Starting from the beginning

[L&DRN03]

I've been a nurse for almost 12 years now and the thought of travel nursing has crossed my mind a few times in my career but have yet to take the plunge. Is there any articles or websites you can point me to, to get a better understanding of how it works? I've been looking through some threads to familiarize myself with travel nursing terminology but I would love an all in one basic info reference point.

Some of my background and questions. We're a family of 4 and we homeschool, husband is a stay at home dad. Has anyone been successful traveling with a family? Pros/cons? I would love to travel for about a year to give my kids an ultimate road trip/see the country experience. We are homeowners in Texas, originally from NY so cross country driving is a little familiar to us. We own 2 cars. What do you do with your home if you're a homeowner? What about traveling with 2 cars?

[Dinsey]

I have found that reading this forum has answered a lot of my questions (including those I didn't even know to ask!) and will point you to many helpful websites. I've seen threads in the last several months that address all of the questions you asked. The most frequently references websites are PanTravelers, Travel Tax and Highway Hypodermics.

[Argo]

I have my wife and son. I would say it is doable if your on a tight budget. When you take their housing, it is going to eat up a lot of your tax free money since you need some place for 4 people. If you go the RV route, what I would do if I was going your route, you can get a nice RV with bunks for $150k if you shop around, keep your stipend and put it towards your payments/RV park places. Then when you travel you will not have to "move", just pull up the parking blocks and drive off.

http://www.mhsrv.com/2015-sportscoach-cross-country-361bh-bunk-model-wres-fridge-stack-wd-sat-new-diesel-pusher-tx-i1314827

Your going to have to pay for your home still unless you rent it. Then it wont be your primary residence any more either.... You need a tax home so you can get the tax free money.

Also, make sure you look for places with 12 hour shifts, that way you can enjoy 4 days wherever your at. Kids can do homeschool 3 days a week.... I have been homeschooling my son for 4 years now. He is 15 now and wants to start regular school next year. We are moving to Bend Oregon so he can go to school, I am going to take travel assignments within a few hours of there.

I have been doing an assignment In Denver, I live in the mountains a couple hours away, working 3 12s in a row. I get a hotel for 2 nights a week, sleep at home 5 nights a week, still save quite a bit of money with the stipend.

[Soliloquy, MSN, APRN, NP]

The Gypsy Nurse is pretty good. The Gypsy Nurse

[NedRN]

I would certainly second PanTravelers as a place to become acquainted with basic terms and details. I'd save TravelTax for a second site to definitely visit before you make plans to leave home. Tax homes is a very important part of traveling, and while you can certainly travel as an itinerant (without a tax home), it is best to plan your path before traveling.

Almost every agency website will tell you in an abbreviated form about the basics of travel. Some agency sites are really excellent, but all have to be taken with a grain of salt, after all they are trying to sell the idea to you. Unbiased sites like PanTravelers are more balanced. But for a quick and easy read, an agency site is hard to beat, especially if you want the positive side of travel. How to find them? Just google travel nurse: hundreds of links and ads for agencies will appear.

Travel is a great way of life. I've been traveling for almost 20 years now. I've met quite a few with family, and like all families, their stories are unique. Your story of adapting to travel will also be unique, but having a full time caregiver is a large part of success stories I read or hear first hand. If you search on this site for travel, family, you will find a number of threads with stories. The question is asked every 4 to 6 weeks regularly.