Travel Nurse, Grandmother and Adventurer--from East Coast to West
By Megan Murdock Krischke, contributor
When Rebecca Kjolberg, RN, became a nurse she knew that eventually she wanted to work as a travel nurse.
“My goal was to find the area of nursing that I most enjoyed and then to be able to travel--to see the U.S. while working and go sightseeing with my husband,” Kjolberg said. “I love meeting new people and seeing new things. I work with nurses who have lived in a place their whole lives and have never visited some of the places my husband and I go.”
Kjolberg has been traveling as a psychiatric nurse on and off for five years, and says she has never had a day of work she hasn’t enjoyed. No matter where she is or what the working environment, she always enjoys her patients. And traveling with a top AMN Healthcare staffing company, she has had some great assignment facilities in interesting cities.
She also works to arrange her schedule so that she has three or four days off in a row and so that she and her husband can make the most of every assignment location.
East Coast travel highlights
While working three assignments in Concord, N.H., for example, the Kjolbergs enjoyed trips to Boston and Cape Cod. And one of their highlights of a year-long assignment in New Haven, Conn., was going into New York City at Christmastime.
“We did a whole night of walking to see the Macy’s windows. We saw all of those and went in the store and to Saks 5th Avenue and Niemen Marcus--it was fun to see their windows all done up for Christmas. We also got to see the Rockettes on Christmas Eve,” she remarked.
She has also taken two 13-week assignments in Washington, D.C.--one in the fall and one in the spring.
“I’d recommend D.C. to anyone. I’d always wanted to go to D.C. because of the history,” Kjolberg explained. “We had a beautiful apartment in Alexandria, Va., one of the nice D.C. suburbs, and made use of the free admission to all the national museums--it is easy to spend hours in them. We visited the homes of Clara Barton and Edgar Allan Poe, went to Mount Vernon and Monticello. We were so lucky to be in D.C. for the cherry blossoms--they were stunning.”
Family times
The Kjolbergs try to make the time for romantic experiences, as well. While in D.C., they took a week-long anniversary trip through the Shenandoah Valley, and are currently planning a wine tasting trip to Napa Valley for their upcoming anniversary.
These days the couple has also been playing the role of full-time grandparents. Their seven-year-old granddaughter spent the summer with them while Kjolberg was on assignment at Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif. This is the third summer the girl has spent with them while on travel nursing assignments.
“This is some of the best education you can give a young child, to see other cultures and to see how things are done differently in different places,” Kjolberg reflected. “It is definitely a learning experience for her.”
West Coast travel highlights
While in the San Francisco Bay Area this summer, the trio enjoyed activities such as climbing Coit Tower, a day at Golden Gate Park, including the Japanese Tea Gardens, a walk through the Haight Ashbury district and a visit to the Muir Woods.
They also enjoyed a family trip to San Diego with many activity-filled stops along the way, including Santa Barbara’s Chase Beach and a night in Ventura with a beautiful ocean view. Then it was on to Santa Monica to get on the hop-on-and-off tour bus for Hollywood.
“We saw the star walk, Hollywood Wax Museum, Disney [Soda] Fountain Shop, the Grove and the farmers’ market,” said Kjolberg. “Then it was back to the Santa Monica boardwalk where we enjoyed rides and watching surfers. From there we went to Venice Beach where we saw a beautiful sunset and had a nice supper at the Venice Whaler.” Next up, they visited relatives in Sun City and saw a spectacular view of L.A. at night, before reaching their destination and experiencing the San Diego Zoo.
But the fun didn’t end there. “On the way home we spent a couple of days in Monterey, enjoying Cannery Row, the aquarium, the pier and a drive through Pebble Beach.”
Kjolberg will return her granddaughter to her home in time to start school, and then pick up her two-year-old grandson to join them for her next 13-week assignment back at Stanford.
“Our philosophy is that you can’t take your money with you, so you might as well enjoy it while you can. Traveling is what we want to do. Though he has occasionally had jobs while I’m traveling, we typically choose for my husband not to work. He takes care of the grandkids and cooks and cleans--he is a big supporter of my travel nursing,” she reflected. “When it comes to travel nursing, I don’t see a lot of downsides. I feel like I’m on a year-round vacation.”
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