scared to travel alone

mskate · Sep 2, 2008

i traveled alone for 2 assignments - then i got a dog!

my company has been great about traveling with a dog and it has done so much!

you meet sooo many people just going to local dog parks and walks around the complex. i even found a dog friendly bar in a neighborhood and met a ton of great people.

i feel much safer (i got a german shepherd), i run at night, i have lost weight with the extra exercise in the daily routine and its been great!

i kind of wish i would have gotten a small dog so i could take it on a plane easily, and it limited my ability to go to places like hawaii.

he is able to hold his pee my whole shift and just has been such a blessing!

now, on assignment, i found a boyfriend but the dog is still the number one buddy!

kristinah · Sep 10, 2008

The last I heard you can go to the area and ck. it out and write it off as job hunting- But it's called "put on your big girl panties" Nursing is the same all over, some nice some not-do not do Ok,or ARK. but for that $$ you can do anything for 13 wks. also I take the housing $$, stay in a 1 room whatever then ask around where I work for a clean cheap place-I have always found one. If you are nice to others, no matter what, they are nice back

Bella RN, BSN, MSN · Oct 5, 2008

I also want to travel but I am scared of feeling alone as well. I have been an RN for 7 yrs with 3yrs of ICU experience. My motto is I try to prevent codes than run codes...so I haven't been in many codes Thank God. They still make me nervous at times.

But I am ready to get out of Fla and try something new. My best friend is moving to Dallas and is encouraging me to come to. So at least I would know someone.

Its tough to leave your comfort zone. I have a great family here--I am single--but I desire to live else where and make good money.

Any tips?! )

kristinah · Oct 5, 2008

Hey kid, make it an adventure-the money is worth it, you will make great friends if you are nice-and see a different part of the country-it really is great, ck out supplemental travel-I use them and it's no games just good pay up front and everyweek on time. tell them I recommended you-this is my 5th assignment and every assignment gets better, you learn new things, remember to keep your same bank and some same address so you can show you are really living in one place and traveling to another.

Would anyone out there like to share their IRS write offs, many accountants do not know them all

My favorite is the difference between what your company pays for housing and what the govt allows, is a write off with no receite required ect my co gives me $940 a wk in housing, the GSA allows $1140 a week in clevland- the $200 a week is what I can write off x's thats $2600 q 12 weeks- tolls and parking also, any others?

deie0383 · Oct 10, 2008

I have only been traveling for about a year and I only had 1.5 years experience right out of school in ICU.

-If your scared of being away from your family find an assignment near family that you don't see often, for my first assignment I found a place within an hours drive of my cousin so I didn't feel so isolated from my family.

-If your scared of not having the support from the other nurses you work with, don't be most of the people I have worked with treat you the same as they treat everyone else that they work with, remember your there to make their job easier if you weren't then thay would be working short.

-If you don't like living alone get a dog or a cat I did after my first assignment. I found I didn't like comming home to an empty apartment and now I find her waiting at the door waging her tail. It is a great release after a terrible shift and she doesn't mind when I whine about a bad night.

Also you meet some great people along the way. I am finishing up an assignment in the next two weeks and I am not looking forward to leaving the great friends that I have made in the short 13 weeks that I have been here. I found that if you can find a house that has multiple apartments in it with people your age if makes the time more enjoyable. The people in the other apartments in the house I live in now we eat dinner together at least once a week, we do things together on the weekends and I have envited them to visit me at my next assignment in Florida. My last assignment at 7am when we all got out of work we went to a local bar and had a few drinks and complained about our night. Ultimately, you make your travel assignment if you go into thinking that your all alone and start out depressed it isn't going to be any fun, but it can be the best experience of your life if you want it to be.