jen_lu

i actually lived in jax for most of my life..went to college there..and worked there for several years before starting to travel. my last travel assignment also happened to be in houston. texas is cool, though houston was not my favorite. i have lived all over the country and the traffic in that city is a disaster. the downtown is nice and there are always things going on and in a hour or so you can be in galveston on the beach. the hospital i worked at was fine but nothing great. if i ever go back to texas i will go to austin or san antonio, of which i loved. all and all though i did not like working/living in houston. though yes cost of living is low. jax is great because in 30 mins you are at the beach. you could choose to work/live at the beach if you liked (baptist medical center-beaches campus). the actual downtown isnt very active, but they are working on it, and it does has some great places/things to do. also there are some great downtown neighborhoods that are very active. it, like houston, is pretty spread out. neither are cities you could live in without a car. they both lack any actual public transportation. in jax you wont see a lot of tourist which is nice. houston is a huge city vs jax that is a little more low-key and you'll see that in the people. the cost of living in jax is low though too. i rented a house very reasonably there. hope that helps!

i did a contract at stanford in the ER beginning of last year. i have been traveling for 2 yrs and its the only time i felt like my license and the safety of my pts was at risk. though i had a bad experience i have heard from fellow travelers that other units were great. the bay area is great though and made up for my bad work week.