A California RN in Tennessee

[Haunted]

Hey Y'all! My husband and I just returned from a week long fact finding expedition in and around the Nashville area. He has an opportunity to relocate from Orange County California. Having never been to Tenn, I had no idea what to expect. We stayed near OpryLand and rented a car. Here's what I discovered:

Get AWAY from downtown! It's charming, yes, but like any city is noisy, gridlocked with endless construction. We drove around Old Hickory, Mt. Juliet, Lebonon , Hendersonville and Gallatin with a realtor looking at houses and getting some intel on neighborhoods, demographics and of course found the house of our dreams in Hendersonville.

I feel homesick already! I have 2 new "best friends", Miss Libby and Miss Rita with a future card game date at my wonderful new home (fingers crossed) and hoping that everything will come thru for us. We both fell in LOVE with everyone and everything about Tennessee, although the bugs need to chill out!

There are not many jobs advertised however I would most likely work thru my registry from here as a travel nurse until something permanent comes along.

I am madly in love, can't wait to come back, see ya at a Titan's game!

[Mommy TeleRN, RN]

Howdy back! I live a little further west in TN so can't give you all the scoop about Nashville. Of course I'm sure the cost of living is a big shock to you! If you have a house in orange county with some equity then dang girl you might be all set here in TN! lol I'm sure our house prices are a drop in the bucket in comparison. Of course you will find nurse wages to be a whole lot less. But for fun I was playing with a cost of living calculator and I would have to make THREE x the hourly pay in California to afford the same cost of living. While nursing wages are higher - they sure aren't 3x higher! So I think you will find the cost of living change to a great advantage.

The Hendersonville area is a pretty, quiet area outside Nashville. I guess it would depend on exactly where your husband will be working as to how far outside Nashville you want to go.Murfreesboro is a nice area, I liked Dickson too. Columbia is nice but it's too far to commute really if he's working right in Nashville.

Franklin/Brentwood is a little nicer (wealthier) area and depending what type of equity you might have out of California you might find that you can get a very nice home in that area for the prices you are use to seeing out West.

Keep us updated on your adventures - how fun - a cross country move! I love excitement like that lol - why I would love to become a travel nurse if I could just talk DH into it after I graduate and get my required experience!! lol

mommy