Travel physical therapy Archives

At the beginning of each year, we here at Travel Therapy Mentor get a surge of interest from physical therapists who want to start travel physical therapy. It seems that when January rolls around, it’s human nature to reflect on the past year and consider embarking on an exciting new journey in the new year.

As far as physical therapy jobs go, there’s nothing more exciting than the thought of taking a high paying job in an exotic location. Meeting new people, going on fun weekend adventures, and being able to take long periods of time off of work, all while setting yourself up to be in a good financial position in the future– what’s not to be excited about?

Since we first started Travel PT as new grads in 2015, we’ve done all of the above. While we’re clearly biased, it’s hard to deny the benefits of the travel physical therapy lifestyle.

If you’re on the fence about jumping into travel physical therapy in 2024, here are five reasons why you should give it a shot.

1. Very Strong Travel Physical Therapy Job Market

The Travel PT job market has been strong for a couple of years now, and 2024 looks like it will be no exception. We work closely with the management and owners of more than a dozen different travel therapy companies, and they are all very optimistic that the strong job market will continue for at least another year.

In our most recent travel therapy job market update, we covered the number of open Travel PT jobs, and they’re at or near all time highs currently. While the PTA, OT, and COTA job markets still haven’t fully recovered after 2020, the Travel PT market is back and better than ever.

After watching the trends and being heavily involved in the travel therapy world for almost a decade, we’re continually shocked at how many great job options are out there for Travel PTs currently.

2. High Travel PT Pay Packages

A byproduct of the strong job market is a plethora of high paying travel physical therapy jobs. Travel PT pay is heavily influenced by the supply and demand dynamics at any given time. When there are a lot of therapists looking for jobs and not many jobs available, pay rates decrease quickly. When there are a lot of open jobs and not many therapists to fill them, pay packages can skyrocket in order to entice applicants. This is also when Travel PTs have the most ability to negotiate to get the pay or terms that they want.

When we first started traveling in 2015, it was unheard of to find a Travel PT job paying more than $2,000/week after taxes almost anywhere in the country, with the exception of home health jobs in California. Now, there are jobs paying more than that all over the country in a variety of different settings.

Our hot travel therapy jobs list is filled with Travel PT jobs paying over $2,000/week after taxes, with some even close to $3,000/week right now! Taking a travel therapy contract paying $2,500/week or more in a low cost of living area is a great recipe for saving a lot of money in order to either invest or pay down debt. If you’re unfamiliar with how pay packages work for travel physical therapists, this article breaks it all down.

3. Opportunity to Try Out New Settings

Some therapists get into Travel PT to try out a new setting without having to commit to a job for the long term This is especially the case for PTs who have worked in the same setting for many years and are nervous about jumping into a setting they aren’t familiar with. This is also beneficial for new grad PTs who aren’t sure which setting is best for them yet.

Fortunately, when there is a high demand for Travel PTs, facilities are more willing to bring on and train travel physical therapists without experience in that setting. If a facility has had a job open for a long time and hasn’t been able to fill it, then training someone to fill the need becomes a much more attractive option.

We find that home health is usually the most intimidating setting for therapists to jump into without experience, and right now there are home health agencies all over the country willing to train if it means getting their travel job filled. For new grads, this can also mean additional mentorship at a travel assignment location.

4. Taking Travel PT Contracts in Desirable Locations

While there isn’t always going to be a Travel PT contract in exactly the location that you want to go at the time you want to be there, we’ve seen a lot more open jobs in locations that are highly desirable lately. It used to be very difficult to find a travel job in places like Hawaii or the coast of California where many people want to go, but now there are openings pretty regularly.

When we first began our travel physical therapy careers, we were all about working in low cost of living areas to save as much as possible, which landed us in some fairly average places in the US. But for the past couple of years, we’ve been much more willing to take contracts in our bucket list locations, even if that meant it wasn’t the most lucrative option. In 2021 we spent three months in Hawaii, and in 2022 we spent the summer in Alaska, both of which were unforgettable experiences. If you’re a PT who is considering travel therapy more for the experiences, then now is the time!

5. Time Off to Travel for Fun Between Contracts

Let’s face it, life is short. Almost everyone says that they want to spend time traveling all over the world at some point in their lives, but very few people ever actually do it. A big reason for that is at a normal, permanent job, it’s very difficult to have more than a week off of work at a time. That makes taking international trips very difficult, especially to far away places.

The longer we’ve worked as travel physical therapists, the more we’ve grown to appreciate the awesome amount of flexibility that comes with it. When a Travel PT contract ends, you can take as long as you want off of work before you start the next one.

We’ve taken huge advantage of that flexibility over the past five years– traveling to more than 50 countries internationally, all 50 of the US states, and all 63 of the US National Parks, for fun between contracts!

We accomplished these major bucket list trips in our 30’s, between contracts, while still earning a great income. There’s no way that would have been possible for us if we’d taken permanent jobs right out of PT school.

The higher pay that comes with travel contracts, combined with the ability to take so much time off, is a great recipe to be able to travel the world. In many cases, you can earn as much in six months as a Travel PT as you would in a full year at a permanent physical therapist job, so it’s possible to just work half of the year and spend the other half checking off bucket list trips or pursuing other passions. This is a very underrated perk of Travel PT!

Conclusion

If you’re considering travel physical therapy, 2024 is a great time to go for it. The job market is strong, pay packages are high, and there are more options than ever in terms of settings and locations. You can make more money while having new experiences all over the country and can even take time off between contracts to travel around the world or pursue other interests. While we were certainly hesitant to start traveling as new grad PTs, it’s by far the best decision we’ve made in our professional lives!

If you’re ready to get started with travel therapy, fill out our Recruiter Recommendations form, and we will connect you with great travel therapy recruiters to help you begin your job search! You can also check out the resources we offer to learn more about travel therapy, such as our Travel Therapy 101 Series and our Comprehensive Travel Therapy Course! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us! We’d love to help you get started on your travel therapy journey!

Written by Jared Casazza, PT, DPT – Jared has been a traveling physical therapist since 2015. He has become an expert in the field of travel healthcare through his experience, research, and networking over nearly a decade.

One thing that can be daunting for therapists who are considering travel therapy is the idea of having to pack and move for three or more months at a time.

How much do you take?
What do you take?
And the most nerve-wracking question of all: Will it all fit?

This post, written by an experienced travel therapist, is designed to help offer solutions to some of these questions for you.

My Experience Packing for Travel Therapy Assignments

To give a background on me: my name is Morgan, and I started travel occupational therapy right out of school as a new grad. I decided to rip the ‘Get Out of Your Comfort Zone’ bandaid off from the get-go, by taking my first contract all the way across the country! This meant I had to pack up and drive from Pennsylvania to Oregon in my little Hyundai Elantra.

Like most first-time healthcare travelers, I WAY overpacked. Did I need to take every pair of shoes I owned? Most definitely not. But in my head at the time? I could think up a potential ‘what-if’ scenario in my head for each pair, and therefore they all needed to come. I did this with a lot of things, from clothes, to kitchen supplies, to OT-related items.

I think everyone starting out needs to go through this learning phase to an extent. But, hopefully in this article, I can help lessen that learning load for you and better prepare you for what you’ll actually need.

Since taking that first travel therapy contract, I took several more Travel OT jobs across the country, from California to Texas to North Carolina. I got a puppy named Zoey in between TX and NC, which meant I had to learn how to fit another living being and all of her essential items into my already-full car.

You know how every Olympic sport should include one average person for reference? Well, I’m the average person of packing. So you know you can count on me and my advice, because if I can manage to fit everything and my dog into my tiny car to drive cross country, then you most certainly can too.

Types of Moving for Travel Therapy Jobs

In most circumstances, travel therapists will be driving to their new travel therapy job locations, which means packing up everything in their vehicle.

There are certain circumstances where travelers may be flying to their travel therapy assignment location, particularly if it is in Hawaii or Alaska. For tips on packing for these situations, check out Travel Therapy Mentor‘s articles about working as a healthcare traveler in Hawaii and Alaska.

Some therapists may consider flying to other travel assignment locations within the continental US, particularly if it is very far across the country. If you are considering having your car shipped and flying to your new location, you may be able to pack some items in your car, but there are lots of considerations before doing this. If you are considering flying to your location and renting a car locally, you’ll be faced with packing everything in what you can bring on the plane and/or shipping some items to your new location.

These are all special scenarios to take into consideration, but for the most part, travel therapists generally pack their vehicles up and drive to the new location. So we’ll mainly focus on that type of packing here.

Keys for Success When Packing for a Travel Therapy Assignment

The three keys for successful packing are: Planning, Storage, and Minimalism.

Planning

One of the best things you can do to determine what to bring is to know as much as possible about where you’re going.

In terms of the facility where you’ll be working: what’s the dress code? Scrubs (any specific colors)? Business casual? Polo and khakis? Bring what you’ll need and ditch the rest for now, or at the very most bring one pair of the alternatives just in case. You can also check with the facility to see if they provide essential tools such as pulse-oximeters, gait belts, goniometers, etc., or if these are things you should bring yourself.

In terms of the location you’re headed to: what’s the weather like? During what season will you be there? Will it be cold/hot/rainy/snowy? What types of activities/hobbies do you plan on doing? Do you have any trips planned during your contract that require different-weathered clothes than your location?

In terms of where you’ll be living: is it furnished or unfurnished? Do they provide you with bed linens/towels/kitchen supplies, or do you need to bring your own? Take an inventory of what you have at home and what you regularly use, then send a list to the landlord to ask if they have these items or not. Also consider that for some items, you may be able to buy or thrift for cheap on arrival rather than bringing your own from home.

If you choose to go with an unfurnished apartment, most travelers do not bring actual furniture across country with them. They may bring an inflatable mattress (sometimes even an inflatable couch!), or use storage tubs as end tables or dressers. But for the most part, when travelers rent unfurnished places, they just pick up some furniture on arrival at thrift stores, by asking coworkers, or by renting through a store like Aaron’s.

You’ll also need to consider if you are moving for just one travel therapy assignment then will be able to return home before the next one to swap out any items, or if you’re packing for multiple back to back assignments before returning home. Likewise, do you have anyone at home who could mail you something later on if you leave it behind? Could you consider having an alternative season of clothes ready at home to swap out later on?

The more you can predict, the more necessary items you’ll have on hand when the time comes, and most importantly, you’ll be able to leave behind the non-essentials.

Storage

When being tasked to fit a large (sometimes seemingly impossible) amount of items into a condensed space, efficiency is key. You know those little Russian dolls that fit inside of each other? That’s what you want to do as much as possible with the items you plan to bring. You want to have as little empty space as possible.

As far as packing clothing is concerned, the two methods I find most effective are ‘flat packing,’ in which you lay the clothing items as flat as possible on top of each other to maximize space, or the ‘army roll’ method, which can be found with a quick Google search and is one taught and used in the military.

The storage containers you choose to use are also important, but will depend on personal preference and the dimensions of your vehicle. Packing cubes, plastic tubs, soft storage bags, and vacuum bags are all good options to choose from. Personally, I prefer the multi-size soft storage bags because with my small car space these are more moldable to squeeze into spaces, and they collapse and fold down when not in use. But I also have been known to take with me a few plastic tubs, some reusable grocery bags, and even trash bags when my packing energy is reaching zero.

Note that you may need a suitcase or two with you for any trips you plan to take while on assignment. But as far as space efficiency goes with packing up your car, suitcases are not usually the best choice for all of your items. Consider just one or two suitcases, then put the rest of the items in more space efficient containers. Think: car Jenga (or is it more like Tetris?)

Sometimes though, if you’re traveling with a partner or pet(s), there’s just not enough room for it all. If you cannot fit everything in your car even with the use of these methods, then you might consider getting a roof carrier or a hitch-style cargo carrier. Depending on the type of car you have and preference, there are hard or soft rooftop carriers to provide you with additional space.

Just be considerate of where you are parking your car along the way for a multi-day move. Unfortunately if you have stop overs, having a car top carrier, hitch cargo carrier, or a visibly packed car can put you at risk for theft. Consider bringing your items inside with you if parking in a questionable public area.

I also know of travelers who ship items to their location if they don’t have the room in their car, but keep in mind this option can be costly. If you’re traveling with a partner or friend, having more than one car is also a good option to maximize storage space.

If you have time, especially if it is your first move, I recommend doing a ‘practice pack’ a few days before hitting the road to make sure everything fits. I also recommend having certain items that you know you’ll need on the road in a reachable spot to easily get to when needed, instead of having to rifle through bins wondering where you put it.

Minimalism

This last part comes down to the question: What is your definition of minimalism?

In truth, it depends from person to person. It doesn’t mean you have to bring the bare minimum. What you really want to think about is what things you absolutely need to help you thrive while on assignment, and what can you leave behind for now?

For me, things that I consider ‘essential’ include my spices for cooking (those things can get expensive), a spatula, knives, a cutting board, a blender, an InstaPot, my hiking/camping gear (boots, tent, sleeping bag, pack(s), etc.), knitting needles & yarn, a hammock, an inflatable paddle board, and a tub of books (yes a whole plastic tub). Unfortunately I have a lot of hobbies, so my ‘minimalism’ may be way more to some than others. But I know that I will use them, and I make them fit.

Things I recommend leaving behind are things that you can purchase once you’re at your location: things like cleaning supplies, hangers, laundry detergent, dish soap, other toiletries, etc. Don’t waste your precious space on these. If you’re looking for cheap options, Dollar Tree/Dollar General or Walmart typically have all these things on hand at low prices.

Clothes and shoes are definitely something that travelers tend to overpack on. A lot of us tend to own way more clothes than we actually wear. Consider that most days of the week, you’ll be wearing work clothes, lounge clothes, and maybe gym clothes. On the weekends, you usually need just a couple casual or dressy outfits. While you may be concerned with re-wearing clothes often, keep in mind that almost no one will ever notice this except you. So when it comes to packing clothes, keep it simple with a few varieties of each clothing piece (tops, bottoms, outerwear, shoes, etc.), and try to pick items that are interchangeable to make different outfit varieties.

If you’re on the fence about what to bring, a good resource to use is social media and getting connected with other travelers. If you search ‘packing tips’ in travel therapist Facebook groups, you’ll find countless responses from seasoned travelers with tips and tricks to help.

Summary

As I mentioned before, every traveler ultimately has to go through a learning phase when it comes to packing. But, if you can remember to plan as much as possible, use efficient storage methods, and keep your items to a ‘minimum,’ it should help make this daunting task that much easier to allow you to head across the country to your travel therapy contract.

About the Author: Morgan Lauchnor, OTR/L

I started travel occupational therapy back in 2019, beginning as a new grad and moving from Pennsylvania to the west coast so I could live out my dream of seeing the country and all that it has to offer, while working my dream job. I’ve taken fiver different assignments in SNFs, from OR to CA, to TX, and NC. Two years ago, I planted some temporary roots in Asheville to get some inpatient/acute/LTAC/home health experience working PRN for a hospital network, before planning to return back to travel therapy. I travel with my mini-Aussie pup Zoey who has been the best adventure buddy. We love exploring new cities, getting outside any chance we can, and meeting the best people along the way! If you’d like to connect, the best way to contact me is through social media: Instagram: @zoandmo_onthego or through email at mlauchnor@gmail.com.

If you’re looking for additional resources for your travel therapy career, check out Travel Therapy Mentor’s Traveler Resource Hub. If you’re ready to get started with travel therapy and want to connect with vetted travel therapy recruiters, fill out our Recruiter Recommendations Form. Feel free to message us with any questions!

Tag: Travel physical therapy