As I stared at my husband from across the deck, I said, “We could be homeless next month. … What are we going to do without a paycheck?” Both of us are travel nurses, our current assignment was to end in three weeks and we were starting to wonder if we would get a new job in time.
My husband gave me his signature look that said I was being ridiculous and I needed to chill, and then said, “We’ll be just fine; we always are.” He was right, I was being dramatic, we had done this before.
The ‘Right’ Path
I followed what people would describe as the “right” path. After high school, I went straight to college and chose a degree in something I was not only passionate about but I knew would be a very stable career choice. There is always going to be demand for nurses. I was so proud when I first became a nurse and quickly started to take on more responsibility, wanting to learn more and more.
It was great at first, but after a while I was being asked to take on more and more things with less resources and no incentives. I was tired, and some days even dreaded going to work. My husband felt the same way, and after one particularly hard shift he decided that he’d had enough. The next day we applied with a staffing company. Little did we know it would all happen so quickly. Two weeks later, we left our family, friends and the only place we had ever lived for the bright lights of New York City on our first three-month travel assignment.
I am fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with recruiters who hear me when I tell them where I want to go, and the type of role I am looking for. Without them, I might not have gotten to all the amazing places I have been.
Fanciful Dream
When I started this adventure, I was chasing this fanciful dream of living a nomadic lifestyle; what I didn’t realize in the beginning was how bittersweet it would be. For example, I didn’t expect never to feel at home anywhere again, nor that I would leave a little bit of my heart every time I move. With every new assignment I am thrust into a new family with whom I share laughter and tears. And every new family brings something different to my soul. I have been able to meet people of all different walks of life and have learned things I never even knew existed.
If you would have told me a few years ago that I will have lived on two different coasts in one year’s time, I would have told you that you were crazy. It all started with a tiny idea that has now turned into a full-time lifestyle. I am so thankful I had my friends’ and family’s encouragement to take this leap! I am so thankful that my husband, instead of pushing pause on my dreams, is adding more wood to the fire to keep them going!
Speaking of dreams, I once hoped that I would get to live on the beach in a tiny house with my husband and our two fur babies. Well, now I get to! I didn’t quite get my tiny house, but we did purchase a beautiful travel trailer and that is now parked on the beach in the San Francisco area. Now, I’m dining on the beach, dreaming of my next adventure.
My advice to you? Whatever dream you have, whatever it is that stopping you, quiet all that noise and just go after it! No matter what you do in life, you are always going to have doubt and worries. If it’s going to be there regardless of the path you choose, you might as well have an adventure along the way!
