Valentine’s Day Advice: You Don’t Have to Travel Alone
By Aaron Moore, MSN, RN-BC, travel nurse expert
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With the day for lovers coming up soon, I decided to create a short list of the advantages of taking travel nurse assignments with your spouse or significant other. As I’ve often said, I was one of the lucky ones: I got to travel with my best friend (my wife). She convinced me to try travel nursing in the beginning, and once I got going, we had a blast for years!
So here are a few of the reasons to consider travel nursing with your Valentine:
1. Road trips are more fun. Travel nursing can involve a lot of driving between assignments, like on my first travel job when we moved from Iowa to the coast of Southern California. Personally, I don’t ever want to know what it’s like to drive 1,600-plus miles alone. I’ll never forgot how much my wife and I learned about each other on those road trips, and that was after already being together for almost five years!
2. You have a personal GPS/navigator. My wife was our navigator, even before the days of Garmin, Google Maps or the dreaded “Apple directions” telling you where to go. Even with today’s technical assistants, it helps to have someone else enter the destination, suggest alternate routes and help choose stops along the way. Plus, we all know the dangers of using mobile devices while driving. With someone by your side, you’ll have an easier time getting where you want to go and less risk of rear-ending that cabby or other driver.
3. You can explore together. Your days off in travel nursing are your time to explore, and the adventures are even better with your loved one along. Get acquainted with that new city, visit a famous landmark, go hiking, biking, surfing or whatever activity you enjoy--you’ll have shared memories (and photos) to last a lifetime.
4. That second opinion can stretch you. Most guys understand the parody of asking your girl, “Where should we eat?” It seems like they can never decide (no offense, ladies). But when you’re traveling, it’s so awesome to have a second opinion when it comes to going out. When you are in a new place, you might stick to what you know and are comfortable with; having someone to push you will keep you trying new things.
5. You always have a date. OK, it may seem cliché, but we’ve all experienced that awkward feeling of flying solo or being the third wheel around other couples. Even though you’re the new kid in town, you won’t have to look for someone to do things with when you have your lovely wife by your side. By the way, you’ll also have the chance to build friendships with other travelers, and that goes for singles and couples.
6. It makes traveling seem less risky. I know I write a lot about taking risks and getting out there and doing travel nursing no matter what. But it can be even better with a friend, and it’s 10 times better with your best friend who happens to be your girl!
So, as you attempt to rev up the romance this weekend, why not start a conversation with your partner in crime about a career, together, in travel nursing? You won’t regret it.
It was a great decision my wife and I made together. We became so reliant on one another, learned so much about each other, and got to share the greatest adventure of our lives--while holding hands through it all.
Those are memories I will never forget.
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