Dan and I made it to Charlotte just about a week ago, and we’ve already loved it so much. From the first day I told Dan I felt sure I could see us at least renewing his contract here, if not staying more long term. Part of the fun of travel nursing is seeing so many new places and considering where we can see ourselves settling. South Carolina felt like a place we could imagine staying long term and so far North really has too, maybe even more.

I have family in North Carolina, not too far from Charlotte, and Dan has a close friend who lives out by the mountains of western North Carolina. They’ve given us chances to visit in the past and plenty of recommendations now that we’re here for a few months. My great aunt also recommended a magazine called “Our State” which I got a temporary subscription to. It’s been a lot of fun reading about the state and how much it has to offer.

the hospital

Dan hasn’t even finished his first week at the hospital he’s working at here, but is already so excited to be working there. I had some doctor’s appointments that I wasn’t able to get done in New Hampshire so I’ve been speaking with people at the hospital too and have been impressed. The floor that Dan will be working on seems to be mostly Med-Surg, but it does house some telemetry patients as well which is exciting for him. If we did stay long term or renew his contract, I think he’d potentially want to see if he could switch to a more acute care floor, but so far he’s happy where he is.

Out of all of the hospitals he’s worked at while travel nursing, it sounds like this one is the closest to the hospital he first worked at in New Hampshire before we got married. It is organized quite well with state of the art equipment that makes things so much more efficient. The nurse to patient ratios also seem to be better than he’s had to work with in the past which makes a huge difference. Though we’ll have to wait and see because it’s still early, he said he can already see himself wanting to extend.

renewing Dan’s contract

We walked into this contract with the mindset of wanting to seriously consider extending. So far Dan has worked three different travel nurse contracts for three months each. The constant moving has been a lot for us, though the adventure has been fun. We’ll have to see, but so far I think we both like the idea of staying here for a while longer. It’s nice that Charlotte also isn’t too far from home. It’s around 14 hours driving or just a quick plane ride, so all in all not too bad.

the perks

The warmth of course is a huge draw as we’re both realizing that though we love aspects of winter, we don’t love it enough to need 4+ months of it every year. I especially love warm weather and find that higher temperatures don’t get to me nearly as much as colder temperatures do. So far the temperature has been consistently in the 60s and 70s (fahrenheit), with a couple of days in the 80s. We both enjoy getting outside for walks and other activities, and it seems like this will be a great place for that.

Where we’re living now is close to many parks, a train/light rail stop, a bunch of breweries and restaurants, and has easy access to downtown Charlotte. Dan’s hospital is only 15-20 minutes away which is super convenient. It’s a bit of a drive to get to the mountains going west and the ocean heading east, but we’re smack dab in the middle of our two favourite things which is fun. I think we’re really going to like it here 🙂

what we’ve done so far

It’s been a busy first week for Dan, so we haven’t made it out and about too much. It’s always fun, but a bit of a challenge, to figure out local grocery stores and where we should go. Now that we’ve gone organic we’re a bit more picky, so we’ve been to probably half a dozen to get an idea of where we’ll shop. We drove downtown a bit on one of our first days here which was fun, and are excited to do some more exploring there.

One of Dan’s friends just moved down to Greenville, SC and stayed with us for a few days on his way to his new place which was crazy timing, but a lot of fun. He and I made it out to a local park one of the days Dan was training and had a nice walk. I think Dan and I will have a great time exploring a lot of the local parks. It’s felt magical seeing all of the wisteria blooming as we drive or walk through our neighbourhood. Being back in the warm weather after a week of winter in New Hampshire has me very excited to get back outside.

what we’re hoping to explore in Charlotte

It’s been about 15ish years I think since I’ve been to Charlotte, but the last time I was here my mom and I went to a huge local farmer’s market that I would love to find again. It seems that there are lots of farmer’s markets here which I’m sure we’ll enjoy checking out. I remember I got the most delicious mini coconut cream pie, and I’m determined to find it or at least one like it!

We have lots of places we’d love to take short trips to, but we’ll probably have to narrow it down. Alternatively, if we stay longer we can spread out the trips a bit and fit more in, at least that’s my attitude towards it. We’d love to get out to the mountains to visit our friend who lives on the western side of the state. It would also be great to get back down to Myrtle Beach to visit the friends we made there, and of course to spend some time at the beach. I’d love to make it over to the Outer Banks for some more time at the ocean. Atlanta is not too far from Charlotte so we may take a little trip there at some point too!

what are your Charlotte recommendations?