Challenges & Payoff of Travel Buddy vs. NO Travel Buddy

[icuamp]

Hello Everyone! I'm newly registered and this is my first posting to AllNurses. I'm a registered nurse with one year of CCU/ICU experience.

I've traveled pretty much my entire life and I've never lived anywhere more than 3 years. I've been on Maui for just over 3 years now and I'm really starting to feel the itch to leave. I'm planning to put in another 9-12 months at my current job, but everyone who knows me thinks I need to give agency/travel nursing a try. While I love the idea of travel nursing, and it really would be perfect for my innate "travel bug"; I can sometimes have a hard time making friends in new places (sometimes, not always). The idea of having to make new friends every 3 months is a little daunting. I don't know anyone interested in leaving Maui to give travel nursing a try; so unless I meet someone soon, I'd have to go it alone to start out with...

So, here are my questions for you seasoned agency/travel nurses:

• Have you had difficulties making friends in new places? How do you overcome those challenges?
  
• I'd also like to hear any experiences from nurses who have traveled both with and without a companion/buddy. The good/bad of each would be much appreciated.
  
• I see a lot of people on here looking for buddies to travel with over the internet. Has anyone met a good buddy online/AllNurses? How about bad experiences?
  

Thanks so much in advance for your responses. : )

[Cali]

I've always traveled alone and I do get lonely. I got VERY lonely while in Bakersfield because there's absolutely nothing to do there. I would spend my days off just laying around at my hotel. I took an assignment in Sonoma and there's lots to do in Northern California but I just wanted to have someone to do things with. I did alot of things alone and when my friend visited, we were able to do a few things together. I'm just starting an assignment in Southern California and I met a traveler in orientation and we've become great friends. We met and then decided to rent a apartment together to save money. If I bond with anyone, it seems to be the other travelers I meet on the unit or during orientation and not the permanent staff. You're there for such a short time so it's never really been a big deal to me as long as there's exciting things to do in the area.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I've only had assignments where there are a plethora of travelers, and they're always up to go places and do things. I took one travel assignment with my husband, and that was OK. He's one of those very social who makes friends instantly, and was always breaking the ice for me. Plus I always had someone there. The downside to that was they scheduled me straight days and him straight nights, so we weren't often in synch.

I think if you take your first assignment somewhere there are LOTS of travelers, you may be able to find folks to do things with. Then you'll be in a better position to answer your own question as well. Because in the end, others may give you their opinions and bring up things for you to think about, but you're the only one who can decide how you feel about it. Good luck!

[meandragonbrett]

I've never traveled alone! I always travel with friends. One of us takes the housing, one of us takes the stipend. And you always have somebody there to help you out when the crap hits the fan one day.

[bikerRN1]

I travel alone, but have no problem making friends. Websites like meetup.com offer easy ways to meet new people that enjoy doing the same things and it's not (just) a meat market...

I always try to get my days blocked together... that way I have more time to explore my new area. I can always find something fun to do. (For example, about 45 min outside of Bakersfield is a little town called Lake Isabella, fun little high desert town with a warm lake to swim in ) I found Bakersfield a good place to be just because of it's location, it was easy to get to the coast and easy to get to the high sierras. LOL, Bako itself was challenging with the crime, but you find that just about everywhere these days.

The more you travel, the more you learn about yourself. Have fun!

[Pewy]

IMO it is always better to travel with someone you already know, but not everyone has this option, also depending on circumstances... But there is a lot of special travel websites and apps which can help you to find ideal companions for your journeys. The main advantage of these systems are reviews and evaluations of people's profiles... I dont have many experiences with these, but many times I heared of this one.