And we're back!

I have decided to resurrect the blog and transform it into a blog about my experiences while travel nursing. Here goes nothing…

As I write this I am currently flying first class from Chicago to Burlington while coming home from Austin City Limits. After some flight delays, I finagled my way onto an earlier flight and into first class. Now that ACL is over and I am no longer distracted with that weekend of amazingness, it is starting to hit me that I am MOVING to Texas in just 10 days.  ACL was such a fun weekend, and I had a blast listening to some wonderful bands with the girls. Of course there was a good amount of partying to go with it. Everyone left Austin early this morning, which left me to spend the morning/afternoon by myself. I sat by the pool, read my newspaper at Starbucks, and walked the city a bit. But mostly, I thought about the upcoming move to Houston.

I honestly can’t believe that I am moving clear across the country. Travel nursing has always seemed like this faraway dream; especially recently when Sarah and I couldn’t find jobs where we wanted to be working. The only significant amount of time I have spent outside of Vermont was when I went studying abroad in Australia. Those four and a half months were nothing short of awesome. I am hoping that travel nursing proves to be the same. I am very nervous, and excited, to meet new people, learn a new hospital and policies, and orient myself in a new city. The hardest thing is going to be leaving Vermont, Fletcher Allen, and mostly my friends and family. I have created such a wonderful life for myself there. What is partly scary about this move is that I may actually come to love another place more than Vermont. Now, is that place going to be Texas? Doubtful. Could it possibly be Denver or California? Absolutely. But I know (pretty wholeheartedly) that Vermont is the place I need to be later in life.

While I am almost done with all of the pre-employment requirements that my travel agency is requiring, there is still a lot to get done. For the most part, I packed everything I will be bringing about a month ago, so that is basically all set. I do, however, need to find a place to live. I am still debating on whether I will take the company housing or the monthly stipend. Ideally, I would love to find a little cottage or apartment near the beach, as I think that would make the whole experience that much more enjoyable. I will continue looking. I also need to map out a route and decide which days I will be traveling.

I am so glad that Sarah will be traveling with me to this assignment. I think I might have had a total panic attack had I moved to Texas alone. Traveling alone for a short period of time is one thing, but MOVING somewhere for three months is another. It will be nice to have a familiar face at both work and possibly home if we can find a place together. I think having such a close friend experiencing this with me will help ease me into a life of travel nursing, and should make future assignments easier to handle.

I have never really been a huge fan of change, so this whole experience will really test my strengths. Meeting people shouldn’t be too difficult, but I am happy that I will be put outside of my comfort zone a little in order to forge new relationships. One huge change will be moving from one of the most liberal states to one of the most conservative ones. If we had actually been offered jobs in Austin like we hoped, it wouldn’t have been too bad. However, I have a feeling that Houston is a little more on the conservative side than Austin. My biggest fear with this is how will people react to my homosexuality. While I don’t intend on pretending to be straight, I also think it’s important to be true to myself and to not lie by omission. I definitely plan to be judicious with who I share this piece of me with, however. From a nursing stand point, I am completely leaving my comfort zone. With the exception of two weeks of clinical in Australia, I have only worked at Fletcher Allen. To go further, I have really only worked/studied on Baird 6. I have come to know well and love all of my coworkers, and the work that we do. Moving to a new unit in a new hospital with different coworkers and a different type of patients is going to be a challenge. One I think I can face, though.

So things that need to happen between now and when I leave are:

-       Find a place to live

-       Get my last bit of paperwork completed

-       See as many people in Vermont as possible

-       Put the finishing touches on packing

-       Plan my route to Texas

-       Try not to cry too much

Here’s to my new adventure!