Freaking out

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Soo, I am not intimidated by working in major cities, not intimidated by living there either. But I find myself back-peddling because Im scared to death of driving across the country by myself. I dont have anyone who can tag along.

My agency knows that I may have a MA license soon, and yesterday my recruiter asked how I feel about Boston, or Philly in Pa. Initially, I was jumping for joy. I would love to be in those cities on an assignment with hopefully extensions. But now that Ive had time to settle down, I'm freaking out over the drive. I am from HomeTown, USA. I am not used to crazy driving. The most excitement that I get on my daily commute is passing a tractor. Anyone else get this way? The furthest I have ever traveled is 700 miles and it was a pretty easy trek, no tolls or anything. But Philly is 1000 miles from home and Ill have to drive the turnpike. And Boston is 1300 miles. omg!

Stop watching TV! The internet is where to buy electronics. Read user reviews on Amazon. But I wouldn't buy one. Smartphones have built in GPS and may be more user friendly than a lot of dedicated GPS models. You can use it while walking, bicycling, or navigating public transport unlike most car based GPS. Sales of dedicated GPS units have plummeted for good cause and those manufacturers are having big problems staying in business. Personally, I like iPhones but as a Mac user it was a natural fit.

Yes, travel gives up a lot of the security blanket you have as staff. You only get paid for what you work and there is no sick pay or PTO. However, when those benefits run out as staff, you will find yourself in the same place with a broken leg, you have to pay for the cost of living without an income. Generally you can get disability or unemployment depending on the reason but you still should have some funds saved up as staff or traveler for these kinds of situations. They can hit travelers harder and faster than staff, so it is more important for travelers to have savings than staff.

Your agency is paying for housing or a housing stipend. Since you are getting paid only for hours worked, they need a mechanism to recover any housing costs already paid to you. This is done via a missed hours penalty, often on the order of $15 a missed hour. Very scary number and it feels wrong to not only not pay you when you are sick, but also charge you for the privilege of not working! But the math should work out very closely either way, a lump sum per hour, or a lower sum per hour plus housing, with a "claw back" if you don't work the contracted hours. It is just math! Just as in real life, housing is a cost to you whether you work or not and must be paid either way.

Now there are some agencies that will try to recover "lost profits" with missed hour penalties in addition to housing costs. These are unfair and such agencies are to be avoided. A more common problem, see if you can visualize this, is an agency that provides housing is typically committed to a three month lease. If the assignment ends early for any reason, they are stuck with these costs, and that missed hour penalty is a large number that can create a conflict between the agency and the traveler, especially when it is no fault of the traveler when (for example) the hospital terms her for low census.

Taking the stipend instead of provided housing in effect transfers the risks involved directly to the traveler. No, you won't have large missed hour penalties (they should be limited to one week at most to recover the weekly housing stipend), but you have the upfront cost of acquiring housing, with deposits, utilities, and a lease, and the credit report hit that may happen if you break a lease.

Yes, travel is riskier than staff. Over the long run though, with good health, you should get paid more and have a lot more fun. Most travel assignments finish successfully, and with good financial discipline, it is easy to weather the rare assignment with problems.

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^^^Agree with what the others said. I was fortunate to have my husband with me so I wasn't alone but we trekked 1500 miles from small town NC to south TX. I LOVED driving and seeing all of the new places on the way...we even detoured a couple of times just to see things like New Orleans. But yeah, there were times (like Atlanta and Houston) where I was white knuckling down the highway. :) Even with the two of us we debated very seriously about taking our friend who is a car mechanic and flying him home when we got there. Good luck!

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Yea, I watch Dateline....seems like most ppl become victims on highway.

but really, I panic in heavy traffic and I panic with cars going 80 on a 5 lane Interstste. I cannot read an Atlas for crap, so if my Gps and backup #2 fails me, I am screwed! And isnt parking going to cost an arm leg in Boston and Philly? Oh, and dont ask me to parallel park! I am some 'travel nurse" huh.

Boston is wonderful. If you are going to work for MGH, they have parking. And the T is very convenient for your day to day routine. You really don't need a car in Boston. Fly. If you must bring your car, just park it at your apartment and take the T.

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Thanks ya'll :)

ps, found a really cool shipping website called uship.com. You can ship anything, including pets. Looks to be a lot like ebay. Ppl will bid on your shipment needs, you can post questions, read the shippers feedback history, haggle the price down and then accept or deny the bid.

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I drove from Missouri to California all by myself. It took me 2 1/2 days. I took my time, I rested and I only tried to drive during the day to see cool things. And I'm not a driver at all. You are talking about someone who resented road trips and would jump on a plane every chance I got. And I don't do 5 lane highways. But you know what? It was the best experience of my life!

I got to see the Rockies, the Salt Desert, and just a desert period for the first time in my life! I also got to see the Tahoe forest and who knew that Wyoming was so damn beautiful?

I printed my driving instructions and I had my phone that had GPS. I planned well in advance, but did miscalculate the time between Cheyenne WY and Salt Lake City UT and ended up having to sleep in my car at at rest stop. And that freaked me out, but it was very lit and it was packed with cars and trucks so I felt somewhat ok.

You will be fine, just take your time and plan well!

Good luck!

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I'm not a traveler. But I was 22 when I moved from suburban Ohio to rural Kentucky (Appalachia) - not super far but whoa things are different. I drove from my then residence (KY) to Washington, DC and Chicago, IL for job interviews. My parents moved from the house I grew up in to the southeast and I was left with an 8 hour drive to visit them and/or a 7 hour drive to Pennsylvania to visit my extended family. I live in the southeast now (still several hours from my parents), and drove back "home" to where I grew up for a wedding I was in - during a winter storm. It kind of sucked driving through the mountains in that weather but gosh was it ever pretty (the number 1 thing I miss about the mountains is how beautiful they make everything).

My advice is to find some good music, charge your phone and enjoy the drive. If you use common sense you will be just fine. If you plan your drive just right then you can plan to hit big cities in the daytime between morning and evening rush. Find some cool places to see and/or neat places to eat along the way. Don't settle for chain restaurants and especially not fast food - there are some really awesome places to eat that are "holes in the wall" and your learn a lot about where to go and what to see by talking to some of the people in some of those places.

For what it's worth, I LOVED my visit to DC. Even with the crazy traffic and interesting streets. I did a fair amount of city street driving because of the location I stayed at verses the location I interviewed at - plus my GPS's update did not account for the new construction near my hotel...so I drove around the block a few times before I got it right.

Good luck! :)

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I always fly to my assignments and rent a car for the contract...stipend more than pays for the car and housing...I would never do that drive...not my thing but some folks really love it :) Good luck!!

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Specializes in EDUCATION;HOMECARE;MATERNAL-CHILD; PSYCH.

Leave the car. Fly.

Boston and Philly have public transportation. Don't let the driving stop you from going. All will be well. Enjoy!

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The only way to get over your fears is to confront them.

I drove just shy of 1,700 miles to get to training, home and my first duty station. I moved to one of the biggest cities in the US where there were 5-6 lanes of psychos doing God-knows-how-fast at all hours of the night and day. I loved that duty station. I learned to navigate the subway, get in and out of town, and took many day trips to the numerous tourist sites nearby.

You really do get used to it--if you allow yourself to do it in the first place, that is!

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Specializes in OB.

As the others have said - Drive! I've been bouncing around the country forever as a traveler ( will be18 yrs inOct.) So far my longest drive has been a bit over 3000 miles - from Washington State to Key West, FL.

A few suggestions to make the drive pleasant and reduce some stress:

Always allow at least one more day of driving time than the estimated need. That way you can stop at points of interest or stop early for the day if weather gets bad without worrying about getting there.

Have AAA or similar road service.

Audio books are great for boring stretches. You can even rent them at places like Cracker Barrel and return them at any of their locations. I would warn against listening to Stephen King if traveling alone at night though!

I always keep $100.00 stashed somewhere in my car when traveling. If you have something happen where your plastic doesn't work (it does happen - been in a small rural town when the whole internet connection went down and nothing worked!) then this is enough to get you a room for the night and some gas.

After the first couple of trips you'll likely find yourself hooked on it and looking for the next adventure.

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Specializes in hospice.

Honestly, where has people's sense of adventure gone?! In the early/mid90s, my then-fiance and I packed up my 17 year old Honda hatchback and flung ourselves into the void between Los Angeles and Chicago. No one had cell phones. This country is gorgeous and driving across it is amazing! A little common sense will go a long way to protecting you from danger. Drive! :)

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Specializes in ICU.

My sister drove from PA to CA several different times. She timed her trip so she would be through the Rockies before October. She did it by herself. I decided to pack up and move from PA to Indianapolis one day. I find long drives to be cathartic and good for the soul. I rarely do it now for other reasons but I enjoyed my days in the car.

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