Iโm a healthcare worker, but itโs no secret that the medical field isnโt my passion. Iโll give you one guess what my passion is!
You got it. Traveling. And blogging all about it.
But seriously. I love traveling. I was made to wander. And fortunately for me, I married a man that supported my crazy idea that I unleashed on him one day. I told him I wanted to quit both of our jobs, start traveling the country, rely on temporary contracts and a single income, and homeschool our son when the time came. He saidโฆ โLetโs do it!โ
For reference, there are many types of traveling healthcare professionals. This article is general and applies to us all. I am not a nurse (although people often confuse me as one) but I often use the terminology of “travel nurse” because there is no denying that nursing dominates the travel field. I work in Radiology as a Sonographer. This is not a relevant fact at all, except to say that the true nature of this article is to inspire and comfort any mother or father who dreams of traveling with their children, nurse or otherwise.
The intent of this article is not to teach you the logistics of travel nursing itself, rather it is to teach you how it is completely possible to make it happen with a family.
My family and I have been traveling the US full-time with me working as a traveling ultrasound tech for 3 years. We have lived in furnished rentals, done full-time RV life, and even navigated a pregnancy and birth of our second child as a travel nurse.
Needless to say, I feel well-qualified to share advice on the subject!
I never intended to talk about my work in healthcare on this blog, however I do feel compelled to share how my family has constructed the opportunity to travel as much as we do. Afterall, the whole purpose of this blog is to inspire other families to travel and explore, and to equip you with the tools and knowledge to do so.
As you read this article, please keep in mind that all family dynamics are different, and I am sharing how travel nursing works with mine. I am fortunate that I have a loving, supportive partner who was willing to put his career on pause to travel and care for our children. If your family dynamic looks different, use this article as a guide and as inspiration. Keep in mind that I’ll be sharing perspectives, experiences, and verbiage as they apply to me and my family, and these may look a little different with your family dynamic.
If you’re interested in starting a travel nursing career with your family to satisfy your passion for travel and share that sense of wonder with your children, feel free to comment on this article if you’re facing any obstacles. If you have a question, there’s a good chance others might have the same one, and I’d be glad to answer it here for everyone’s benefit. Iโll respond as soon as possible!
Let’s finally get into it shall we?!
Table of Contents
Pros of Travel Nursing
I think many of these are obvious, but I’d still like to cover them. There are so many benefits to being a travel nurse, and there may be some that you haven’t considered.
First and foremost, the increase in pay allows for only one parent to work. This leads to more quality time among family members and among significant others. My husband is able to get a lot of the housework done during work days so we get to spend more time together at home as family. Some partners opt to do remote work, but it works well for us for my husband to take care of the kiddos.
Another obvious advantage of being a traveling nurse is, well, travel! We get to move to a new location approximately every three months when I start a new assignment. America is an incredibly vast country full of so much variety and culture. Duh, right? We had no idea how much we were missing until we started traveling. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
Next, our whole family is learning so much. We get to meet new people and make new friends at every new destination. We now have friends all across the country. We also get to visit extended family that lives around the country we don’t often get to see otherwise.
Another pro: we discovered a new passion. Visiting National Parks! As you know from this blog, we are huge National Park enthusiasts, and that flame was ignited on our road trip to my first travel contract (shout out to Glacier National Park!). We just love the outdoors in general. We love to camp and hike. Travel nursing has allowed us to hike and camp in some of the most incredible places across the country. Finding new places to pitch a tent is one of our favorite things to do.
And of course the educational opportunities! We have visited so many different cultural landmarks, biomes, festivals, markets, historic sites, parks, etc. The list goes on. We are strong believers that nature and experiences are two of the best teachers we can offer our children.
A quick mention of perks of being a traveling nurse that aren’t related to the family aspect:
- There is a significant increase in pay compared to working staff and we’re paying off our mountain of student loan debt.
- I choose my shifts- no long hours, no night shift, I can decide if I want to work weekends or call shifts. I can even choose the length of the shifts I’d like.
- I experience much less “burn out” than I did as a staff worker.
Like this article? Pin it for later!
How to Handle School as a Travel Nurse with a Family
I always dreamed of getting to homeschool my children at least through elementary school before entering public school and being a traveling nurse has allowed me to do this. Again, I’m incredibly privileged that I have a partner who is willing to take on the majority of the responsibility of homeschooling our children. I would imagine this would be incredibly difficult in a different dynamic, such as a single parent, but I’d like to believe it to be possible.
As a travel nurse, you are required to have what’s called a “permanent tax home.” I am not going to cover the legalities of a tax home in this article, but I mention it because you need to follow the homeschooling requirements for whichever state you are claiming as your tax home.
If you would rather not homeschool, you could consider taking a travel nurse assignment during school breaks and working staff during the school year.
I have heard of families enrolling in local schools in each new city but I am not familiar enough with the topic to speak on it.
What About Traveling with Young Children?
Both of our children have done very well traveling at a young age. It’s all they’ve ever known.
Kids are flexible and adaptive. If you’re having fun and enjoying the experience they will have fun and enjoy the experience.
Cons of Travel Nursing
There are pros and cons to everything and travel nursing is no exception.
Here are some things to consider:
- You are unlikely to have child care. Date nights are virtually non-existent. Occasionally I will meet a coworker I trust and will them ask to watch the kids for a couple hours, but that’s a lot to ask of people you hardly know. There are services like Care.comย but we’ve never felt comfortable going that route.
- You’ll miss your family. You will often go a long time without seeing them. I think this is especially difficult when kids are involved. We make an effort to Facetime with family as often as possible, but life gets busy. However, if your family has the means to come visit you on assignment, you get to have family vacations all over the country!
- It can be difficult for the kids to meet friends in each new city and then leave them behind every three months.
Housing for a Family as a Travel RN
A portion of travel nurse contracts is allocated to housing, called a housing stipend. Travel nurse agencies can arrange housing for you if you like, but this is an old practice and most travelers don’t use this option anymore. Most travelers choose to find their own accommodations.
Traveling with a family is more complicated than traveling as a single person, because there are more considerations to be made to meet your family’s housing needs. A single person could opt to rent a room or a small one-bedroom apartment. A family will need a rental with more rooms, possibly a yard to play in, you need to consider the neighborhood, and other safety features.
For example, when I took my first assignment in Portland, Oregon we rented a condo on the 9th floor in Downtown Portland with fragile furnishings and no yard. We were able to child-proof this condo and had an incredible time here, but these are the kinds of things you will need to be aware of when searching for your own housing.
Since finding appropriate housing for the entire family is so important to ensure a positive, comfortable experience in a new city I always ensure I can find housing before I accept a contract. This can sometimes limit where you go as a traveler, because in some cities it can be nearly impossible to find a rental that meets the needs of your family at an affordable price.
Another housing option is the RV life! This is what we are currently doing. We are thrilled with our switch to full-time RV life. It is a good fit for us because we enjoy having our own space, we don’t have to pack everything we own everytime we go to my next assignment, we can boondock in it as we travel between assignments, and we love the community aspect of campgrounds. We have also found it to be more affordable and easier to find campgrounds than it was to find rental housing.
The trick here is you need a big RV for a family. And a big RV is big scary to drive down the highway (if you ask me). At least one of you needs to be confident enough to drive that massive thing across the country. You can catch me following behind in my little Kia Forte.
For more about full-time RV living, see
Benefits of Living in a RV: Our Best Decision Yet
Best RV for Full Time Living: What You Need to Know
If you want to know the story of how we took the leap into traveling healthcare, see
Full-Time RV Living: Combining Passion and Profession
Another tip I want to share is about transportation. I recommend having a second vehicle if possible. For our first year of traveling we only had one vehicle, and I would drive it to work every day. This left my husband and our son home every day without a vehicle to get them out of the house.
Having two vehicles means driving separately to your next assignment, but this can be a blessing in disguise. If you need a break from the kids, your partner can take them in their vehicle for a while.
If You’re Looking for a Sign- This is It!
If you have been on the fence about travel nursing I hope you have found this to be inspirational. If you are here, you must also have a passion for travel and this may be your ticket for following your dreams.
Like I said before, I’m not passionate about healthcare, it is not my dream job, but I am so thankful for the opportunity it has given me to follow my true passion of travel, becoming a travel advisor, and sharing our incredible experiences on this blog with you.
This has been the most rewarding experience and if you have been looking for a sign to go for it, here it is!
Please leave any questions you have about travel nursing with a family below and I will do my best to answer you as promptly as possible!
For more information about booking travel with me, see my Services page.