Travel nursing with young kids, need advice/tips!

missnurse01, MSN, RN · Dec 3, 2012

I was a travel nurse (labor and delivery) 7 years ago pre-children, now post-children, I am looking to travel nurse to CA with my family after Christmas, my kids are 5,3, and 1. Am I crazy?! My husband is going to quit his job and be the SAHD. My kids are all young where they aren't in school, so it is now or never!
Has anyone out there done this with a young family and can give me tips or encouragement. I am a little nervous, mainly the drive out there from Chicago with three young kids! Kill me now!! I
Did you take the housing they provided? If not: how did you find housing for a large family and furnishing it. What about health insurance? Do you regret it or would you do it again?
Thanks

I did it! It was awesome, we traveled for three years. kids were either too young for school or we homeschooled the other ones. dad was also the stay at home.

we love road trips! just give them activities, make sure you get them all out to use the bathroom and have a walk at each gas fill up. we would often eat at a rest stop, so it was more like a picnic. We packed a cooler for lots of hand snacks, and fixin's for easy things. like oatmeal heated up in the gas station, or sandwhich fixings, fruit, trail mix etc. it was not that bad, really. every now and then we would stop at a hotel with a pool to give the kids a break for the night or morning before we took off again. we usually just took naps in the car though.

the first time we took the housing, brought our own furnishings. we just limited to what we would need, and hooked an enlosed trailer from uhaul to the back of the suv.

after that we called realty companies and ask if they had anyone who would be interested in short term renting; once we even had one that was unable to sell their house but rented to us for 3 months.

we took the companies insurance.

we are actually gonna travel again starting in april!

good luck

molsenrn · Dec 3, 2012

I would love to hear more! Don't mind the ambush of questions! LOL

How old were your kids when you started?

Did you work nights or days?

How much was the companies insurance for the whole family, and was it good/decent? I got quoted $97 a week from a travel company.

Where did you travel?

Was your family supportive? grandparents)

Did you work 3 in a row so you could be off?

Did your husband work?

I am so excited to take this next step its very scary "pulling the trigger" and actually doing it with 3 kids though. I need another Mom/nurse encouragement so thank-you!!

I am looking to go to San Diego area so we can get a few family vaca's out of the way while we are down there! My parents tell us we are crazy and that they don't think it is a good idea. I think just bc they don't want us to take their grandkids across the country.

We also were going to buy an enclosed trailer and pack everything we need in there, and just get everything else at Goodwill when we get there. We were thinking that it might be easier to take the housing the first assignment, just to decrease stress level, and then take the stipend the next couple times. What do you recommend after doing both? Was it really that easy to get a place for just 3m last minute? Did you come out ahead after taking the stipend?

I have been talking to Valley and Flexcare. You?

Thank you MissNurse and keep in touch!

cosmicmama, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2012

I am about to start doing this too, only I am single and my kids are 11 and 14. They have always homeschooled so that's not an issue. We are also bringing our black lab. I'm also interested in the the questions about insurance, housing, bringing belongings, etc! I drive a Honda Civic and I can't imagine how I'm going to fit everything we need in there, I'm thinking we're going to be packing REALLY lightly and buying stuff at thrift stores when we get there, then donating it back when we leave.

I'm also curious about finding my own housing, pet-friendly...is it hard to find for three months, and will it cost me a lot more if I could find a small house vs. taking the agency's apartment?