Travel Nursing in your RV full time

kat29 · Dec 7, 2004

Congratulations!! Your living my dream!

I have a couple years of school and a year of experience left to get before I can sell my house and RV it for a few years. If you dont mind me asking Im interested to know how old you are? I wont be able to get on the road until Im 33 or so and Im hoping that isnt too late. Unfortunately, I dream about this every day and Im getting rather impatient. Makes me wish I had gone for an ADN instead of being stuck here for 4 years waiting for my BSN. GOOD LUCK! :lol2:

suzanne4, RN · Dec 7, 2004

Hi...I'd like to hear from any other nurses who are traveling in their motorhome. I've worked as a travel nurse before....but traveling in our RV will be new for us. We just bought a 38 foot diesel pusher (with a slide) it's very comfortable...like a mini-apartment on wheels. Our little dog loves it and our cat is getting adjusted. As soon as our house sells (we decided not to hassel with renting it out)...we will be traveling around the United States full time. It will be a new experience and a new lifestyle for us. We thought we'd enjoy traveling while we are young and it might also give us ideas about where we'd like to settle permanently. I would love to hear stories, advice, input from any of you who have done this or are currently traveling in their RV. How do you like it? Any trouble finding parks? workcamping, etc close to your assignment. Tax info? Any areas you thought were particularly beautiful, etc. Thanks!

Recommend posting this under the travel nursing section.

cadillac05 · Dec 7, 2004

After traveling for a few years, all that loading, unloading, pet deposits that got outrageous...I bought a 31' motorhome. What a great move that was. Never had to do without the comforts of home after that and the animals didn't have to adjust to a new place every few months. It also made sight-seeing wherever we were much easier. Just unhook & go.

Finding RV parks close by was rarely a problem. They have monthly rates that make finances much better than those high daily ones.

I loved this mode of travel, seeing so many wonderful areas of our great country and meeting all kinds of people. Each area has its own special history, ethnic traditions, etc. What an education!

My husband of 1+ year will retire in a couple of years. I think he's convinced that we'll travel together for a couple of assignments a year when that happens. I can hardly wait.

Happy trails...

ARBY · Dec 12, 2004

Hi,

I've been doing this for 6 years now. The first few years I did home health care for a private case. The last 3 years I did HEDIS chart audits in S. CA. I only had to work about 4 months a year...made plenty of $$$ and traveled the rest of the year and returned in time for the chart audits the next year. This year we've just moved to West TX and I'm looking for something to do here...hopefully more HEDIS chart audits.

I am currently 58 and SOOO glad we decided to travel while young enough to enjoy it. RV parks are plentiful and, if I don't like where we are, we just drag our house on down the road. HA! HA!

GOOD LUCK

Crazy Mama · Jan 16, 2005

Hi,
I've been doing this for 6 years now. The first few years I did home health care for a private case. The last 3 years I did HEDIS chart audits in S. CA. I only had to work about 4 months a year...made plenty of $$$ and traveled the rest of the year and returned in time for the chart audits the next year. This year we've just moved to West TX and I'm looking for something to do here...hopefully more HEDIS chart audits.
I am currently 58 and SOOO glad we decided to travel while young enough to enjoy it. RV parks are plentiful and, if I don't like where we are, we just drag our house on down the road. HA! HA!
GOOD LUCK

My husband and I are both RN's and we plan on traveling in the near future. We are finially debt free. We plan on selling our home and buying a fifth wheel. I have been concerned about what to do with our things. Do you recommend storage? This is a difficult decission for me. We have been offered a job doing QA for Workmans comp etc. and this will allow us to travel. At the present time I am the nurse mgr. for a psych unit and my husband does hospice. I am concerned about finding agencies that have positions. The QA will be a side job on the road when I am between jobs. Any suggestions?

ARBY · Jan 16, 2005

My husband and I are both RN's and we plan on traveling in the near future. We are finially debt free. We plan on selling our home and buying a fifth wheel. I have been concerned about what to do with our things. Do you recommend storage? This is a difficult decission for me. We have been offered a job doing QA for Workmans comp etc. and this will allow us to travel. At the present time I am the nurse mgr. for a psych unit and my husband does hospice. I am concerned about finding agencies that have positions. The QA will be a side job on the road when I am between jobs. Any suggestions?

When we first started traveling we sold everything but a few things we thought we MIGHT want and put those in storage. We said we'd give it 2 years and then re-evaluate. We're still at it. HA! HA! Sold the things in storage.

Probably the easiest way to find jobs is via the internet job sites and the local Sunday papers. Of course, if you want to work in a hospital, just go there or write ahead if you know where you are going. If you are going anywhere near a big town, there are lots of employment agencies there.

GOOD LUCK and ENJOY and, as I said, if you want to go somewhere else, you can just drag your house on down the road. HA! HA!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jan 16, 2005

This, too, is my dream for the future, when the kids are finally all out on their own and I can afford to work part-time. We'll still be relatively young(DH will be over 60 and I'll be in my early 50s), but as long as we're healthy I don't see any reason not to do it. I'd love to see New England in the fall.....visit Civil War battlefields.......spend winters where it's warm......go to the Rockies in the spring time........check out the big cities.

stbernardclub · Jan 17, 2005

Just wanted to say it sounds like alot of fun. I have heard northern california, utau, colorado, montana and new mexico are all awesome to explore. good luck :)

Hi...I'd like to hear from any other nurses who are traveling in their motorhome. I've worked as a travel nurse before....but traveling in our RV will be new for us. We just bought a 38 foot diesel pusher (with a slide) it's very comfortable...like a mini-apartment on wheels. Our little dog loves it and our cat is getting adjusted. As soon as our house sells (we decided not to hassel with renting it out)...we will be traveling around the United States full time. It will be a new experience and a new lifestyle for us. We thought we'd enjoy traveling while we are young and it might also give us ideas about where we'd like to settle permanently. I would love to hear stories, advice, input from any of you who have done this or are currently traveling in their RV. How do you like it? Any trouble finding parks? workcamping, etc close to your assignment. Tax info? Any areas you thought were particularly beautiful, etc. Thanks!

RN Zeke · Mar 16, 2005

RV traveling is the best. After hauling my stuff around to different towns and apartments the RV life caught my eye. Down sizing is hard until I realized how much CRAP I really didn't need and just took up space. If one is going to Ca. remember the bay area is very congested and thus finding a park should be planned well ahead of time. It is also much more expensive, sometimes more than the housing subsidy is. Find at least 2 parks before agreeing on an assignment so you will have one to fall back on if the first one allows you only a handkerchief size lot to park on. If one can't extend their canopy there isn't enough space. Or if one can't park at least their own cars there isn't enough space. The idea of having my own things in my own space is the best part of RV traveling. Consider the gas price inflation and if companies are raising their round trip pay! Consider getting 8 miles to a gallon of gas and your tank holds 100 gallons of gas. How far are you going and how much will the company pay per trip? I do intend to write a book about my travel experiences, so I will stop now.