Tomorrow we start off on our road trip to Phoenix!

Dan will be working at a hospital in Glendale beginning on December 5th, and we finally have an apartment lined up! After a long and harrowing search we found a great place in Phoenix not too far from the hospital. Turns out many furnished apartments out there get by with just offering kitchenettes…as in microwave, mini-fridge, and plug in burners. Not quite what I was hoping for. Thankfully we found a place with a full kitchen and even a washer & dryer this time!

Even more exciting though, is that Dan will officially be working days! His last two travel nursing contracts have been night shift assignments which has been tough on both of us. I’m so incredibly thankful that he was able to switch to days. I don’t think he’ll be doing nights again if we can help it. Unfortunately, approximately 75% of travel nursing contracts are night shift assignments so it can be difficult to find a contract for days, especially if you’re new to the game.

It will be odd celebrating Christmas with no snow, but we’re excited to try out a warm winter at least once in our lives. We’ve got a trip to Tucson planned for Dan’s birthday in February and are talking about maybe escaping to Utah for a few days if we find we really need a dose of snow.

One of the best parts about travel nursing is getting to explore new cities within driving distance of where Dan’s assignment is. Since most travel nursing contracts are 12 hour shifts he usually gets three or four days off in a row, leaving just enough time to explore! Once we’re settled in Phoenix, I’ll be writing some posts about the trips we were able to take while we were in South Carolina. We had an incredible time in Highlands (NC), Charleston (SC), and Savannah (GA)!

What are your recommendations for Arizona/out west?