Social Life Of Travelers
I'm back at work, but not really at work, per se. The unit is pretty slow tonight, in particular my patients.
We've kept busy these last few days with our social life, which is a primary concern for travelers. I think that a big reason that a lot of nurses don't get into traveling is because they end up leaving their friends to go somewhere where they don't know anybody, and where they have to make new friends. On top of this, it's not that common for staff nurses and travel nurses to become more than acquaintances, because it doesn't make a lot of sense to invest the time and effort to cultivate a friendship with someone who will only be in their lives for as little as three months. Travel nurses tend to become friends with other travel nurses, especially since they can relate to the experiences each other is having, and because there's always the potential of crossing paths further down the road, or even traveling together.
So, it was good fortune that while being floated to the SICU for four hours the other day, I happened to meet another traveler. We talked a little, and it turns out that she lives directly across the hall from our apartment. So, last evening, Jess and I went out for sushi with her and her boyfriend, who also is a traveler. They both have been in the travel world for at least a year, and so could offer us some insight as to what to expect. We had a lot to talk about, and it was good to meet someone like the two of them. I think that Jess is feeling a little isolated, because she's used to having friends at work to hang out with, to call up and talk to, to go out after work with. Here, it's just me, and apparently even that gets a little old after awhile.
We also had a few old friends drop by. My friend Will, who drives a truck, swung through for a night. We may end up seeing a fair amount of him, since he's through the area frequently, as he drives up and down the Eastern seaboard, or even out West and back. Our friend Patty came down for lunch today. She's working in a summer camp here in Connecticut for very sick kids. The first batch of campers comes in tomorrow, so I guess she'll have a lot of stories to tell about that. It sounds interesting, Jess seemed to be intrigued about working there next summer perhaps.
We are still undecided about where we will be going this August, or if we'll be going anywhere at all. The prospect of being able to go anywhere is both tantalizing and daunting at the same time. There are so many interesting places we've thought of traveling to--Providence, RI; NYC; Seattle; Dartmouth in New Hampshire, Alaska, Salt Lake City, Phoenix. It is a little overwhelming, though, to consider that each time that we'll just be starting to get comfortable in one of these places, it will be about time to move on to the next place. There is always the option of staying longer in assignments, but then that limits how many places we could travel to, as we don't want to be traveling for a decade. We've even discussed international traveling, to Europe or Australia. That creates its own dilemmas.
So, in other news, it turns out that traveling has the potential to be quite fattening for me. In North Carolina, I had a routine for jogging, which is how I kept at it. Since leaving NC, that routine has been gone, and so I have only jogged a few times since. Ask Jess, and she'll tell you I'm getting a little chunky(which is what inspired my jogging in NC, as she had no qualms of describing the gut I was developing). I jogged this week for the first time in weeks. It was a tiring experience, but I'm feeling motivated (somewhat) to continue it. I have no excuses; the apartment complex has a great gym, and there is a paved, flat, miles-long pedestrian trail that runs directly by the complex. We'll see how my motivation stands up against my laziness.
I've been adding some nursing links to the sidebar. During the sushi dinner with the fellow travelers, we also talked about travel nursing forums, which are interactive message boards where travel nurses can ask any sort of question or reply. There is a lot of experience and advice to be gained from that sort of thing, which is essential for new travelers. So, I'll be exploring those and posting links to the best of them.
Until next time, be safe.
