Working as a travel nurse has its unique problems. One of which is the question of what to do with your mail?
When you’re moving every 13 weeks, it’s easy to lose your mail with traditional USPS mail forwarding. If you don’t arrange it soon enough, it may arrive after you leave. If you don’t know what your new address is, you can’t forward it. It’s common for travel nurses to not have a forwarding address until a week or two at the most before a contract start. So what do you do?
There are many different services that you can actually ‘view’ your postal mail online. With these types of mail systems, you view all of your mail online via an online ‘mailbox.’ This is similar to email but offers multiple other services that benefit the travel nurse or traveling professional. Your mail (unopened) is initially scanned and placed in your box. You can then determine if you want it opened and scanned, shredded, or sent to you at your selected forwarding address. This service is great for the tech-savvy and doesn’t want to deal with a pile of paperwork. All of your scanned documents can be saved and filed electronically for your future reference or printed if needed. Many of these companies also offer other services like virtual check cashing, and most cater to business travelers, so they understand the unique needs of the Travel Nurse.
Here is a list of some other mail services that you might want to check out:
I personally use UPS for forwarding. I have a street address, handle packages, and set up a forwarding schedule that meets my needs. When I am out of the country for long periods, I generally have my mail sent twice a month to a friend’s home, and she will notify me if anything of importance is received.
What are your solutions to controlling and forwarding your mail? Have you used any of the online or forwarding services? If so, what was your experience? Good? Bad? Would you recommend them?
