_edited.png)
How to Make the Most of Your Travel Nursing Assignment
You made it.
⠀
You found the job, survived compliance, figured out housing, traveled to a new city, and started your first contract.
⠀
Now comes our favorite part:
⠀
Actually exploring the place you worked so hard to get to.
⠀
Adventure was the entire reason our family got into travel nursing in the first place.
⠀
But here’s something we learned pretty quickly:
⠀
Just because you’re living somewhere new doesn’t mean you’ll automatically experience it.
⠀
Don’t Fall Into the Work-Home-Sleep Trap
At the beginning of an assignment, you’re tired.
⠀
You’re learning a new hospital, new coworkers, new systems, and a whole new routine.
⠀
It’s really easy to work your shifts, come home exhausted, recover on your days off, and repeat.
⠀
Then suddenly you’re halfway through a 13-week contract wondering where the time went.
⠀
If you want to experience your destination, you have to be a little intentional about it.
⠀
That doesn’t mean packing every single day off with activities.
⠀
It just means remembering:
⠀
You didn’t travel all this way to only see the inside of the hospital.
⠀
Make a Bucket List
One of the best things we ever did was create a bucket list for each destination.
⠀
When we traveled to Alaska, there were SO many things we wanted to experience that we actually made a visual board of the things we hoped to do while we were there.
⠀
It helped us prioritize what mattered most instead of continually saying, “We’ll do that eventually.”
⠀
Your list doesn’t have to be elaborate.
⠀
Think about what makes the area unique.
⠀
Maybe it’s:
A famous hike
A local food you have to try
A national park
A festival or concert
A weird roadside attraction
A museum
A local brewery or restaurant
A bucket-list outdoor adventure
⠀
And yes, some of it can be ridiculously touristy.
⠀
You’re allowed to be a tourist.
⠀
Find the Stuff the Locals Know About
The famous attractions are great.
⠀
But some of our favorite experiences came from things we never would have found on a typical “Top 10 Things to Do” list.
⠀
We’ve used local social media groups, geocaching, Adventure Labs, Atlas Obscura, deal sites, and good old-fashioned conversations with people who actually live there.
⠀
But one of the best resources is sitting right next to you at work:
⠀
Your coworkers.
⠀
Ask them where they eat.
⠀
Ask where they take friends who come to visit.
⠀
Ask what you absolutely shouldn’t leave town without doing.
⠀
Locals can point you toward places you’d never find otherwise.
⠀
We once ended up at an incredible hidden swimming hole in North Carolina because a local told us about it. It wasn’t something we would have discovered scrolling through the usual tourist sites.
⠀
Those are the experiences you remember.
⠀
Try What Your Destination Is Known For
Every place has something.
⠀
If you’re in Maine, eat the lobster roll.
⠀
If you’re in Colorado, get into the mountains.
⠀
If you’re in San Francisco, bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.
⠀
If you’re in Alaska?
⠀
Eat the halibut.
⠀
Seriously.
⠀
Eat the halibut.
⠀
Part of the fun of travel nursing is getting to experience how different one part of the country can feel from another.
⠀
Try the food.
⠀
See the landmarks.
⠀
Learn some of the history.
⠀
Do the weird local thing you would never do at home.
⠀
That’s part of the adventure.
⠀
But Give Yourself Permission to Rest
There’s another side to this.
⠀
You do not need to turn every day off into a vacation itinerary.
⠀
You’re still working a demanding healthcare job.
⠀
You’re going to be tired sometimes.
⠀
Rest.
⠀
We found that putting some of our adventures on the calendar helped us find a balance.
⠀
We knew there were things coming up that we were excited about, but we didn’t feel like we had to cram something into every free moment.
⠀
Thirteen weeks sounds like a long time when you arrive.
⠀
It goes unbelievably fast.
⠀
Give yourself time to recover, but don’t wait until Week 12 to start exploring.
⠀
Want the Full Story?
This part of travel nursing is what No Ordinary Path is really all about.
⠀
In this episode of Travel Healthcare 101, I share some of the ways our family learned to explore each assignment, including Adventure Labs, Atlas Obscura, social media groups, local recommendations, bucket lists, and some of our favorite experiences from six years of traveling around the country.
⠀
Watch Travel Healthcare 101: Making the Most of Your Travel Nursing Adventure
⠀
⠀
And eventually, those 13 weeks start winding down.
⠀
Maybe you’re counting the days until your next adventure.
⠀
Or maybe you’ve fallen in love with the hospital, the city, or both and you’re thinking:
⠀
I’m not ready to leave yet.
⠀
Good news.
⠀
You might not have to.
⠀
Next: Travel Nurse Extensions & What Happens at the End of Your Contract →
Comments