Starting a new travel nurse assignment can be both stressful and exciting. While you might have started your travel nursing career because you wanted to experience new places, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy when you have to pick up and move to a strange new place again. It’s understandable if it takes you a little time to adjust. Hopefully, the tips in this guide will help you feel more settled and make the most of your new experience.
Settling into a New Town
1. Find the Right Housing
First things first. The key to feeling settled in a new town as a travel nurse is finding the right housing that suits your needs. Thankfully, there are plenty of online resources to help nurses like yourself find their new accommodations. Some top sites that we recommend include Furnished Finder, VRBO, Airbnb, Transplant Housing, and Kopa.
2. Make Your New Place Feel Cozy
Once you do find a spot to crash for your stay in your new town, it’s important to take some time to break into your new space to make it feel like home. This can mean adding a personal touch and making it cozy with plants, artwork, rugs, and decor. Maybe bring something special with you that brings you comfort, like your favorite blanket or favorite candle.
Temporary housing can also sometimes feel a little stuffy or have lingering smells from past tenants, so feeling settled in your new place can also mean giving the place a good cleaning. Our inside tips to freshen up the air quality include opening up the windows to let the fresh air in, changing out the HVAC filters, and investing in a good air purifier and humidifier that you can take with you to each new place.
3. Maintain Your Routine
While moving to a new town as a travel nurse might mean you want to get out there and explore new things, it’s also important to stick to your usual daily routine. Having a routine that you do in each new town can help you make associations that help you settle in more quickly. For example, you could wake up early and go for a run or hit up the local coffee shop each morning for a latte and a breakfast sandwich. Sticking to a routine will train your brain to feel more at ease with your new location.
4. Get to Know Your Co-workers
A crucial part of feeling settled in a new place is making friends. Just because you travel a lot doesn’t mean you can’t establish connections and form new bonds. So don’t be afraid to chat with your co-workers and get to know them.
You can ask them for tips on what places you should check out, which is a great opening to ask them if they want to join you. You can also invite people over to your new place and throw a dinner party to make new friends.
Wine dinners, for example, are a great way to bring new people together and can give you a reason to get your living space feeling put together and cozy. Some tips for a great dinner party include setting the mood with ambient lighting, playing some cozy background music — like jazz or classical — investing in some nice table settings, and creating a meal that consists of some nice food and wine pairings.
5. Make a List of Local Spots to Check Out
If you ever feel overwhelmed by all the new places you want to check out or if you never end up seeing everything you wanted to before you move again, try making a list. Having a physical list to look at every day can give you more motivation to actually go out and do those things. It also feels really good when you get to check something off your list.
Wrapping Up
At the end of the day, if you still feel a little unsettled in your new town, that’s okay. Traveling to new places and being forced out of your comfort zone is a good thing. It can help you grow as a person and can teach you to open yourself up to new experiences. So, while it’s important to have a routine that you stick to when you move, it’s also okay to sit with your discomfort and try new things that you might not have considered trying before. You never know what you might learn about yourself if you do.
We hope you found this article on settling into a new town helpful. How do you settle into your new town when you change travel assignments? Comment below.
Find Your Next Travel Nurse Assignment with Our Job Board!
Are you on the hunt for your next travel nurse gig? Look no further than our job board! Click here to explore all our current opportunities.
Discover the Perfect Housing for Your Next Assignment
Need somewhere to stay on your next travel nurse assignment? We’ve got you covered. Check out our housing page to find your ideal home away from home. Click here to start your search.
