Perks of Traveling Therapy Archives

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Written by: Jared Casazza, PT, DPT

Different Types of Travel Therapists

The majority of therapists choose to pursue travel therapy for somewhere between 1-2 years. There are a variety of reasons for why this is the case, but for many it is due to either (1) wanting to break up the monotony that is usually a part of permanent positions, or (2) to make extra money to pay down debt more quickly. It’s also sometimes a combination of both of these things that causes a therapist to become interested in traveling.

There are some exceptions to this though. Some therapists choose to be “career travelers,” and never truly “settle down” into a permanent job. It’s possible to make a full time, or part time, career out of only working travel jobs. That could mean traveling continuously around the country to various locations, year round, taking about four 13-week contracts per year with minimal time off between contracts, or taking a more laid back approach with 2-3 contracts per year and more time off.

We here at Travel Therapy Mentor definitely consider ourselves Career Travelers. Let me tell you a little more about my and Whitney’s career path as travelers.

Our Plan

We were originally interested in travel therapy for both of the reasons mentioned above (higher pay to pay down student loans, and avoiding the monotony of a permanent job). We initially planned to travel for 4-5 years to not only pay off debt, but to save enough money to have a decent nest egg of investments. After the 4-5 years, we planned to settle down and work a permanent job in either our favorite travel location or possibly back in our hometown.

Right before graduation and beginning to travel is when I developed a strong interest in personal finance and investing, and I discovered that investing instead of paying down our student debt (opting for income driven repayment of student loans) was actually the better choice for me, and Whitney agreed with my analysis. Since our student loan payments are extremely low while traveling and on the REPAYE income based repayment plan, we had a lot of extra money to put toward investment and retirement accounts.

After a couple years of saving and getting good investment returns, it became clear that if we just traveled full time for a few years, we could then easily live off of 1-2 travel assignments per year combined with investment returns, rather than settling down to a permanent, full time job after we “finished” traveling. So, that became our new plan, at least for the forseeable future! In later years, we may still choose to “settle down” somewhere, and take part time/PRN jobs in one location. But for now, we’re loving the 1-2 travel contracts per year!

Our “Semi-Retirement”

Only working 1-2 travel assignments per year (which we are now currently doing) allows us a ton of flexibility to travel internationally and also enjoy more time with family, which were two things at the top of our list of priorities. We consider this a “semi-retirement” since we have 6-9 months per year free to do whatever we want each year!

As a traveler, it is actually possible in many cases to make about the same amount as a full time permanent therapist when only working two contracts per year due to the higher pay and lower taxable pay. So even with all of the free time, we are still able to make plenty of money to support ourselves, and our adventures!

With this in mind, I think making a career out of being a travel therapist is a great lifestyle choice that would work for many adventurous people that aren’t excited about settling down somewhere ‘permanently.’

Career Travelers

Another advantage of working only a couple of travel contracts per year is that we are able to be more picky with the assignments that we do take. When we were working back to back contracts for the first three years while saving and investing heavily, we did our best to minimize the amount of down time we had between contracts. This was great for us financially, but got exhausting after a few years and led to us settling on a couple of assignments that didn’t really fit us very well during that time.

Now that we’re settling in to a much slower travel pace as “career travelers,” we don’t feel the need to rush and accept sub-par jobs, because we know that we’ll make plenty of money in the couple of contracts that we work each year to cover the downtime, and we also have our investments growing in the background.

Most travel therapists choose a more laid back approach to traveling from the beginning, choosing to take time off between each assignment to relax and unwind. This is a great idea and more balanced overall than how we started out. But, even so, working 45-48 weeks per year is common for many career travelers who do it this way, and when considering that some of that time off between contracts is looking for new jobs and moving, it doesn’t leave much time to relax or take long trips for leisure. After a few years of working at that pace while paying down debt or saving/investing, as long as you’re in a good place financially, is a great time to transition into a slower paced schedule focused on working less and relaxing more.

“Not Everyone Can Travel Forever”

Of course, we know that the travel lifestyle isn’t for everyone, and it may not be feasible for everyone to do this their entire careers.

“What about having a family?” –you’re thinking.

Travel therapists have families. Babies and young kids; cats and dogs; aging parents and grandparents; nieces, nephews, and other family and friends they want to be near!

In many cases, you can make travel therapy suit your lifestyle. Some choose to travel and bring their kids and spouse along. Some choose to leave home for one or two assignments, leaving family behind, then have a PRN job at home for the times they’re at home (or just not work during the time at home). Some choose to take travel assignments in different parts of the country where they do have family they can visit.

There are lots of options. And again, we know it’s not for everyone. But it is a great lifestyle for a lot of us!

Is Being a Career Traveler Right for You?

Travel therapy offers the unique benefit of being able to choose how long you want to take off of work after a contract as long as you can afford to do so, and the higher pay while working the contract makes that possible. This is why I think being a career traveler is a great option. Being a travel therapist doesn’t have to just be a 1-2 year thing to adventure and save money, it can be a permanent thing with great pay, more time off, and a life full of adventure!

Are you interested in just traveling for a couple of years or is this something that you would consider doing long term? Let us know in the comments! Contact us if we can help you get started on the journey!

Written by Jared Casazza, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Traveling Physical Therapist of 3 years. Jared travels with his girlfriend, fellow travel PT and fellow Travel Therapy Mentor, Whitney.

Written by Whitney Eakin, PT, DPT, ATC

Having time off during the holiday season to spend with friends and family can be difficult for healthcare professionals since healthcare is an essential business that must go on despite what day it is. Hospitals and nursing homes don’t close for holidays, and the patients that we care for at those facilities still need us.

As traveling healthcare professionals, we may sometimes be able to have more control over our schedules and be able to plan for time off, but that isn’t always the case. And, whether we have to work or not, it may also be difficult to see family and friends depending what part of the country we’re in.

We here at Travel Therapy Mentor wanted to let you know what the holiday season looks like for us this year and in years past, as many of you can probably relate!

Travis and Julia

Travel therapy mentor Travis and his fiancee Julia, both physical therapists, will be spending this Christmas with Julia’s family in Arizona. They are fortunate to both have Christmas day off this year, with Julia working in outpatient and Travis at a Skilled Nursing Facility. However, they both had work on Christmas Eve (Monday) and will have to work the rest of the week after Christmas.

This Winter, they chose to arrange contracts independently (not through a travel company) near Phoenix, AZ which is where they currently call home and plan to return PRN to these locations in the future. So they are not on what we might call a “traditional” travel assignment currently. But, this arrangement worked well for them for the next several months, and it also allowed them to be near Julia’s family this holiday season while still continuing to work. They will not however get to see Travis’s parents who will be in Alabama this Christmas.

In years past, the two have not always spent the holidays with family due to traveling for work. Last year, they spent Christmas together in South Carolina and made their own holiday dinner in their camper. They have been fortunate to never have to work (so far) on Christmas Day.

Travis and Julia are embracing the travel healthcare life, even if it means ever changing holiday traditions.

Travis and Julia’s Christmas Tree at their apartment in Phoenix – with a tree skirt made by grandma!

Whitney and Jared

Jared and Whitney in Hong Kong last week

Jared and I have had quite the unusual year and a very non-traditional schedule! We worked a travel physical therapy contract from January-July 2018, then we took off around the world for 5 months! We just returned to the U.S. on December 17th! We planned to continue to be off work until after the New Year so we could spend quality time with both of our families in Virginia for the holidays.

We are very fortunate to have a job that allows such flexibility, as long as you plan and save wisely. The only downside to our plan is that we have found it challenging to find jobs that start just after the New Year. Many travel therapists have similar plans, to finish up a contract before the holidays in order to be with family, then resume work after January 1st. In addition, many facilities have already secured therapists to work through the holidays and into January. This combination of factors has made jobs for January scarce. So as of now, we are unemployed indefinitely until we can find contracts to begin sometime in January. But we are fortunate that we have saved a significant amount, so a few extra weeks off work (on top of already 5 months off!) won’t bother us.

In years past, we have secured jobs in December that carried over through the new year, while asking for time off for the holidays as able. We have worked on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve before, but we’ve always managed to make it home to Virginia for Christmas Day, whether we asked off or the facility was closed. So far we’ve always been working in Virginia or North Carolina within driving distance of home during the holidays, and that has worked out well for us.

Jared and Whitney’s families in Virginia on Christmas Eve

Whitney with her sister and mom celebrating with extended family in NC

Being a travel therapist around the holidays can sometimes make it easier to be able to see family, but it can sometimes make it more challenging!

Our hearts go out to those of you working the holidays this year, those spending the holidays geographically far away family, and to the patients who would love to be home with family as well!