The Life of a Traveler

We love to travel. Enjoying an awesome dinner in Georgetown, D.C.

I have just completed my third assignment as a traveling surgical technologist Washington, D.C.. In the past I have taken 13 week assignments to Llano, Texas (hill country) and Denver, Colorado. This is the first time David has joined me.

It seems like a pretty exciting, and awesome concept- who wouldn't love getting paid to travel and see the world? To try out a place before uprooting and moving there and feeling stuck if you feel like it is not a good fit. Traveling is perfect for David and I because we want to see how people live in different parts of the country and if we could live there. We don't know where we want to end up. Fort Collins, a place we both grew up, is a pretty awesome place and we kind of set out on a mission to see if there is anywhere else we would want to call home. We took a chance and moved everything up to Sheridan, WY and although it was beautiful and full of nice people, it was a bad fit for us.

Traveling for work, from an adventure/travel perspective, is pretty awesome. You get your housing and travel expenses paid for, plus an hourly rate while you work (don't get too excited, its actually pretty low). Now that its over, I feel like I would after any vacation in that I need a vacation from my vacation. I'm tired! Every weekend between work weeks David and I would go on a grand exploration around the Capitol or to the best hiking spots we could find. We ventured out to national and state parks in nearly every direction, visited caverns, cute towns and museums. We tasted the good things that the East coast has to offer. During the weeks after work we would go on local hikes, try out a local restaurant, or see the hidden treasures that Cabin John and Glen Echo have to offer in the way of glass blowing and a tour of Clara Barton's house (founder of the American Red Cross).

The downside is, you have to pick and move every three months (or 6, or 9, or 12 depending on extensions). Your home changes, your friends change, your life changes. It's the willingness to be flexible and step in when needed that is what you are getting paid for.

That moment when someone (Liz?) drops off this beautiful banner in your OR to make you smile.

Of course there is the job, because you have to work, for that is the point of it all. The first week is like starting any new job. You are overloaded with new information during orientation and meeting 100 very nice strangers whose names you can't immediately remember. Week two is proving yourself to be a competent employee. Weeks 3-10 work continues and might actually become easier as I settle into my routine during these weeks. Week 11 is always hard because I realize the end is near, and time is running out fast. It becomes time to make those final social plans and do the things you kept putting off. Before I know it, time is out. I've been talking about "What's next" for weeks and now it is time to do the next thing (in this case, Colorado Trail). My last day happened, and I was blown away by the kindness given to me by those I worked with in the form of an awesome banner and delicious cake (and more hugs than this non-hugger preferred). Week 13 ends, and you have to move on to the next thing.

I ADORE the attention to detail in this drawing!

Wait, did you miss the "what's hard" about traveling? People. It's hard to leave them because people are awesome, and so very unique. I don't forget the people I meet. Whether it seems like it or not, I think of them more than they know and hate the part where I will most likely never work with them again.  People are neat.