Travel with family

[kevokie]

^{hey y'all. So I have been an RN for almost two years, previous 15 year career in EMS. Currently, I work in an ICU in Tulsa, OK. I am seriously considering doing the travel gig. I was stuck at the same job in ems for so long and only went on two real vacations. I want to see the US. Now, I am married with two school age children ages 8 and 6. My wife has a job, and it's a good job, I'd hate to see her give it up. However, I don't wanna be stuck around the Oklahoma/Kansas/Arkansas/Missouri/Texas area doing travel stuff either. I wanna be near the ocean, near the mountains, somewhere with sun and somewhere with snow! I wanna take my family with me. Homeschooling is so accessible these days, and I feel like my kids would love it. Has anyone done this with their family? What's it like obtaining insurance? I'm not worried about vacation time, etc. just needing health insurance mostly. Is it even feasible? I feel like it is. Any comments, tips, suggestions would be great! Thanks!}

[NedRN]

Traveling with family comes up a lot. If you search Allnurses for keywords family and travel an extensive reading list will come up. Insurance will also be discussed in those threads.

[Trjl]

Unfortunately, i don't have any little ones that are being home schooled, but if you are dedicated to that, traveling the US with 2 young girls would be an awesome experience for them. But it may be more of a hardship for your wife if she likes her job. Unless you are planning on her quitting her job to basically stay with the kids while you are at work.

As long as you stayed employed by a Travel Agency, you will maintain your insurance. But be aware that the day your contract ends, so does your insurance. So if you have a few weeks off between assignments, make sure you arrange to have your insurance continue. It will cost you extra, since you will have to pay for your insurance (like Cobra) while not working.

ICU does pay the best with Travel. Just a few suggestions, if your current work would let you take a few months off, you may want to start off with finding a job for the summer. So your children are off school, and you can test the waters of how travel works. California is a great state to go to get what you mention. They have beaches, and the Mountains not far off. It is a little pricey, but might be worth it for the experience. I am not sure what your wife does, but if she has the type of job she might be able to do via the computer, she might be able to get a few months off with you during the summer as well. Test the waters and see if it works. It is hard to get the Travel bug, cause the only thing that cures it is to Travel. I have only been traveling for a few years and I love it. Good luck to you.