Hi! We're FT travelers who still somehow manage to fail at work-life balance

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Hi! We're FT travelers who still somehow manage to fail at work-life balance

We’ve been terrible about updating this blog, and today we'd like to place the blame for our silence squarely on the beefy shoulders of work. Work has truly bulked up this fall, and I for one suspect steroids, but It’s so hard to turn work in while it continues to bring home the gold. And I’m sure Paul feels as I do, that while we’re horrified by this metaphor and also by the gratuitous machismo of work moving in to our otherwise cozy lives, we put up with it because, this is America, and what else can we do?

Read on and I'll lighten up on the work-as-meat-head metapho, while also telling you all about my job!

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Empty Buildings

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Paul's musings from the AYF blog:

The first time I visited Merrowvista was during one of the cold, dark New Hampshire winters. Summer camp wasn’t in session and I was visiting friends who had been long-time campers and staff members. They eagerly showed me around the Bahn, the AC, the council circle. I’ll admit that at the time I didn’t get it. Yes, the surroundings were beautiful, it was great to be in nature and away from the world but somewhere between New Hampshire and Weston Shelter I thought, “great, another empty building.” I didn’t understand their enthusiasm.

The passion and energy my friends had for this place intrigued me, and it’s part of the reason I decided to come work at camp and see what this place is all about. It didn’t take me long to understand.

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Lost and Found

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Lost and Found

From the Canaan Valley, I send you another reposting of the AYF blog courtesy of TPM:

I’d like to pose a philosophical question to the parents of this camp community; each parent must consider and answer for themselves: Will your camper return home with more or less than they arrived with?

 

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Reblogging our work from the AYF

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Reblogging our work from the AYF

It has been a minute since we've posted and for that we apologize. Mid-may sent us on a month long adventure across the country and through many of our old stomping grounds back to the place where our adventure (arguably) started: Merrowvista.

The constant travel made it difficult to write and now both Paul and I are working 16 hour days, juggling family, youth development, and ongoing remote work. Luckily, part of our job as youth development professional requires that we WRITE BLOGS, but not fun travel adventure posts so much as reassure parents that their children are safe and cared for posts. With the permission of the camp director himself, I repost my contribution from the very first day of camp here:

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IT’S OUR TRAILERVERSARY!

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IT’S OUR TRAILERVERSARY!

We’ve now been living in the house on wheels for a full year! At the moment, we’re parked in the Sacramento Delta, about an hour and a half outside of San Francisco and clear across the country from where we started. It has been a stormy January in NorCal and listening to the rain plink plink on the trailer roof reminds me of our very first night in West Virginia. Read on for some reminiscing, recapping, and to hear about the parts of trailer-life that I thought I would hate, but don't.

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Some thoughts on Voting

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Some thoughts on Voting

I love voting. I think all NH natives do. We participate in the first primary in the nation (caucuses are a democracy hoax). We can register day of. We can meet all the candidates for state and national offices at town hall q and as. Many Presidential hopefuls strut their stuff in our Fourth of July parades. We may be one of the most homogeneous states in the union, but these libertarian hippies commuting to Boston and paying no sales tax continue to swing elections with their 4 electoral votes in all sorts of directions.  

Even beyond NH’s primary, voting is fun. Voting is an opportunity to reflect on what you think, and why you think it. Reflecting is fun! Also, voting is your voice. If you don’t vote, you really can’t complain about politics. Complaining is super fun, you love complaining—so vote.

Bonus: Can you tell what's wrong with this picture???

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OREGON, ORESTAYIN

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OREGON, ORESTAYIN

Sometimes we meet nurses who were travelers, but they fell in love with a place or a person and decide to stay at that assignment permanently. That is not what happened to us. Oregon is nice, we like Oregon, but we do not love Oregon.

Read more to hear exciting radio, food, and weather updates!

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Long Winded Excuse for Not Blogging in a Month

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Long Winded Excuse for Not Blogging in a Month

However busy the ER has been during Paul’s time on, his time off has made our Idaho life feel like a series of long weekends. I love a long weekend, who doesn’t? While Southern Idaho is not about to make the Lonely Planet’s list of must-see destinations, our long-weekend lifestyle has allowed us to explore a lot of wonderful just-beyond-local destinations.

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Between Job Adventures: Arizona to Idaho

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Between Job Adventures: Arizona to Idaho

Some of the very best parts of travel nursing are the times in between gigs. It's a forced vacation every 3 months.  During anchored life vacations you are either a) driving through familiar roads to local destinations or b) paying the big dollars to fly someplace exciting. In contrast, travel nurse vacations start from a relatively new location (Southern Arizona)  and bring you to an even newer location (Southern Idaho, what are you about?!?).  

There was SO much to see and do in Arizona and Utah, we had to pick and choose. Here's a quick photo-romp through our adventures.

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Part 2 of Step 9: Renovating Our New-Used Travel Trailer

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Part 2 of Step 9: Renovating Our New-Used Travel Trailer

This is the DIY used RV to cute RV post. Ugh. I have been putting off writing this post, but the time has come. You, however, are free to avoid reading it.

Fixing up an RV was not a pet project that we completed on the weekends. We picked up our trailer on January 4th. It was 7 degrees out. We hit the road on January 15th. We were limited by time, money, and the weather, but mostly by time. It was so gratifying to see our project take shape, but it was also tons of exhausting work. Hopefully others can learn from our process. 

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In Da Club: 55+ Social Activities

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In Da Club: 55+ Social Activities

Paul says I write too much. I can't help it. I can't bear to leave anything out. This is an attempt at a brief "club" update.

Hardy Hikers: This is the only club that both Paul and I have joined. The hiking group heads out twice a week and goes between 8 and 16 miles each time. They are mostly Canadian and hard of hearing, so we hike along and shout at each other. I tried to teach them“stinky pinky” a rhyming word game, and they liked it but they kept trying to rhyme things like ‘rock’ and ‘hop’ or ‘poodle’ and ‘park.’ Most of them were electrical engineers or lab chemist, professions that did not prioritized word play.

Bonus Treat: The full post includes a video of my choral debut

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Step 8: Choosing an RV or Camper

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Step 8: Choosing an RV or Camper

This post is step 7 in the steps you need to take in order to become a travel nurse. It’s time to choose a trailer!

We should probably mention that there were other options for housing; agencies will offer company housing or help you find a place nearby. We weren't that excited about living out of a suitcase or staying in hotels for months at a time--and while some of the company housing is probably very nice, the travel trailer gave us the freedom to take our home with us wherever we went. Plus, without the company housing, most contracts will throw in a living stipend which will cover the cost of the campground easily.

Different Camper Species

When we first started looking at trailers, we knew nothing. We had always been tent people. We did not know the difference between a Class ‘A’ RV and a camper. Now, we are experts and for the ignorant and foundationly anchored, here’s the quick breakdown

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Steps you need to take in order to be a travel nurse

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Steps you need to take in order to be a travel nurse

1. Meet a peppery nurse from New Zealand who will convince you that nursing is secretly the best profession out there. She will call boots "wellies." She will casually talk about working in Antarctica. She will think back fondly on her time as a travel nurse.

2. Move to Chicago, get into an accelerated BS to BSN program. Somehow manage to go through school and feed yourself and pay rent. Pass the NCLEX. Get a job in the ER working the overnight shift. Stay awake on Lake Shore Drive while returning home at 7:30 AM after a 12 hour shift of ill and angry people and avoid dying in a fiery crash before you can realize your dream of travel nursing.

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