“So do you have like a tax home or something?” This is something we hear A LOT. We get it. It’s a really confusing subject and one we spent a lot of time working through before we hit the road. As a Travel Nurse family we have to make sure we meet certain requirements so that we can take the tax free stipends offered as part of our pay package. Travel Nursing pay can be super confusing too. We’ll go into that in another post but just know that most of your income, or at least a large part of it, will come from your stipends. Unless you have a tax home, you will have to pay taxes on all of that! We have found a website we trust when it comes to taxes. TravelTax.com has been helping travel professionals for over 20 years and when we have a question, that’s where we head. Here’s what they have to say about the path we are taking to maintain a tax home: “You used to work there, don’t anymore, and now maintain a residence at that location. If you are renting, it needs to be “fair market value”, so go to your local craigslist and look up “rooms and shares.” Print out a couple of these ads and keep it with your tax info. Then pay that amount monthly to your parent/friend. Don’t make it cash, but have it be something that you have a record of (canceled checks). Going forward, you need to spend approximately 30 days out of the year there. (Not a magic number, just what we have found that will usually satisfy most tax home audits.)" We basically do exactly this. We pay a relative a fair market value for a room rental and make sure we pay each month with a check. We then return to “home base” or our “tax home” for at least 30 days of the year. It’s important to note that tax home does not refer to the place of residence itself but rather an area where you live and spend money. We definitely are not tax advisers so make sure you run this by yours. We just want to share how we are making this work for us. We hope this helps in your own Travel Professional journey!

During our visit to Atlas Medstaff headquarters John had a moment to ask Natasha Sage, his recruiter, some questions that we frequently hear from people looking to get into this industry. What happens after we say we want to go to a certain area? How does a recruiter go about finding us the job? How is the industry broken down? How can nurses make things easier for their recruiters? How can I trust I've got a good recruiter? How did Atlas Medstaff come to be? These are some of the questions in this week's Real Talk Tuesday. Tasha does a great job of breaking down just how the travel nursing industry works in a nut shell. Check out our video to watch the interview. If you are looking for a great recruiter, feel free to email us at www.noordinarypath.com and John will get you in touch with Natasha.

On our way back to the Midwest for our next contract we took a slight detour into Omaha Nebraska and crashed Atlas Medstaff! Atlas is the Travel Nursing Agency that John has been working with for the last three contracts and we absolutely love them. Here's why. They have a community feeling unlike any other place we've worked with. The recruiters genuinely care for their nurses and it funnels from the top. Bottom line, they really take care of their people. My favorite thing is how they include our whole family. When they found out that we were coming they told us to make sure we brought the whole family - including Cinder! Filming with them was so much fun. We did a few interviews and I'm pretty sure John was drooling over their equipment a little! Check out the interview recap HERE . Check out our video about our experience there and why we won't be looking elsewhere for a travel nursing job.

As Kansas City natives we wanted to make a video about some of the not so ordinary gems for adventurers like ourselves. Sure, we could make an episode about the "normal" Kansas City attractions: Barbecue, Royals, Chiefs, Jazz, Crown Center, and the Plaza. But we are No Ordinary Path after all. If you are outdoorsy like us, whether you live in the metro or are just passing through, we hope this fun little guide will help you get out and explore. Each place listed below is a place our family has been and enjoyed - kid tested and parent approved. *Disclaimer - this list is not exhaustive and is biased to the Kansas side as that is where we were born and raised. We think you'll enjoy the list anyway and if you have explored more of the Missouri side, we would LOVE for you to leave us a comment and let us know your favorite spots to adventure. Watch our video here ! Biking Longview Lake Indian Creek Streamway Mill Creek Streamway Kill Creek Streamway Black Hoof Park , Lake Lenexa Shawnee Mission Park Single Track - Earth Riders Hiking Hillsdale Lake Ernie Miller Park and Nature Center Overland Park Arboretum Kill Creek Park Shawnee Mission Park Heritage Park KCPL Prairie Wetlands Swimming  almost every city has amazing pools but these are our favorites Gardner Aquatic Center - outdoor Black Bob Bay - outdoor Oceans of Fun - outdoor (included with Worlds of Fun tickets!) Olathe Community Center - Indoor Matt Ross Community Center - Indoor Great Wolf Lodge - Indoor Kayaking While we didn't get to go, we have heard great things about this company Kansas City Kayak and Canoe Kaw Point Park Riverfront Park Climbing Our favorite is hands down RoKC Apex Climbing Gym Emerald City - Monster Mountain Lifetime Fitness Other Awesome Adventure Places to Visit Worlds of Fun (Amusement Park) Blade and Timber (Axe Throwing!) Urban Air Overland Park (Trampoline Park) Overland Park Skate Park Olathe Two Trails Skate Park

We are the Farnsworths - an average family living a not so average life. We are not rich but we believe that time spent with each other is priceless, considerably more valuable than any social norm or standard. We sold everything to move our family of five and our dog into a 37 foot travel trailer and explore the United States using travel nursing as our means. We are having a blast living this RV lifestyle but it is not our end game. We have many more just as crazy ideas that we look forward to pursing in years to come on our unordinary path and we hope to inspire others to step out of the box and take a chance on a life of freedom and fulfillment. When we moved back to Kansas in 2017, John almost went back to school for a Master's degree. In fact, he was accepted and enrolled at UMKC to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. But there was zero passion there. It was just a path to a greater paycheck and another ladder to climb. And it would be paved with many hours away from the family and more student loan debt. So we decided that wasn't the right path for us. At least not then. Maybe someday. Or maybe another opportunity all together will arise. One year later we took the travel nurse/move into our RV leap and we've been on the road since. People ask us a lot, "what's your end game?" And the truth is, we have no idea. We're just enjoying the journey. The thing is, you have a choice. There is ALWAYS a choice. Are you willing to do the scary thing (whatever that thing is for you) and take that different path? We're here to say, you can do it!

Little miss Chloe is doing great with numbers and we've moved on to addition recently. We of course use a lot of computer games and tablet apps but sometimes something hands on is just better. It's always good to mix things up. So if you've got some clothes pins lying around, give this a try. As an RV family, we are short on space so it's always good to use things for multiple purposes! All you need is a clipboard, a piece of paper and some clothes pins. If the problem was 6 + 2 I would have her clip 6 pins on the right and 2 pins on the left. Then all she had to do was count how many there were all together and write her answer down. She seemed to think it was a pretty fun game. I've found that simple and cheap is often the best. I even let her color the clothes pins which she thought was amazing. What are some of your ideas for addition?

This year for the first day of school we did something a little different. I enjoy coming up with creative ideas to make things special for the kiddos. We had a special breakfast, decorations, and of course the obligatory first day of school pics! Just because we do school on the road, doesn't mean we don't get the timeless porch pictures. In fact, I kind of dig that our front porch is fold-able metal stairs under a retractable awning! The begining of the school year is such a great feeling. A fresh start where we all get to revamp our routine, celebrate learning, and use our fresh school supplies. Does anyone else get excited about that? Just me? Ok. Sometimes it feels like the school year drags on but we all know just how fast time can fly. That's why we decided to do a school time capsule this year. It's a way to measure just how much they have grown throughout the year. There are all kinds of things you can add to it, but I'll share what we did. Here's what you'll need: - A container of some sort to store your items - we used flat large envelopes to conserve space. - A piece of string, or in our case crepe paper, to measure height. - A coloring page of your choice - we made one for their grade level sign for pictures. - Construction paper, pen, and scissors for making a hand print. - An all about me page. I wish I would have saved this as a document but I didn't. It's pretty easy to create. Measure your kiddo with the string and have them trace their hand print to cut out and include in your capsule. You can also have them write a story or about what they want to be when they grow up so you can see how their writing has improved too! Date your capsule and tuck it away until the end of school. We can't wait to see how much we've grown this year!

How we got rid of our stuff. The short and sweet version.  We sold about 90% of all of our household belongings (or more) and made roughly $3500.  Here's how we did it: 1) Garage Sales - 5 of them. It was a pain to drag our things in and out of the garage but it did pay off. We yielded the most money from them.  I advertised on Facebook and put several signs out.  We also made sure to participate in the City Wide Garage sale. 2) Consignment - Here We Grow Again is a Kansas City Area huge kids consignment.  They hold events throughout the year and offer a tagging service.  If you tag everything (very time consuming) you can make 70% of the profit but the tagging service still gives 40% and none of the time involved.  We made about $220 effortlessly - they donate all the leftovers to local charities. Bonus! 3) Facebook Marketplace - I sold many items this way.  It got very tiresome to arrange pickups for a $5 item though so I eventually only used it for bigger items and made them come to me.  I never had to use Craigslist because Facebook Marketplace was so responsive but it would be a good choice as well. 4) Half Price Bookstore - While you won't get a lot of money - this is a great options for books, dvds and music. 5) Game Stop - we took all of our old consols and video games there.  They took what they could sell and the rest we donated.  We got a nice chunk of store credit.  They give more when you take store credit vs. cash. 6) Bike Shops - check your local bike shops to buy back quality bikes you might have lying around.  We went to the Re-cyclery in Lawrence, KS. 7) Goodwill - of course you can't sell everything.  We took a couple loads to Goodwill for donation.  No money but you can write off the value of the items donated for taxes. 8) Local swap groups - we contacted a group called Johnson County Pay it Forward to come get some of our garage sale leftovers.  What we loved about this is that our things would go toward other people in our own community how needed the help. 9) Bless your family or friends - We had a few things that were in good condition or that were family items that we passed along as we would not need them anymore. 10) Digitize all paper and then recycle - Easier said than done - it only costs your time and saves you a ton of space. Other quick tips: Involve the whole family - our kids did really well knowing their stuff would turn into cool things we got to do as a family.  Time together is more important to them than any "thing" we could have. Plus they had fun stetting up a lemonade stand! Don't expect too much - We didn't price things at garage sales but I was shocked by how little people would offer to pay.  Selling an item for anything was better than getting nothing so we took several low offers. Give yourself Grace - it's hard to let go.  It's a process and if you aren't ready to part with something yet, don't.  Hang onto it for a few more months and then revisit.  There were a couple of items John and I had a hard time with even though they had no function or purpose anymore. We made the other person get rid of it so we didn't have to see it go. Take your time - It's a process. You took many years to accumulate it.  It might take some time to let go of it.

Pairing yourself with an awesome recruiter is vital to a successful career as a travel nurse. Making sure you mesh well with the person finding your contracts is not only efficient and beneficial but it also can become the start of a great relationship. Here is what we look for in a great recruiter. Communication: How easy are they to get a hold of? You want to hear back from someone within 48 hours. A great recruiter may get back within a few hours. How can you get a hold of them? Email, text, phone? Open and Honest: You want to trust that your recruiter has your back. They need to be able to find contracts that fit your lifestyle and family. Can you trust that they will get you the best deal they can find? Do you feel comfortable with the agency they work for? Personal: Does your recruiter know you? Do they remember your family members names? Do they go above and beyond? Do they make you feel appreciated? Experience: Do they have experience in their field? Can they answer your questions? Do they know to ask if they don't have the answers to your questions? Point of Contact: Will you work with one person or does the agency have multiple recruiters that you will be working with? We prefer one point of contact. John has a fantastic recruiter through Atlas Medstaff. If you would like her contact information drop us an email at noordinarypath@gmail.com and we will put you in touch!