For the first time, living an unconventional lifestyle has caught up with us!
Travel Nursing and RV living came into my life at the perfect time. In order for me to find myself, find my happiness, and strengthen my marriage, I needed to make a change that would ultimately recreate my whole world. I don’t regret any decisions I made and can honestly say that I have found everything I was looking for, but not without a few hiccups.
First hiccup: Dealing with unexpected bills
We pretty much have every reoccurring bill on auto pay, but what happens when unexpected bills arrive in our mailbox at home when we are away.
Before leaving for Reno, Nevada, I had my annual routine doctors visit. My insurance covers my yearly exams 100 percent and a few weeks after my visit, I left. I was gone for 16 weeks total and when I got home, there were Past due bills and a collections agency letter regarding unpaid lab work from that doctors visit. It wasn’t hard to call my Drs office and pay the bill but dealing with a collections agency was a headache. Because I paid directly to the office, the collection agency did not know it was paid off and continued to threaten me. Getting them off my back without giving them personal account information was a nightmare but after many phone calls and getting my Drs office involved, I haven’t heard from them in months!
Second hiccup: Limited storage and change of seasons
This contract is going to take us from Texas Summers/Fall to Winter to Spring! 3 seasons!! All of our other contracts have been primarily in one season. Utah was primarily Summer/Fall with a few weeks at the end of the contract being Winter and Nevada had a few days of late Spring chill but quickly turned to Summer, but other than these two, they have always been one season contracts. Storing cloths has been one of our issues and something that we have to keep in mind when taking a contract. Because we have such limited space, we have to be smart about what we take with us as far as clothing. I have only enough room for one seasons worth of clothing and maybe a few items for a late contract season change, but not enough space for 2 full seasons. This contract is only possible because we can go home on weekends and exchange clothing from storage when the seasons change. The same is true of our RV gear! The winter gear for the RV is heavy and space consuming. When the weather gets cold enough to need the gear, we will go grab it from the barn and use it… we don’t have to find a way to store it with us until needed.
Third hiccup: JURY DUTY!!
This never crossed my mind until a Jury Summons showed up for Chris this weekend in our mailbox at the barn. How do full time RVers handle Jury Duty? No one ever talks about this. I know that there are mail services that can scan and electrically forward important documents to you anywhere you are, but this requires you to change your address to address of the company that provides the service. Can I even do that as a Travel nurse? Wouldn’t that change my domicile and tax home stuff? Are other Travel nurses traveling home so that they can report for duty or are they “forever” reschedule because they are “on vacation or out of state” during that time? If I was in Reno, one: I wouldn’t have known I got a Jury Summons… Two: would I still be required to report while on contract? We got lucky this time because we have been going home every other weekend and checking our mail and that we are close enough for Chris to go home the weekend before and report for duty that next week while I remain on contract here in Tyler.
Fourth hiccup: Vehicle inspections and registration
Not every state is like Texas but here, you have to have a state inspection in order to renew your registration. This means, I have to try to plan my contracts around March (when my inspections are due). Extensions have been an issue. When I was considering extending my contract in New Mexico, I was having to plan on taking the truck and RV home during the few week break the manager was willing to give be between contracts because my registration would expire. This was a huge headache and a huge waste of gas and time. Although it was not the deciding factor on cancelling my extension, it was a bonus to not have to deal with that issue.
There are so many things that I haven’t thought about until I was put into this situation. A few of these issues have solutions to them now that I am aware of the problem, but Jury duty and vehicle inspections… these will be forever hiccups that we will have to address individually when the time comes!
Thinking back now, if we would have thought about these small but significant details before taking that leap into RV/Travel Nurse life… I probably would have talked myself out of it. I would have said that RV/Travel nurse life wouldn’t be worth the hassle. I would have scared myself into thinking that it was impossible to live this lifestyle…
And I would have missed out on so much life if I allowed my fear to take control of my future.
Keep following along to see where this crazy amazing travel nurse life takes me next and what revelations come to me even after 2.5 years of RV life!
