DetC

So we've all heard about what great pay travel nurses make. But my experience as a travel nurse has been anything but. I've been traveling for about 2 years, permanent staff for 2.5 before that. I came out of school making $900/wk after taxes in one of the lowest paying states for nursing. Yes I was working weekend nights, but I frequently do that as a traveler as well. In my experience as a traveler (with multiple companies) you can expect to make $1000-1600/wk for the standard 3 12s. Once you subtract housing expenses (remember you have to pay for two places to live now) plus mileage or moving expenses you're down to an extra hundred bucks or so a week. The longer I do this, the harder it is for me to find the upside. So someone please explain to me, what are the financial benefits to travel nursing? I'm obviously missing something.