Future traveler needing friendly advice

NedRN · Mar 17, 2014

Is it worth it how? Financially? You would have to crunch the numbers.

Three years of OR experience is a really good base so I would suggest making the most of it. I deferred traveling until I had three years, finishing with close to two years in CVOR (I also floated to other services) and that has served me well traveling. You will still be young after that with a lot more opportunities available to you if travel doesn't work out.

ORRN1989 · Mar 17, 2014

Yes just financially is it worth it! I'd probably have to take a weeks worth of a paycheck and put it toward the repayment plan.

Zjinn · Mar 21, 2014

If you're having to use current paychecks to buy out of your contract, I'm going to assume you don't have a lot of reserves. If that is the case, I would not recommend starting to travel yet. While there is good money to be made traveling, it's not always steady. There can also be major obstacles thrown at you when traveling and some can be very costly. Like driving 2000 miles to a contract and the hospital has overbooked their travel positions. That's always a fun one. You can be left hanging in those circumstances.

While there are certainly plenty of travelers who live paycheck to paycheck, it's not for the faint of heart. There's just way more that can go wrong out here than there is for people living paycheck to paycheck in a stable job. It's much more comfortable to be out here with some cushion. A cushion also allows you to be much more choosy in which jobs you will accept. Sometimes having the luxury of waiting a week or two for the perfect assignment to come available can make you thousands of dollars extra.

emb92250 · Mar 21, 2014

How much is "a butt load" of money? I make exactly double as a traveler than when I was a staff nurse. I only had 1.5 years experience as a staff nurse. I'm currently on my first assignment. My first week I worked my 3 shifts plus two days extra. That week was like a month's salary from my previous salary. The next week I got 3 shifts, no overtime. The next week I got 5 hours and was cancelled for the rest of my weekly hours. That check will be about the same pay I would have gotten at my previous job (the way my contract is set up, I get an $800/wk stipend whether I work or they cancel me. Mind you, it gets taken away proportionally for any sick days you have). So, if it's something you can pay off now, then recover within your first assignment as a traveler, I would say go for it.

ORRN1989 · Mar 22, 2014

Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate it!

emb2250---A "butt load" of money means I would be taking on another college student loan for 4 years basically... a butt load of money. I do worry that I would have time between assignments where I would not have a steady income as you pointed out Zjinn. If I wait to start for a dream assignment, I'm sure it would take a little bit of time, which means less money I would have to pay back my current hospital also. As far as being choosy--I am very flexible in where I travel, because I'd love to see the entire US of A anyways... so even if it were an assignment that didn't sound so exciting to me (but its a job I could take right away between my dream assignment places), I could wind up loving it anyway is the way I see it... plus its only a few months right? :)

As you, emb92250, are making double your salary traveling, I am nearly sure I would do about the same.. which some or all of that extra income could go towards my debt. I definitely would not be able to pay it off now and recover within my first assignment, though. My thought is is that I know plenty of people who have LOADS of student loan debt and my overall debt would still be less than theirs if I were to pay out my contract. If you can't tell I am VERY anxious to travel and am trying to rationalize how I would be okay leaving my current job early and paying out the rest of my contract! I know it would be an extremely bold move to do! That's why I'm seeking feedback from people, especially previous/current travelers, to get some other points of view!

miam · Mar 22, 2014

I don't think it would be wise to start traveling thinking you are going to have to make a lot of extra money to pay back loans. What if you are at an assignment and they cancel you 2 weeks into a 13 week assignment and you are out of work those 2 weeks and are responsible for the other 11 weeks of rent?? So many bad things can happen, along with good.make sure your have a couple months of savings before you start, must to cover your butt so you can enjoy your adventure.

Zjinn · Mar 22, 2014

It sounds like you are going into this with the right frame of mind. My only additional advice would be to get one more year in the OR. Two years in your specialty makes you much more marketable to the better contracts. This would also give you more time to save and lower your contract buyout. That sounds like a win-win.

Waiting another year may seem like a long time, when you're anticipating something exciting, but it will pay off in the long run. While it may be possible to double your current pay, that is certainly not a given. Banking on that idea could cause a lot of unnecessary grief.

ladsten011 · Mar 31, 2014

emb92250: What agency did you work through?