. You can become an ambassador in under five minutes by using the link in the show notes. And you can start earning a 10% fee on all sales of Nomad Insurance that you refer to Safety Wing using your unique affiliate link. So there's no special qualifications. You can just apply through the link and the show notes And, and this type of referral income or affiliate marketing is one of the top 10 passive income side hustles that I talked about in one of my new YouTube videos that went viral. And it's something that anyone can do. So if you're looking for ways to add a new income stream to your life while supporting a super cool company that's on a mission to build the world's first global social safety net, then head on over to the link and the show notes, give it a look and sign up now while you're listening to this episode. So check it out, enjoy and see you on the other side.  

 

Podcast Interview:

 

Julie    00:06:08    Where are you at? Where are you located? Are you in Florida or California? Where are you?  

Kristin    00:06:12    I'm in Miami.  

Julie    00:06:13    Oh, okay. Okay. That's  awesome

Kristin    00:06:15    and where are you?  

Julie    00:06:16    I'm in Knoxville, Tennessee.  

Kristin    00:06:19    Oh, very nice. I have a client there.  

Julie    00:06:21    Yeah. And I just moved to Knoxville St. Patty's day of this year and we had moved from Michigan to North Carolina and we did that um, 10 months ago. And then the housing was such a, a mess that we just, we were looking at four states, so I'm kind of a nomad in a sense, but not to your degree. Okay. <laugh>. But we were looking at North Carolina, Tennessee Tech, uh, Florida and South Carolina, and we landed in Knoxville.  

Kristin    00:06:49    And so are you a remote nurse?  

Julie    00:06:51    I am. So I'm kind of retired, but I'm really not cuz I'm doing this. And, um, I have my licenses. I keep up my credentials. I'm a dietician also, but nursing was my, um, nursing was my, it's my principal thing, profession that I'm, that I'm doing. But I, right before I retired two years ago, I worked as a nurse case manager in an insurance company and did some, um, case management with Wasaw County, which is outside of Ann Arbor in Michigan. Worked for University of Michigan as a medical nurse case manager. And then before that I worked at U of M in the hospitals and St. Joe's and Ann Arbor floated through their system. So I did some bedside nursing, and then as I got older or more seasoned or whatever you wanna call it, <laugh> we're as young as we feel. But then I decided to transition into more of a less physical type environment.  

Kristin    00:07:50    And what inspired you to start Nurse table talk?  

Julie    00:07:54    Um, you know, we had, we had, um, we had, we were dealing with a Medicare population through the insurance company. That's what they were focused on. And there were so many gaps in resources and people, people wanna stay healthy and they wanna stay in their own home. And when they get chronic health conditions like diabetes or kidney, kidney failure, um, things like that, they don't have the, they didn't know about the resources out there that would allow them to remain independent in their own home for a longer period of time. So that was our job to help them stay independent. And, and then when, when Kathy and I both moved, it just kind of happened and, um, we decided, I said, Hey, you know, if you're moving and I'm moving, we could do this and just kind of try it and see what happens. Kristin, I don't even like my picture taken. She's kind of more natural in front of the camera than I am, but we we're kind of morphing to kind of see where, where it goes and we'll see, you know, it's, it's, it's been fun. I am not as into the technology as you guys are. Like, my kids are like all over it, you know? So, but it's been fun. It, it makes me feel like I am participating in some way, you know?  

Kristin    00:09:13    Yeah. I think it's great that you started this, you know, in semi-retirement and going from the medical field into following this idea and this passion of having your own, uh, YouTube channel and interview series about your area of expertise and the health industry. And that's something that definitely is very confusing in the United States and Oh, it's, it's part of my travels have been uncovering alternative healthcare options. So,  

Julie    00:09:44    And, and, and really I focused in on those videos for you and there's another, um, channel that I watched that they just moved to Portugal and it's a, uh, called, it'll be Fun about a couple that just moved there. And they were talking about the, the other options of healthcare be as far as insurance because it's super expensive here and you're not working and you're not 65, you're in that gap, which is where I fall and the premiums are like off the top, they're off the charts. But anyway. Yeah. I don't want you to feel rushed or anything. I was really, I'm enjoying your conversation and what you do it, it's just awesome. And so, um, anyway, I just wanted to share that, but you do a fabulous job and I just thank you're a great entrepreneur, just so you know.  

Kristin    00:10:35    Thank you, <laugh>. 

Julie    00:10:37    All right. So hello and welcome to Nurse Table Talk. I'm Nurse Julie and I have a special guest today. Her name is Kristin. And Kristin has a YouTube channel called Traveling with Kristin. And today we are going to discuss how different lifestyles, um, may impact our health and wellness. So Kristin, thanks for, you know, coming and being a guest on our channel.  

Kristin    00:11:01    Thanks so much for inviting me, Julie. Happy to be here. And as I mentioned, my mom is a nurse, so I grew up in the healthcare industry, <laugh>, and so I am, there's a special place in my heart for everyone who's a healthcare worker. So thank you for what you do.  

Julie    00:11:18    Oh, thank you. And thank you for what you do. I'm learning. It's exciting. But anyway, so let's get started and maybe you could share a bit about you and your accomplishments, and there are many, so, and our viewers would be interested in hearing about that.  

Kristin    00:11:35    Sure. So my name is Kristin Wilson. I'm from Florida originally, and I have been living abroad pretty much full-time since the early two thousands. So I've spent about 20 years of my life in different countries, and I've worked in a variety of different things in real estate. I've had an international remote relocation company where I help people move to different countries. And I've been doing that since 2011. And more recently in 2018 and 2019, I started a YouTube channel called Traveling with Kristin to showcase how I travel around the world and support myself with a remote income that allows me to live and work anywhere. And in 2019, I started a podcast called Badass Digital Nomads that tells how other people do the same thing. So how do people live a location, independent lifestyle? How do they work remotely so that they can live in anywhere that they want in the world, work on their own schedule. And as we've seen during the pandemic, millions of other people have now been able to experience the same thing. And so the videos on YouTube and the podcast help people to acquire this lifestyle as well as through the consulting that I do with people one-on-one and in groups. And then now as of August of 2022, my first book is out that teaches people how to do pretty much the same thing called Digital Nomads for Dummies.  

Julie    00:13:06    And I, I, I will be purchasing one of, you know, your books. So  

Kristin    00:13:10    It's on sale now,  

Julie    00:13:12    <laugh>. That's awesome. So with all your travels, and I believe I saw that you, you lived abroad for the 15 years, like you mentioned or so, and, but you worked or lived in about 60 different countries. So can you share some of your observations about when you came back and returned to United States, what your observations were, you know, in comparison, you know, the United States lifestyle versus maybe some of your other countries in general terms? Of course.  

Kristin    00:13:47    Yeah. So I had actually a health crisis before I moved abroad. So in the fall of 2004, I believe it was, I was in grad school and I had a massive burnout as like a 21 year old college student, basically. And I really believe that it was due to the conditions that I was living in, in a high pressure environment, going to school, full-time, working, trying to be healthy, but not sleeping enough, drinking too much caffeine, um, just really running myself down at such an early age. And that was a wake up call for me, that that lifestyle wasn't sustainable. And so that health crisis so early in my life caused me to ask myself, if I'm burning out now, what's gonna happen when I'm 40 or 50? Right? And so I took a job in Costa Rica where I could give myself a little bit of a break and have a different lifestyle.  

Kristin    00:14:51    And I basically never came back. I mean, I've lived in Miami now during the pandemic, but that, um, that changed my life completely. And living in these other 60 countries, I was exposed to different ways of living, different ways of doing things, different foods. Um, and I think it made me a healthier person overall. And I'm happy to say now at 40, I haven't had any more burnouts. I actually had a seizure and I haven't ever had one again. And I think it's because I never had that lifestyle that was really a dead end street right? To what so many people experience in the United States. We have such high levels of everything, anything bad that can happen, you know, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, like so many things. And I think that it's a lot attributed to the, the standard American diet, which is called the sad diet for short and also the standard American lifestyle.  

Kristin    00:15:53    And the first place I moved was the Nacoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, which by complete coincidence is what's called a blue zone. So these are areas throughout the world that have the highest levels of longevity, the highest, uh, percentage of centenarians in one place. So more people that live to be a hundred years old than any other place in the world. And if you search online for blue zones, you can read about what that entails, and it has to do with your lifestyle, it has to do with food, it has to do with community and all of these different factors and markers that can increase your wellbeing and increase your lifespan. And I've been fortunate to experience that in, in Costa Rica, throughout Central America, also in the Mediterranean, we've all heard about the Mediterranean diet, right? And I've spent a lot of time in Europe, which also I think has a healthier lifestyle, a better food system, better quality of food, and people walk a lot there and use public transportation versus in the US we sit in cars a lot.  

Kristin    00:17:03    And so whereas everyone around the world is familiar with sitting behind screens for long hours of the day, um, I I just think in the US it's more about, um, it's a more sedentary lifestyle that the environment is structured around versus in other countries. And so, um, yeah, I was able to spend more time in nature, more time in the fresh air, eating healthier food. And I think that that's contributed to a, just a, a better quality of life and better health markers compared to if I had taken a different path where I went directly into working in a cubicle under fluorescent lights all day and commuting to work and going to happy hour every day and eating the regular American diet.  

Julie    00:17:52    Yeah. Um, no, it was really refreshing. And like you mentioned, um, we have a very fast pace of life here. And I mean, you wanna, we wanna be stimulated, but we don't wanna be burning ourselves into the ground either  and, uh, you know, I tell my children, Hey, take care of yourself. It, it can catch up with you. You need good sleep. Like you mentioned Kristin, the healthy food. And it, it's just, it's tough. I mean, it's just the way of life here. And so when I saw your video, the video that you have called, and I'm gonna quote it how I see the US after living abroad for 15 years, what you have just discussed is it was very inspiring to me to reassure that the valid, it validated my thoughts that I've had for a couple of years. You know, so I, I just, you know, when you talked about, one thing in particular in that video that you, that you talked about was when you sat down for lunch, people enjoyed their food, the pace that they ate was great, and you might even have a glass of wine. I'm not encouraging wine on this video, okay, <laugh>. But, but you were able to enjoy and taste the foods that you were eating. And as a dietician, that hit home with me too. So  

Kristin    00:19:12    Yeah, I just had a guess on my podcast that actually are listeners of the pod of my podcast, and they are subscribers on my YouTube channel, and they are living in Bulgaria right now. And we were talking about how many fruit trees there are there that are just naturally growing on the sides of the road and how they step on cherries when they walk down the sidewalk. I mean, how many places in the US do you have apples and peaches and plums and raspberries and things growing on the side of the road? Not many places, at least I've never seen it. And so that's the kind of access to fresh local foods that you have. And at the market, it's cherry season or it's blueberries or strawberries and you just eat more locally and things come from closer. There's more organic options available. And also the cost of the food is lower.  

Kristin    00:20:05    So my grocery bill has tripled since I've moved back to the United States. And I think one of the big barriers for people in the us, even if you want to live a healthy lifestyle, you want to be healthy, the environment is not set up to encourage that. Even if you want to live a healthy lifestyle, you want to be healthy. The environment is not set up to encourage that. You have to really go out of your way to uncover the information of what does it mean to be healthy, which is not following the US food pyramid or the US food guidelines. I don't believe that those are in the best interest of our, of our health and wellbeing. Um, and then you go to the grocery store and almost everything in the middle of the grocery store is bad for you, <laugh>, because it's full of sugar and it's processed foods and it's refined flours and corn and grains, you know, GMO corn and, and then the produce is all laced with pesticides.  

Kristin    00:21:07    And, and so you really have to have a bigger budget, a bigger food budget, and you have to really spend years educating yourself on what to eat, what to not eat, and then, you know, go out of your way to get your 10,000 steps per day or whatever it is that you wanna do to be healthy for you. And so I found it much easier in other countries to make better food choices and to just naturally get more walking in, you know, walking around the cities in Europe or going for a hike up the mountain every day in Bulgaria. And whether I'm living in Costa Rica where the sun comes up earlier, so the sun rises at 5, 5:30 in the morning, and so you're just naturally up and out and about you go for a walk on the beach, you have a fresh juice made with pineapple and banana, fresh orange juice versus packaged juice where you're retaining more of the nutrients.  

Kristin    00:22:05    And I think all of those little things add up to just in general, having a better, healthier balance in your life. And I've found that since coming back to the US I have to make a much more conscious intentions and decisions around working out. Luckily, there's a lot of gyms, there's a lot of opportunities to work out in the us that's one of the benefits of being here. But yeah, when it comes to food, you know, cooking more, making healthier choices versus ordering Uber Eats or delivery or all going to all of the chain restaurants that are surrounding <laugh>, you know, Taco Bell, McDonald's, there's like chain restaurants on every corner. And it can be really tempting to just go through the Chick-fil-A drive-through versus cooking. And in a lot of places I lived there, those restaurants didn't even exist so well.  

Julie    00:22:54    And, and that's the big difference is there's a lot of consumerism here, like you had mentioned. And you know, as far as fruits and vegetables, we do have 'em, they're in season, but the way that the US is, is spread out and people have to commute in their cars, like you mentioned, and spend time in their cars. And so that takes away from your commute to work or back home and traffic. And that alone can add to your stress or anxiety or whatever. But then that takes away from something, there's, you have to make other choices. Do I have time to get to the gym before I go to work? And then at home, you know, on your way home, you might have to pick up the kids at daycare and then get them dinner, whatever somebody's lifestyle is, right? So it all cuts, it all cuts into your the time that a person has. But where you were talking about the other countries, um, they're set up more, like you said, for there's more walking involved in the European countries or where you've been. It's, it's just different here. And that's why I wanted to, you know, have you and talk, talk about this and kind of bring it to everybody's attention that they have to try and make an effort to do that. It's just hard to me, it's a little bit harder here to do that.  

Kristin    00:24:21    Another  factor that people don't talk about is the labor rights issue. There's a massive difference in the workday, the standard workday in other countries versus the US. And let's be honest, a lot of people in the US don't get the breaks that they're supposed to get on paper. They don't have time to take breaks. A lot of people, especially nurses, don't even get an official lunch break, right? And they just work through those breaks or they're eating lunch, standing up on the run at their desk, right? And that would be unheard of in a lot of countries, their labor laws are so much tighter that they get a lunch break and it's like everyone gets the lunch break, you're not required to work and you can sue your employer if they don't give you your lunch break. Whereas here, you could just like lose your job then if you tried to sue your employer.  

Kristin    00:25:15    And so, yeah, I mean that's also very important as well that people in other countries get more time off and they get longer holidays, which adds up, right? When you get six weeks of vacation a year versus one or two weeks of vacation. And a lot of people in the US also aren't getting a livable wage or they're working for minimum wage and so they have two jobs and now they're more stressed and more burnt out and less likely to eat healthier. All of these factors compound and end up in the situation that we have in our healthcare system today And unfortunately, a lot of other countries are adopting an American mentality and they're having more chain restaurants than other countries as well that come from the US. And so that is going to impact them negatively as well. The more the US exports our culture and our way of life, they're going to start having, or they already are having some of the same ramifications and, and results that we are experiencing in the US. And it wasn't always like this in the us it's only been in recent decades with modern day life and more technology And the food system changing and, and everything becoming like more convenience oriented,  

Julie    00:26:38    Right? And you know, Kristin, I'm hoping the US adopts the other, some of the European lifestyles are that we as workers in the US address it and, you know, address it with the employers and employers want to retain good talent and help. And so I, I don't know, it just makes sense. But when I saw your videos circling back when I saw your videos on your comparisons, I just think Kristin's video is, please watch, it is just very educational and maybe there's things we can do in our life, our, our lifestyles to help make these changes here so that people can take time. Maybe employers can help by, you know, it used to be where you had sick time and pto time as separate, and they combine that. But when people have families and you have caregivers for parents, you know, some young people are, are taking care of their, of their parents or you know, other family members or they have children that cut— and, and they get sick, that cuts in on the time that they can take and make for themselves.  

Julie    00:27:45    So I, I just really, you know, thank you for this conversation today. Um, and like you said, there were a couple of things like how can people, you know, take time for themselves? That's almost a whole new video that Kathy and I could talk about. But just a few things, like you said, exercise, pay attention to your diet. Mediterranean diet as a dietician is a great diet, and your doctor –physicians I'm sure would agree with that <laugh>, you know, but you know, people can listen to music, meditate, uh, be mindful, be in the present, pay attention, and that kind of, if you're in the present and be mindful of your day, you might find ways in your day to do some of the things that Kristin shared on helping make us have a healthier lifestyle.  

Kristin    00:28:34    Well, another thing that people should be aware of that no one really talks about, not all, is the, the cultural implications and the impact that that has on your health. So what do I mean by that? The us every country has its own culture that can be more driven, more ambitious, more goal-oriented, more individualistic. And the US we pride ourselves on being very independent on not needing help from anyone and not needing help from the government or other people. And that is ingrained in us as a society, but not all societies are that way. And so there's pros and cons to the culture that every country has, but just being aware that a lot of your lifestyle is also imprinted by the culture of the society is the first step. This is like an awareness that many of your daily habits can actually be pushed upon you by the culture that you live in.  

Kristin    00:29:36    And when you mentioned take being a caregiver, taking care of your parents in other societies, a lot of people live with their parents for longer and then take care of their parents, but it's a more community oriented, like more collectivist society where that burden is not just being taken by one person, but it's also where the government has other programs and more of a social safety net in place compared to the US where if you, you know, with a social security income, you can't afford to pay for healthcare and things like that. And so the US, I don't know what the statistic is, but I believe the US has more nursing homes and assisted living facilities per capita than other countries in the world because of our culture, because of our mentality. And um, then people have to pay thousands, tens of thousands of dollars per month.  

Kristin    00:30:38    It could be seven, eight, $10,000 per month to go into these assisted living facilities. Whereas in other cultures, more of the family and relatives can share, like taking care of the elders and the family. And so that's also a factor as well. And I don't think that most, uh, nursing homes and assisted living facilities are set up for people to thrive in their later years in life. And so you're also finding a lot of more people who are nearing retirement age, who are opting to move to different countries so that they can have a better quality of life and they can have more affordable healthcare and they can, um, you know, live these extra decades of their life in a place where they can focus on their health and wellbeing and getting out of more of like the toxic rat race and culture that can be present in the us.  

Kristin    00:31:27    And now there is ways to live healthily anywhere in the world, but you know, when you really start to open your mind to all of the different factors that are at play and think long-term about how the society, how the healthcare system, how the food supply, how all of these things are at, at work in your day-to-day life, you can start to identify what is helping me, what is hurting me, and then you can say, how can I make a better choice regarding this one thing regarding your employer that you're working for your work schedule, your income, your health insurance, your healthcare options, your food options, your exercise. There's certain things that are in your control, certain things that are out of your control. So it's just building one positive habit at a time and starting with what you can do with, you know, buying healthy food in your budget, taking mental health breaks. Also recognizing that mental health is a problem that's more prevalent in some countries rather than others. Yeah. And knowing that it's not necessarily your fault that it could be all these other things that are going on. And so, so, uh, yeah, just being more, more mindful of that and also more aware of all of like the real, like bigger picture macroeconomic things in your environment that can contribute or take away from your health and wellbeing and your happiness.  

Julie    00:32:55    Yeah, no, I, I totally agree with you. We all have choices. We all have to make those choices to the best of our ability. Are we gonna be perfect? No, but you know, it starts with little changes. By the way, I wanted to mention when you talked about the fruits along the roadside in that I'm circling back again when I've moved a couple of times in the United States and I was not aware of the, uh, the fruits that were grown in these areas. So one city that I lived in that had great apples, I kid you not, they grow 22 apples, 22 varieties of apples, Sparta, Michigan,  

Kristin    00:33:36    Okay

Julie    00:33:37    back  then. And then I moved to Henderson, North Carolina or that area around Asheville, and they also grow apples. And then Traverse City, Michigan grows–tra –grow grows cherries. So I just wanted to mention that. I know it's way off the topic, but it was, they're fun cities to go to and um, you know, I had to mention that about our fruits.  

Kristin    00:33:58    Yeah, I remember having an apple the first time I had an apple off the tree was in an apple at almond orchard in near San Jose, California, I think. Oh yeah. And it was so good, <laugh>, it's such a big difference.  

Julie    00:34:13    It really makes a difference and, and tasting locals produce and the foods that they, you know, bake or meats that they, you know, grow or, you know, through their animals or whatever. And I'm not saying I'm, I'm not, you know, I understand people are vegan, but just the local agriculture that you had talked about, it's, it's huge. So we wanna, yeah, we wanna support our farmers, that's for sure.

Kristin    00:34:41    Yeah. Make those choices to, you know, when you're putting what you're putting in your body, you can make that decision based on your health. And also knowing like, and whose best interest is it that you eat this or that food? You know, if foods are being advertised a lot, that's a red flag. Like whenever I see pharmaceuticals being advertised or certain foods and types of alcoholic drinks being advertised, it's pretty much a red flag saying, don't buy this to me. Like that's the way I view it now when there's a lot of advertising dollars behind certain products and certain foods and drugs, I think that's probably bad for me. <laugh>, I should probably not eat that because nobody's advertising apples on tv. You know, that's, and an apple a day keeps the doctor away.  

Julie    00:35:31    <laugh>. Yeah. That's not a, that's not a bad observation. So, yeah. Well, Kristin, thank you for sharing your observations today. Thanks for being a guest on Nurse Table Talk. And until next time. Bye now.  

Kristin    00:35:44    Bye.  

Kristin    00:35:46    I hope you enjoyed today's conversation, and I would just like to thank Ms. Julie and Ms. Kathy for going out on a limb and starting a podcast, which is something that is totally outside of their comfort zones, but they're doing great work spreading the word about topics that they're passionate about and in their expertise. And I'm just glad that they reached out to me and that somehow my observations on How I See the US After Living Abroad have started a lot of conversations like this among potentially millions of people who watch that video. So it's an amazing time to be alive and to be able to share about topics that affect real people's real lives and really like make you think about how you're living and how you want to live and what changes you want to make, and steps that you can take in the right direction.  

Kristin    00:36:50    So I hope this podcast made you think more about that and also the effect that culture and society subconsciously have on your lifestyle and your health, and how you can make slightly different choices and decisions that have a really big impact in supporting your health in 2023. Whether that is changing something in your diet or eliminating problematic foods, or getting more exercise, or even taking a big step, like moving to a new city or country that makes it easier for you to do all of these things put together. And also remember to check out today's sponsor Safety Wing in the show notes for all your travel insurance needs, and also take a look at their ambassador program if you want to make some extra money this year by helping to spread the word about safety, wing's, products, and the social safety net they are creating for the world. Have a beautiful day and see you again next week. 




 

Kristin WilsonProfile Photo

Kristin Wilson

Host of Badass Digital Nomads & YouTube's Traveling with Kristin / Author of Digital Nomads for Dummies

Kristin Wilson is a long-term digital nomad and location-independent entrepreneur who has lived and worked across 60 countries in 20 years. Since founding a fully-remote, international relocation company in 2011, she has helped more than 1,000 people retire or live abroad in 35 countries. Today, she helps aspiring remote workers, digital nomads, and expats achieve their lifestyle goals through her YouTube channel (Traveling with Kristin) and podcast, Badass Digital Nomads.
 
Kristin is the author of Digital Nomads for Dummies. She's also a Top Writer on Medium and Quora in the topics of business, travel, technology, life, productivity, digital nomads, and location independence. She has been featured on The Today Show, Bloomberg Businessweek, Business Insider, ESPN, The New York Times, WSJ, Huffpost, HGTV’s House Hunters International, and more.