Eating healthy can be difficult for anyone. Add packing up and moving every 13 weeks or more. That makes it even more difficult. Many fast food delivery options now exist, including Door Dash and Grub Hub. However, these are not always healthy meal options. The question was asked in our Facebook network group about healthy meal delivery options. There were four main responses. We have listed them below with a little information to help you decide which is the best healthy meal option for you.
Hello Fresh is a meal delivery service. They have different meal plans to match your lifestyle. You also have the option to cancel, skip a week or change meals at any time. The pricing depends on the meal and how many people you feed. Their site says, “Each week, you’ll open simple step-by-step recipes complete with nutritional information and fresh, pre-measured ingredients to get you whipping up delicious dinners in no time.”
Hello Fresh offers many healthy options, and the meals are simple to prepare. The measuring is already done for you, and all the ingredients are packaged together.
Freshly is probably one of the best meal delivery options for travel nurses because they are already prepared and cooked. All you need to do is heat the meals and eat. It is that simple. According to Everyday Health, “Freshly sources high-quality ingredients and ensures each meal is nutrient-dense and packed with the good stuff. All their meals are gluten- and peanut-free and contain no refined sugars.”
Freshly is a great healthy meal delivery option that takes very little time to prepare, making it great for busy on-the-go travel nurses.
Like Hello Fresh Dinnerly is a meal subscription plan. You pick the number of meals to be delivered to you every week. According to The Spruce Eats, “The Dinnerly meal kit subscription service offers two options: a two-person or four-person plan that ranges from three to six meals per week. Unlike most services, ordering just two meals per week is not an option. Customers can let the company send the meals automatically or choose from the 14 offerings that week. The kits contain most of the ingredients to prepare a meal. There aren’t ways to customize for food allergies. However, you can choose your box-made vegetarian. The cost of the box depends on the number of meals chosen for the week.
Eat to Evolve are healthy pre-made meals delivered to your door. There are a couple of options to choose from when ordering from Eat to Evolve. You can order Pick out your meals with a la carte or sign up for a weekly or bi-weekly subscription.
Eat to Evolve offers Keto and Paleo meals. They also offer Evolve 30 meals, which Eliminates most allergens. No wheat, dairy, sugar, soy, or grains. Eliminate for 30 days & wipe the slate clean! Their other option is Primal, which are meals that include nothing processed. No gluten, wheat, dairy, or processed sugars. Includes rice and potatoes. Eat to Evolve is an excellent option for those trying to eat much healthier. The meals are fresh, never frozen, and ready to eat in 120 seconds or less.
These are just a few options for healthy meal delivery. We hope this helps you get started with healthy meal delivery options. Do you have a subscription for healthy meal delivery? Have you tried any others not on this list? Comment your favorite options below.
Any job that requires you to travel also requires you to be able to pack adequately for that type of travel. People traveling for business typically have bags ready to go with the essentials, including suits, work devices, and documentation, for example. However, packing as a travel nurse requires a bit more. Here are five great tips to help travel nurses live minimally.
1. Simplify Your Wardrobe
One of the easiest ways to live minimally is by prioritizing the clothes you need for your job, including women’s scrub sets, appropriate shoes, and layers necessary for your assignment location’s climate and the time of year you’re working there. However, that doesn’t mean you need to omit all other clothes. Instead, think of ways to make the most out of your clothes. Athleisure garments are good multi-use garments and can be worn whether you’re exercising or not. Pieces that layer, such as tank tops and cardigans, can make your wardrobe more versatile. If you can, pack clothes that complement each other so you can mix and match more easily.
There are two main housing options: finding it yourself and having it assigned by your agency. If you’re finding lodging yourself, you have more freedom to find a place that fits your needs best, but your agency will have more experience and may be better suited to ensure you get what you need. Before you go, you should familiarize yourself with your housing. Check average utility costs, whether the place is pre-furnished, what stores and services are nearby, and what transportation options you’ll have.
3. Differentiate Needs And Wants
Another great way to live minimally is to differentiate your needs and wants. It’s important for people who travel for work to prioritize their packing needs over their packing wants. Clothes, toiletries, documents, linens, certain electronic devices, and medications are all necessary. Depending on your role, you may also need to bring a printer, kitchen supplies, cleaning tools, and a television. While entertainment and exercise are also important, these are activities you’re more likely to be able to find when you arrive at places such as gyms and libraries, so you may classify them as wants.
4. Create Packing Lists
If you plan to participate in travel nursing for an extended period of time, it will be helpful for you to create a packing list template that you can populate for each assignment. Typical lists written by hand or in a word processor will work just as well. Lists can help you stay organized and ensure you pack everything you need. You can even divide your list to account for your needs and wants. That way, you can pack your needs first and then fill in your wants with the room you left in your luggage.
5. Keep Your Method of Travel in Mind
Travel nurses may end up working almost anywhere. Their options may be limited to within their home country, or they may have the option to work internationally, depending on their degrees and licensing. You should pack according to what method of travel you’ll take to get to your destination. Driving yourself will give you the most space for packing, while taking ground transportation such as buses and trains means you’ll have minimal space to store your bags. Airlines typically require you to pay additional fees for checked luggage over their size, weight, or number limits. You should focus on how long you’ll spend at each location and whether you’ll be going home between assignments or spending long stretches away from home. You should also consider your transportation options. These will heavily inform how you pack and how.
All travel nurses must face the same daunting question when it comes to planning their housing for an assignment; Should you rent private housing or a shared home? It’s a question that comes with many pros and cons, so let’s break it down.
Private Room, Shared Spaces
When the idea of shared housing is brought up, we know that many people immediately think of college dorms or rentals. But this is a different situation and a completely different lifestyle than college days! Many homes are available for rent (check out Furnished Finder!) with individual private rooms and shared living and kitchen spaces.
Pros of a private room- shared spaces:
The cost savings is the first and arguably largest advantage of renting a room within a shared home. Prices for private rooms are typically much lower than renting the entire home as the expenses are shared and split up between tenants. We know travelers and travel nurses have budgets to keep in mind, which is a great way to save some money on rent!
Another great perk about renting a private room within a shared home is the chance to meet other travelers or perhaps residents of the local area. Some homes are rented to all travelers, and other homes may have long-term tenants or even the owner residing in other parts of the home. What better way to meet new friends and get the scoop on the local areas than to live with someone?!
Cons of a private room- shared spaces:
Sometimes there can be a conflict with roommates or those sharing a living space. However, this is much less common with professional roommates. Be sure to set clear expectations and have an open and respectful line of communication; many conflicts can be avoided before they even happen.
Entire Homes- private housing
Just like it sounds, renting an entire home means that it’s you, you, and only you (or perhaps you and a spouse or family member!) in the home. No sharing of common spaces – everything is yours!
Pros of entire homes:
Total privacy! Although it may seem obvious, this perk is a big perk for those who may have varying hours, work nights, or just tend to be more private travelers. You won’t need to worry about potentially waking someone else up if you’re headed in to work late (or early!), and vice versa if you are trying to sleep.
Additionally, with an entire home rental, you can live according to your own habits without worrying about others who you live with. Keep the thermostat how you like, clean it on your own accord, etc. As long as you are within your lease limits, you get to determine how you keep things!
Cons of an entire home
When you’re the only tenant, you’re also the only one to assume all housekeeping responsibilities. Any terms agreed to in your lease are on your shoulders. This may not be a big deal for some, but for others, it may be difficult with schedules and workloads. Remember that different types of homes require different types of maintenance (and per your lease). An apartment may have minimal outdoor upkeep, for example, but an entire single-family home may require you to do yard upkeep if agreed upon.
Whichever you prefer – a private room within a shared space or an entire unit (private housing) – find a home that excites you! On Furnished Finder, you’ll find everything from apartments and townhouses to single-family homes, cottages, back houses, and guest suites! You may even find an RV or a tiny home!
Many things distinguish travel nurses from others. A sense of adventure, a drive to help people, a thrill of new places — and of course, a mission to travel that isn’t just unchanged in the face of COVID-19 but all the stronger because of it.
During the pandemic, travel nurses were on the road more than ever before. So, hitting the nurse conference system this year may seem like pretty standard procedure. But even if your travel lifestyle hasn’t changed much in recent years, the world itself — and day-to-day travel — definitely have. And for nurses who haven’t traveled lately, those changes could be even more striking.
With that in mind, before heading off to TravCon 2022 in September, or whichever nursing conference you choose to attend next, let’s look at how Covid-19 has changed the travel and events scene and what to expect if you’re traveling this summer or autumn.
Getting to your nursing conference
Masks are no longer required while flying, nor are vaccinations or negative Covid tests. And the amount of people flying in the summer of 2022 is back to about the same levels as before the pandemic. With that in mind, those who haven’t stepped into an airport since before the pandemic may not notice too much change.
As for travel this summer, you can expect the usual at American airports — long lines and frequent delays. As usual, it’s best to arrive early and have a backup plan. For those looking to reduce hassle and lost time, consider getting TSA PreCheck® status to skip the security lines. Some travel groups, like Orbitz, offer PreCheck status as perks to frequent flyers.
Before traveling internationally, you’ll want to check the entry requirements for each country you’ll be visiting (even if it’s just a stopover). You can find these with a quick Google search or by visiting the U.S. State Department’s website.
And remember, while most countries have eased COVID-19 restrictions (including the U.S., as of June), many others haven’t. Even if it’s just a stopover, these restrictions could seriously impact your schedule. Search Google for your destination airport’s website to keep an eye on potential delays, cancellations, or strikes (which can be common in Europe).
What to expect at — and how to prepare for — your next nursing conference
Once you arrive, you’ll want to make the most of your conference attendance and do what you can to respect local rules and guidelines. Here’s a quick checklist before you travel.
✓ Respect local mask and social distancing rules.
While most public life in the U.S. is now mask-free, many hospitals and healthcare settings still require them. On top of that, many professionals working in healthcare still prefer to wear masks at gatherings. Take a moment to double-check the conference guidelines, and consider wearing a mask even if it’s not suggested.
✓ Earn credits when you can.
Most conferences offer the chance to earn educational credits by attending certain sessions or workshops. Be sure to take a few of these sessions to earn credits toward a certification or skill to get real career value out of your conference experience.
✓ Get up to date on tech or best practices.
One of the biggest benefits of attending nursing conferences is staying up to date with new skills, research, technology, or best practices — which can be critical to growing your career in an industry that’s preparing to live with Covid-19 in the long term. Take the time to seek out a session or speaker offering specific insights into skills you want to develop.
✓ Network and make friends.
As a travel nurse, making new connections is a big part of the job description and is necessary for each new assignment. But during Covid-19, there hasn’t always been the chance to make friends amid the chaos. At travel nurse events like TravCon, you’ll have the chance to meet other nurses who love traveling as much as you do and strike up lasting friendships.
✓ Enjoy yourself!
Some people love attending conferences. But for others, it can be a chore to sit through session after session of discussion and presentation. To help get you though, plan some form of entertainment in the evening in order to have something to look forward to — and to seize the opportunity to get in some real relaxation while you’re away from work.
If you’re interested in taking your travel nursing career to new places, CareerStaff has opportunities across the United States! Visit CareerStaff.com for more information.
As I said in the first article, I suffer from chronic pain. During a clinical in nursing school, I found a pain pill in a patient’s bed. I said to myself, “You either get to be a pain patient or a nurse… You can’t be both!” I reported the find & went on with my day. While working charge nurse in the ER, a nurse left a patient’s prescription bottle with 100+ pain pills. I made it a point to tell the nurses not to set each other up for failure. Fast forward to 2014. I reported a nurse for possibly diverting. I emailed the director of the department & the VP of Nursing. NOTHING HAPPENED!! They let her quit. That planted a seed in my head.
“Well, that was easy!”
The next time I wasted a narcotic, I didn’t throw it in the shapes. I put it in my pocket. When I got home that morning, I self-administered my first IM injection. That was the beginning of the end for me. It felt amazing & I had my own dirty little secret. It wasn’t a week later I was shooting up in the bathroom. My job performance took a hit, and I transferred to another department. It was there that I sunk deeper & deeper into my addiction. Using multiple times throughout my shift. One of the nurses reported me to the director of the department. They watched me, ran reports, got called in, and questioned me about discrepancies. But, in the end, GUESS WHAT?!? They let me quit and didn’t report me to the BON. NOTHING HAPPENED!! To me, anyway. I walked away & my addiction continued to get more reckless & more dangerous.
2 yrs later… that sweet young nurse that reported me… she was found dead in a bathroom from an overdose.
I’m my experience… you cannot stop using by yourself. If you are not willing to self-report, you need to walk away & quit. You WILL either get caught or kill yourself.
There is not enough self-willpower. Your addiction is more powerful than you.
I, too, thought I was different. I was in control. But I wasn’t. I was just another junkie chasing that high.
The thing about the disease of addiction is that it does not Discriminate. Red, yellow, black, white, her, him, tall, short, skinny, fat, rich, poor, happy, sad, the victim, the perpetrator, that disease is just waiting to attack when you least expect it.
Please reach out. Ask for guidance. Find a 12-step program. Pick up the phone. There is a way out & we do recover.
I’ll leave you with this. One of the 12 steps literature says, “any addict can stop using, lose the desire to use, and find a new way of life.”
Thank you for reading,
Misty Lack RN
We hope you found this article on substance abuse in travel nursing insightful and possibly helpful. Have you found yourself in a similar situation with substance abuse? Would you like to tell your story? Comment below.
She was born to be a traveler. Growing up with a dad in the Air Force, naturally, they moved around a lot, never staying in one place for more than a few years. Nurse Ann Marie doesn’t have those childhood friends she’s known since grade school. She was always the new kid, fighting those first-day feelings that she wouldn’t fit in or no one would like her. Maybe that early practice shaped her destiny as a traveling nurse who makes life-long friends everywhere she goes.
There’s the LA artist who paints with her feet after a brain injury from a terrible car accident that limited her hand-eye coordination. She met Nick—who she later found out worked for Capitol Records and knew Elvis and the Jacksons—while on a walk in the Hollywood Hills; she just had to say hello to this gentleman in a blue polyester sport coat and pajamas as he took out the garbage. His wife had just passed away, and he was alone, so Ann Marie and her daughter spent Thanksgiving with him a few days after they met.
Michael—the “Free Dad Hugs” guy pictured with Ann Marie on Facebook at the Boise Pride Parade—who another friend, Molly, recognized from high school and said, “You’ve got to become friends with him!” So, when Ann Marie ran into him at the farmer’s market, she introduced herself, and they’ve been friends for many years. There’s the European couple in their late 70s who own an estate jewelry store in Dallas where Ann Marie regularly feeds her obsession for funky vintage jewelry. And, as you can imagine, there are so many more in every city she’s worked in all over the country.
Social Life
This network of fascinating people who have filled her social life are just as dear to her as her pre-op, PACU, and post-op patients, whose stories have opened her heart and mind to people from all walks of life. The ability to make the focus of her work be on her patients, thanks to a career as a traveler, revived Ann Marie’s passion for nursing. Burnt out as a staff nurse and near the point of quitting, traveling reminded her of the reasons she became a nurse in the first place—one of which is her patients’ stories.
Patients in pre-op, PACU, and post-op might be nervous, afraid, and suffering, so Nurse Ann Marie—much like herself outside of work—asks them about their lives and gets them talking about their experiences and interests. She’s learned about Native American cultures and traditions, treated and talked with incarcerated patients, heard the stories of homeless men and women, cared for children with disabilities in their homes, and grown close with their families.
These moments of connection may or may not have had an effect on or even be remembered by her patients, but they enrich Ann Marie’s life and continually remind her that nursing is more than just a job. Travel nursing has opened her perspective on what it means to be a nurse, on friendship and personal connection, on her patients’ lives, and on the importance of our stories. Ann Marie has collected countless stories and has great ones of her own that she hopes to share with other travelers and possibly help someone along the way.
We want to hear your stories! What inspires you as a healthcare traveler? Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met on your travels? Go to Aequor Perspectives to share your story.
You’re about to drive a hefty distance from assignment A to assignment B and could use some tools to make the time in the car a little more fun (or wallet-friendly). We get it. Here are a few road trip planning apps loved by travelers and ways your travel nurse agency can support you on your adventures.
On Recreation.gov, you can find cultural sites to explore, locate camping spots or unique lodging, and reserve your spot for different experiences. Thirteen federal partners, including the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Burea of Land Management, help provide the tools and tips on Recreation.gov and its app.
Want to avoid traffic? The navigation platform Waze can help with that. Waze relies on its community of drivers and partners to report highway nightmares like potholes, wrecks, and construction and get you on the best route at the moment.
Those nationwide travels can cost a pretty penny, but there’s an app that might make the journey a little easier on your wallet. The GasBuddy app helps you find the cheapest gas stations, which you can filter by price, distance, amenities, and fuel type.
4. Roadside America
Quirky roadside attractions can make a long stretch of interstate more interesting. Roadside America helps you find hidden gems like the Lost Sea in Tennessee, the World’s Smallest Park in Oregon, or the Junk Art Park in Michigan. Roadside America is available as an app only for Apple users. It costs $2.99 to use, and there are in-app purchases to unlock maps of sites in all US/Canadian regions. However, you can browse the attractions on the RoadsideAmerica website and plan your stops from there.
AllTrails can help you find the right place to stretch your legs for a road trip break. Use it to find hiking, biking, and backpacking trails, read trail reviews, map out the route, and much more. It costs to access the full app but includes handy features like downloading offline maps and getting alerts for wrong turns.
Agency Support on the Road
Okay, we’ve talked about ways to make your trip more exciting. Now, how can your agency give you the best possible experience as a nationwide traveler? Here are a few ideas.
Travel Reimbursement
You’ve seen gas prices – a multi-state adventure can be costly. Does your agency help you with the bill? See if your agency has a travel reimbursement program that can offset some of the moving costs, whether you travel by car or plane. Just keep your receipts, document your mileage, and you should be good to go!
Housing Assistance
Being a traveler is fun, but the upfront costs of moving are not. See if your agency can help! Some agencies might have programs to help cover these expenses, like utility fees, pet deposits, and first and last month’s rent. Your agency can divide the total cost of the moving expenses over your first few checks once you start your assignment.
Your Way is Paid
As a travel nurse, you’ll likely need multiple licenses, certifications, vaccinations, and more as you go from facility to facility and state to state. While many agencies pay for some of these expenses, others don’t pay for anything. Ask your agency if they help you cover these costs (and if they ensure you’re following all compliance requirements before you drive off to your new assignment).
Being a travel nurse allows you to make great moves in your life. Pick an agency that supports you in the venture.
We hope you found this article on road trip planning apps for your cross-country travels helpful. Are there any other apps you think should be included in this list? Comment them below.
When it comes to a career in travel nursing, one of the best ways to find success in the field is to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Over your career, you will travel between assignments and locations and will always be working with new people. Successful travel nurses are flexible, confident, and can adapt to anything thrown their way. While these traits are important to the job, there are other factors to consider when travel nursing.
Thinking outside of the mental and physical tolls of the job, what are some other hurdles associated with travel nursing? In this time of steadily rising costs and inflation, finances should be right at the top of the list. Whether you’re an individual considering a job in the industry, or if you are a current travel nurse who’s looking to improve their financial standing, here are 3 useful tips any travel nurse can use to avoid falling into debt when on the road.
Fully Understand Your Financial Situation
Seeing as travel nurses are expected to move locations every few months or even every few weeks, you’ll find that financial literacy can be your best friend. Without a firm handle on your finances, expenses for things like travel, transportation, housing, and food can easily get out of hand. You don’t want to get to a situation where you are away from home and find yourself struggling just to get by. By diving headfirst into learning about your finances, you can gain control over your current and future financial standing. A good first step to gaining a better understanding of your financial situation is to calculate both your net worth as well as your debt-to-income ratio.
First, let’s take a look at what net worth means and why it matters. A person’s net worth is calculated by adding the value of assets they own subtracted from the value of liabilities against them. Some common assets to include are cash reserves, home equity, investments, and liabilities include student debt, credit cards, and a mortgage. The first time you calculate your net worth will most likely be overwhelming. It can be hard to remember every little asset or liability you have accrued. Using something like a personal net worth calculator can help facilitate the process to ensure you don’t leave anything out of your calculations.
Your net worth calculation will give you a snapshot of how your past has impacted your financial situation. Calculating your debt-to-income ratio will help you understand what your current financial situation is looking like. To calculate your debt-to-income ratio, all you need to do is take your total amount of debt payments made each month and subtract that amount from your monthly income. Most people aim to have a debt-to-income ratio of 30% or lower. This means that if you took home $5,000 in a month that your monthly debt payments should be $1,500 or lower. Again, if you need assistance with calculating your ratio, there are debt-to-income calculators available for free to help you along the way.
After you have a full view of your past and current financial situation, you can now start thinking about the future. As you start to think about your next travel nursing assignment, consider how much you can realistically spend in one month. You should be using your net worth and debt-to-income ratio to help guide you here. As mentioned, you want to keep this ratio below 30%, which makes the 50/30/20 method of budgeting a great option to try. This strategy separates your monthly after-tax expenses into three categories: 50% towards necessities (housing, food, transportation), 30% towards wants (shopping, social activities, travel, dining out), and the remaining 20% towards savings or paying off debts. In the context of travel nursing, utilizing a method of budgeting such as this one can be extremely beneficial for navigating price fluctuations between assignments and building out your savings.
Think Proactively About Where You Choose to Live
Although some travel nursing assignments offer living accommodations, some do not, and finding temporary housing can be difficult, costly, and can bring on unwanted stress. This is where being proactive can be hugely beneficial. As opposed to lengthy hotel stays or crashing with friends or family, there are several options available to find short-term living accommodations without breaking the bank.
First off, subletting is a great option in temporary situations and can allow for the flexibility you need when changing travel nursing assignments. Sublets come in all shapes and sizes, whether you need the whole place to yourself or if you’re okay with renting a room and sharing your space with others for the short while you’re on assignment. Depending on your desired location and proximity to work, subletting allows you to find affordable housing without having to make long-term commitments. A good place to look for sublets is either within a local Facebook community or housing page.
Rental intermediaries such as VRBO offer alternative solutions for short-term housing but can come at higher costs with additional fees included. A way to circumvent this is to reach out to the property manager, explain your situation and ask if they might be willing to offer a discount for stays longer than a typical weekend or vacation rental. While this is completely subjective to the manager, if they are open to working with you and providing a discounted rate, you may be able to find a stable home at a fraction of the price in comparison to booking hotel stays or subletting.
Given the long hours and stress, you’ll likely encounter during your assignment, finding a comfortable space to come home to and decompress is crucial to being successful in the role and ensuring the stability of your physical and mental health. Since housing will be your biggest expense during your time, you might as well plan as best as possible and work towards saving yourself the funds and reducing the stress that comes with the housing search process.
Don’t Be Afraid of Outside Help
Now that you’ve completed the first two steps in creating a budget and finding adequate housing accommodations, you must remain cognizant of your finances and be smart about how you choose to pay for everything. Far too often, people think they need to handle this all on their own, but leaning on outside help can both lower stress levels as well as improve your financial standing. Outside help can mean a lot of different things. Most often, outside help either will come in the form of an outside financial product or leaning on family and friends.
If you become friends with some of your travel nursing peers, looking for housing together can be a resourceful option for reducing your living costs and allocating more money to your savings budget each month. Finding short-term housing with another person allows for twice the reach in your search and provides you with some company at home, rather than living all by yourself or with strangers.
Another option that could provide more flexibility is applying for a personal loan to use for expenses and purchases while on assignment. This option provides you with the necessary funds to use for your needs upfront as opposed to dealing with the credit limits of cards. Loans are the best for longer-term stays as you will make payments in monthly installments that come with lower rates than credit cards and allow for less of a hassle when it comes time to pay your bills.
If you are thinking about applying for a loan:
Make sure that you are only making purchases that are necessary to your living situation. Things like furniture, utilities, or breaking an old lease are what outside financial products should be used for, not a new wardrobe or other impulse buys. And remember, no matter what method you choose, all that matters is that it’s the best for your situation and provides you with the least vulnerability to debt.
A career in travel nursing is both an exciting and fulfilling experience vital to our communities’ health and prosperity. Whether you’re new to the job or a seasoned veteran, planning for a new assignment can prove to be stressful in more ways than one, but with the right attitude and proper financial planning, you can reduce your anxiety and focus better on the job. At hand: saving lives!
In recent years, full-time RV living has taken the world by storm. All it takes is a few scrolls on Instagram or TikTok before you see a post of someone living this lifestyle. Most of the time, people rave about living in an RV and seem incredibly content in their choice to downsize and live in a tiny home on wheels.
Oscar and I decided early in our travel nursing journey that RV living was the right move for us, but we have learned a lot along the way. Most of these things we wish we knew before we got started. Hopefully, this article can shed some light on what it is really like living in an RV and what you should definitely know before jumping into becoming a full-time RVer.
It isn’t cheap
A big reason Oscar and I chose to live this lifestyle was because we thought that it would be cheaper in the long run. For the most part, we were right; however…we were also very wrong. RV living, like most things, can be as luxurious or as basic as you want. To get started, you will need to have or invest in a great towing vehicle. We started out with Oscar’s relatively new Chevrolet Silverado because we weren’t ready to invest in a bigger and more powerful vehicle at the time.
Our Silverado gave us a good 6-8 months before it finally gave out on us. We learned from that point forward that diesel trucks really are the best way to go if you want something that is going to last and get the towing job done well. These vehicles do NOT come cheap, though and we sort of begrudgingly went through with the purchase because we knew we would be living in the RV for years to come, and to us, it was more than worth the investment.
Choose your RV
Next up, of course, you will need to choose your RV. Again, you can go as basic or luxurious as you want, so this is up to your preference. However, be prepared to spend a decent amount. After all, this is going to be your home, and you don’t want to get something you end up hating. For this reason, make sure you look at RVs in person! This gives you the opportunity to walk around the inside and get a good feel for the size of the RV. Trust me; this is a step you do not want to miss! Pictures only do a trailer so much justice. I would recommend using a website like rvtrader.com to compare the different costs of the RV model you like in different states (our exact RV model costs double in Virginia than it did in Texas!).
Let’s talk accessories.
Boy, you can really go all out with this part. However, there are some basics you will certainly need, and that’ll cost you a few hundred dollars. Some RV shops include these items with the purchase of your RV, which is a major plus, but not always. These basics include two sewer hoses (in case one isn’t long enough to reach the sewer connection at the RV park), plastic sewer hose support (this is where your sewer hose will sit when it’s connected), 3 water hoses (a heated one – you can find these on amazon – hopefully we will have a store up soon where we can link these items!, a spare water hose, and one to flush out black water tank – make sure you NEVER use the black water tank hose for your regular drinking water!), water pressure regulator (controls the water pressure coming into the RV), and power chord for electricity and surge protector.
It would also be a good idea to have an adapter for 30/50 amp service (these come in handy when you park at an RV site that only has 30 amp service and your setup is 30 or 50 amp). 50 amp service is better because it allows you to run multiple electronics/ACs at once without tripping the breaker, but not all RV parks have this service.
Another great basic to have is a water filter that you will connect to your heated water hose/freshwater drinking hose. Some other basic things you should have on hand are an extra extension cord, tools such as a power drill and toolkit that comes with screwdrivers/ratchets, and level/leveling blocks to ensure your RV is not tilting to one side.
Lastly, let’s talk about the cost of an RV spot.
This is going to depend highly on where you are and at which time of the year. For example, RV parks in Florida during the month of December will cost a lot more than an RV spot in a colder place during the winter. The same applies for summertime and spots up north (think Washington, Idaho, etc.). RV parks can charge up to $3,000 monthly for a spot in these desirable locations. However, keep in mind that furnished places can cost just about as much, so you aren’t really losing too much money there. Plus, you don’t have to worry about moving in and out of your RV – you’re already moved in!
Speaking of RV parks, let’s talk about finding one. Due to the recent increase in people purchasing RVs and wanting to live this lifestyle, RV parks have been filling up faster than ever. This poses a unique challenge to travel nurses, especially because this can make or break whether you take an assignment in a certain place.
For our summer assignment last year in Eastern Washington, I must’ve called 15-20 RV parks multiple times in hopes of finding a spot. It wasn’t until the 3rd time I called a specific RV park that I was able to secure us a spot. Even still, the RV park was ~30 min away from the hospital, but we were even willing to drive further just to have a spot. Be prepared for long commutes to and from work in certain areas if RV parks are hard to come by.
I’m not sure why we didn’t think this would be an issue before we decided to embark on our RV adventure, but I am here to tell you that it has been stressful at times finding us spots on the road and while on assignment. This may mean you need to look at the types of places you want to work and perhaps consider working there during a shoulder season (aka not a tourist season!) in order to easily find a spot. You can also search Facebook groups for private listings as well if you get really desperate.
Learning curves galore
Thankfully, Oscar has taken on much of the learning curves that we have experienced since living in our RV full time, but I am here to tell you that there has been A LOT of learning.
Some of the learning includes:
learning how to prep the inside and outside for long travels
how to get the RV hooked up and secured before towing
how to drive and park the trailer (this is a huge one and one I have yet to partake in!)
how to perform the required maintenance
figuring out how often to dump your black and gray tanks
understanding what blank and gray tanks even are
having the right tools/accessories to keep our RV functioning appropriately
troubleshooting when things go wrong
and the list goes on and on.
There are tons of resources available to help you on this new journey (YouTube, for instance), but really the best way to learn is to just get on the road and start doing it yourself! An important thing to remember is to be patient with yourself and allow yourself the time to learn these new skills. You aren’t going to understand it all in one day so take as much time as you need!
Another important tip: RVs are not always made very well. This is an unfortunate truth, but something good to know regardless. It doesn’t always matter what type or brand of trailer you get; sometimes, they are just not made well. Therefore, it’s not a matter of if things will break, but when! Don’t get discouraged when this happens, but learn to roll with the punches. This is the only way you are going to survive RV life!
You will need to downsize… A LOT
This should come as no surprise to most of you, but it is still something that I am reminded of almost daily. You really don’t realize how much you have until you are forced to live out of small closets and storage bins! Luckily for us, the RV we chose has a great amount of storage, so that has helped. However, it still can only handle one season’s wardrobe at a time – our home back in Texas serves as our major “storage unit” where we keep all off-season clothing, but not everyone has this option.
If RV living is something you are serious about, I invite you to go through all your things now and donate what you don’t use on a daily/weekly basis. In doing so, you are setting yourself up for success when you do finally move into your RV. It’s been incredibly nice to live a more minimalistic lifestyle, but we are still guilty of filling our RV up more than we should from time to time. We are still learning!
It isn’t as scary as we thought.
Finally, I wish we knew just how much we love living this way before getting started. Like everything, there are pros and cons to full-time RV living, but for us, the pros heavily outweigh the cons. We have learned so much about ourselves, about each other, how to problem solve, how to not sweat the small things, and how to enjoy the moment so much more.
We have realized we don’t need a lot to live a happy, fulfilled lifestyle. There is something special about knowing you have your home with you wherever you go, and it brings a sense of comfort and consistency to a travel nurse’s ever-changing and sometimes chaotic life. I can honestly say that after a year of living this way, I can’t imagine our travel nurse experience any other way. This lifestyle is certainly not for everyone, but one thing is for sure: it is definitely for us!
