where will we live?

One of the biggest questions that was on our minds when we found out, and now maybe yours too, was what about travel nursing? For a couple weeks we were really unsure what we wanted to do, and what would be best to do, in terms of where to live. The main options we considered were settling down here in Charlotte, or at least in the Carolinas, for the next year plus and then reevaluating. The other option was to head back to New Hampshire (where our family is) after Dan’s current contract.

Ultimately, I think we made the best decision for us which is to take a couple of years off from travel nursing and head back to New Hampshire. Once we finally made the decision we both started feeling very anxious/ready to get back there and we quickly realized how excited we are to head back. Not only will we be able to be among so many friends and all of our immediate family, but we also love New Hampshire and are excited to share our beautiful home state with our baby. We’re both open to the idea of living somewhere else in the future, but we’re hoping to stay put there for the next two or so years.

what comes next?

We weren’t sure originally if we would extend Dan’s contract before heading back to New Hampshire, but ultimately we decided not to. Which means we’ll be moving from Charlotte back up north at the end of June. Honestly, part of both of us wishes we could leave right now because we’re so wanting to get settled, and I want to start nesting! That said, we’re still loving Charlotte and have a lot of fun things planned for the rest of our time here.

Before we leave at the end of next month, we’re planning to make a couple little trips to some of our favourite spots down here. We have a couple days set aside for a little mountain getaway to Highlands and then we’re planning to visit some friends down in Myrtle Beach just before our move. It’s probably going to be a little chaotic, but we want to take advantage of being down here for another month and a half.

will we travel nurse again in the future?

At this point, Dan and I are both totally open to the idea of travel nursing again in the future. We have lots of dreams of how it would work in our “ideal” situation, but we’ll see as time goes on. If we did travel nurse again, it probably wouldn’t be full-time moving every three months, and it might involve having an RV. Alternatively, we could do one three month contract per year as a chance to travel more. The options are endless, but whatever it looks like, we’re hoping we can travel nurse again someday. I’m interested in homeschooling our kids and doing that while travelling the country would be challenging, but also such an incredible opportunity for them to learn more hands on and on the go.

it is possible to travel nurse with a baby/family?

While we were in Phoenix we actually met a family that had done travel nursing for a time. The husband worked as a travel nurse and the wife homeschooled their kids, and they managed to make it an incredible time. It can be an opportunity to save money while travelling, with or without a family, and plenty of people have done it with a family. A lot of the time it involves having an RV so the living situation is more stable, or working one contract per year whether it’s three months or extending it to last the year.

At this point, we won’t be travel nursing with a baby, but who knows where we’ll end up in the future?