Pursuing Travel Therapy as a Pair with a Partner or Friend

July 9, 2024July 9, 2024 ~ Travel Therapy Mentor ~ Leave a comment

We at Travel Therapy Mentor often get questions from prospective travel therapists about traveling as a pair, either with a partner/spouse or with a friend. We have traveled as a pair since we were new grads in 2015, and we know lots of other travelers who travel with a partner or friend! There are a lot of pros and cons to consider with traveling as a pair, and some specific logistics too! We’re excited to share this guest post from our friends and fellow travel couple, Hailey and T.R. Jamar, a travel OT/PT pair, about their experience traveling as a pair!

What’s better than getting to see the country, getting experience in multiple work settings, living in a variety of desirable locations, having flexible opportunities for as much time off as you want between contracts, all while experiencing countless adventures along the way?? — Doing it with someone you love! Whether it’s your spouse, significant other, or your best friend – traveling as a pair has such great opportunities and benefits!

We are Hailey (OT) & T.R. (PT) Jamar, also known as the Tie Dye Travelers. We have been doing travel therapy together since August 2021, and six out of six of our contracts together so far were not only in the same state, not only in the same town, but all six contracts were actually at the same facility with the same schedule! When we landed our very first contracts together, our recruiter was so excited and told us that this was a “unicorn” situation to be able to be at the same facility together. Little did we know that that unicorn situation wasn’t so rare after all, and we would be able to work the next five contracts together again at the same facility.

Being at the same facility together each time meant we were always able to carpool. We enjoyed sipping coffee together on the drive into work, getting ready for the day, and unwinding from the day’s events together on the drive home. This also opened our options for choosing housing locations. We didn’t mind living 30 minutes away if necessary for a better housing option since we knew we got to make the drive together.

We realize this amount of “together time” isn’t for everyone, but we have absolutely loved it. We also live in an RV (again, not for everyone) — so we get asked all the time “Don’t y’all get sick of each other?” No, turns out we love each other, and we enjoy spending as much time together as possible– that’s why we got married!

How Did We Get Started?

As soon as I learned in occupational therapy school that travel therapy was a thing, I knew that was the route I wanted to go eventually. Then as my husband was finishing physical therapy school two years later, we knew that would be our plan. So, we renovated an RV and prepared ourselves to start living life on the road! As soon as T.R. took his board exam, we loaded up the RV and headed out west without a job at the time, but excited for the adventures ahead and confident that something would work out along the way – and it did!

When we first began this journey, we didn’t really have a clue what exactly it would look like or how hard it would be to find travel therapy jobs close to each other. We assumed we would just try to find an OT job for myself (since the OT job market is a little more competitive/challenging than the PT job market) and then find a PT job for T.R. within a reasonable distance of each other, and live somewhere in the middle so that we could each commute easily.

The Job Search

When searching for a travel therapy contract there are three main factors to prioritize: location, setting, and pay. You’ll have to decide for yourself what is most important to you based on your goals with travel therapy. For us, the whole reason for doing travel therapy was not to make as much money as we could, but for the opportunity to get to live in lots of amazing places and experience as much as possible along the way. With this, our hope has been to be able to decide where we want to eventually “settle down” one of these days. So for us, location is always our top priority. We are willing to work in any setting and take any reasonable pay packages, because the opportunity to live somewhere appealing with ample outdoor opportunities all around is by far the most important thing to us. Additionally, we would always rather take lower paying jobs (if necessary) if it means we’d be at the same facility, vs. higher paying jobs in two separate locations. We haven’t had to make huge financial sacrifices in that regard, but it is something to consider as a pair.

A huge key to this whole process is having a recruiter who you trust, and who understands what your preferences are. We have primarily worked with the same recruiter throughout the entirety of our travel therapy career, and we love that consistency. We will usually just send her a list of states that are appealing to us for that timeframe, and she will send us all the jobs she has available for both OT and PT in those states. From there, we just start looking places up on the map, see what adventure opportunities are close by, and inquire further about ones that seem to be appealing.

One of the biggest things we have learned throughout this process is that just because there is not a job posted, does not mean there is not a job available. While interviewing for our very first contract in Oregon, T.R. just mentioned in passing that his wife was an OT. Just like that, I was on board too with the facility manager excited to hear that and responding “Oh really? We have an OT need as well, we’ll take her too!” This has been the case multiple times, so even if we only see one job listed in a place that seems awesome, we still submit for that job and ask in the interview if there is a need for the other discipline as well by chance. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and it has worked out for us several times!

Perks of Traveling as a Pair

The benefits of traveling as a pair are endless.

You always have someone you know with you for exploring a new area. It can be intimidating to get out there and explore new places if you’re completely solo, but when you have a travel partner there are no limits! You have the support of your friend or partner when moving to an unknown place and coming into an unknown job environment. This can make a huge difference in your experience. Also, when traveling as a pair, you can often cut your housing costs in half, so there are financial benefits too.

When you’re able to work together at the same facility, there is a significant amount of money saved by carpooling each day (assuming your schedules are the same). Another perk when working in the same facility is that you have a built in co-worker who you know you love, which makes the work day so much better. It’s so nice after a busy morning of seeing patients to get to come together on our lunch break for a nice little reset. Additionally, it’s always reassuring to have someone you trust in the workplace to bounce ideas off of, or help to problem solve any difficult situation that arises. Sometimes we don’t know what kind of place we’re walking into as travelers- if we’re the only therapists there, if the place is a wreck, if management turnover is high, etc. But all of that is so much more bearable when you know you have a companion by your side.

Another factor that we usually always take advantage of is working on holidays. When we work in the same facility, we still get to spend the day together, we get to help make the day special for the patients, and we get paid time and a half to do it, so it’s a win all the way around.

Conclusion

Our personal opinion is that life is more fun when we get to do it together, so we have absolutely loved getting to share each of these contracts with each other and wouldn’t have it any other way! We would absolutely recommend traveling as a pair to anyone, as it has made our first 2.5 years of travel therapy so memorable. You may have to take into consideration some different challenges and logistics compared to traveling solo, but to us the benefits far outweigh any possible cons. We’ve been able to make it work out really well for us, even as an OT/PT pair.

However, our days of being travel therapy coworkers are on a temporary pause as we just welcomed our daughter Hatcher into the world a few months ago. We will continue doing travel therapy for the next several years as a family, but for now only one of us will be on contract at a time. Eventually, we hope to find some childcare options to be able to go back to work together again!

ABOUT HAILEY & T.R.

We are the Tie Dye Travelers! We are adventurers and nature lovers to the core, and we love all things involving movement in the outdoors. Moving our bodies in the simplistic beauty of nature is our happy place – whether that’s trail running, paddleboarding, fast packing, rock climbing, wakeboarding, or any variety of other outdoor activities. We have lived full time in an RV since 2017 and are travel therapists (Hailey- Occupational Therapist, T.R.- Physical Therapist) traveling to various states in this beautiful country, providing therapy to patients in a wide variety of settings, while having endless adventures all along the way. We love nature, we love each other, and we love squeezing as much adventure out of this life as possible! We recently added a tiny Tie Dye Traveler with the birth of our daughter Hatcher Rae (named after our favorite place to explore while on contract in Alaska, Hatcher Pass) and we are so thrilled to get to take her along for the adventure of this thing called life! Follow us on Instagram @tiedyetravelers as well as our (occasionally updated) YouTube channel to keep up with all of our adventures. One of these days we’ll be better about posting updated blogs on our website, but for now we’re just enjoying the ride! Feel free to reach out to us on Instagram or by email at hcblanchez@gmail.com with any questions!

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!

Transitioning Between Travel Therapy Jobs and Local Therapy Jobs

May 8, 2024May 8, 2024 ~ Travel Therapy Mentor ~ Leave a comment

As PTs, OTs & SLPs, we have a lot of options for our careers. Travel therapy can be a great option for many therapists, at various points in their lives. However, there are times where travel therapy may not be the best fit. For some therapists, the options may seem limited. Either settle down permanently for the long-term at a regular job, or travel, no in-between. However, there can actually be a lot of in-between.

We do know many therapists who have started their careers with travel therapy, then settled into a permanent position long-term when they get done traveling. Or, vice versa, they worked a perm job for a while, then switched to travel therapy. But we also know therapists who go back and forth, between travel jobs and local jobs, utilizing PRN jobs or taking “permanent jobs” knowing they’ll only be there for a year or two while it suits their needs.

Personally, over the years, we have transitioned back and forth between working travel therapy jobs around the country, to taking PRN jobs locally at home. After nearly a decade as PTs, we have never worked a permanent, full-time job, and we don’t ever plan on it since we are now semi-retired and only work part time as clinicians.

In this guest post, we’ll share Morgan’s story, an Occupational Therapist who has transitioned between travel therapy and PRN, along with her reasoning and advice for others.

Guest Post by Morgan Lauchnor, OTR/L

Travel therapy can be an addicting way to live once you start, and many healthcare professionals end up doing it for multiple years, sometimes with no end date in sight. But for others, there are certain instances where it might be beneficial to break away from travel therapy to take on local therapy jobs. And if you’re like me and aren’t quite ready to take on a full-time gig, a PRN (“as needed”) job may be the way to go.

There are many similarities between travel therapy jobs and PRN therapy jobs, like the freedom to choose your own hours and not having to deal with workplace politics, but there are also some big differences to consider. In this article, I’m going to talk about my experience with transitioning from travel to PRN and back again, reasons why one might consider this option, and offer helpful tips for making these changes.

My Story

When I started travel therapy back in 2019 as a new grad occupational therapist, I was hooked from the start. Getting to explore the country; living like a local in places I might never have visited otherwise; being able to pay down my student loans and make good money; and meeting amazing people along the way— I had no intention of stopping for a longgg time.

However, part of the reason I wanted to travel was to gain experience working in multiple settings. I had done an inpatient fieldwork internship on a spinal cord unit at a VA hospital, and I was excited to get back to working in a hospital. But since a skilled nursing (SNF) travel therapy contract was what got my foot in the door, I initially stuck with that setting because it was what became familiar. When the time came though that I was ready to branch out into inpatient/acute/LTAC, no one would give me an interview. While there are some facilities that are willing to train new grads/therapists with no prior experience, it just so happened that all of the ones I was applying for wanted me to have at least 1-2 years of experience in the setting first. It got to the point where I waited almost 3 months in between contracts trying to land a hospital contract with no luck, that I was forced to go with another SNF contract which completely burned me out.

So because the travel therapy market wasn’t catering to my path, I paved a new one. While I never planned to stop traveling after only 2.5 years, an opportunity came along to take a PRN position in Asheville, NC that allowed me to get my foot in the door with a variety of settings, from acute care, to inpatient, to LTAC, home health, and PACE. I knew that this way, when I decided to go back to travel, I would no longer have the limitation of ‘needs prior experience’ holding me back. I spent another almost 2.5 years with that PRN job, gaining so much clinical experience and growth.

Once I was ready to make the transition back to travel therapy and started talking to recruiters again, I was able to find an acute care travel contract at a level 1 trauma hospital that checked every box I was looking for. For me, this break from travel therapy was one hundred percent worth it to me to help me reach my goals.

Reasons for Transitioning Between Travel & PRN

Gaining Clinical Experience

As I said in my case, one reason for taking a local job somewhere is to gain clinical experience in settings with specific requirements. There are cases where facilities are willing to train new grads/therapists with no prior experience, and while I always recommend still applying to these contracts on the off chance that they say yes (worst case they say no), if you’re not having luck, PRN may be the way to go.

Being Close to Family and Friends

One challenge with travel therapy can be constantly moving and being away from family and friends. At different points in life, it may suit therapists to return home for a while to be closer to family and friends. Or, similarly, if they happen to meet a partner while on contract in a new place, they may consider settling down in that area for a while (or forever) to pursue the relationship.

Maintaining Tax Home

For some therapists, returning to their tax home location and taking contract work that is fully taxed, or a PRN job, is a way to help maintain their tax home requirements in between travel contracts.

Making Money Between Contracts

Sometimes it takes more time than anticipated to find the right travel therapy contract. Rather than rushing into something out of desperation and time constraints, it may be beneficial to pick up a local job in the meantime to take the pressure off while you find what you’re looking for.

Finding a Great Facility

Sometimes as a travel therapist, you may end up at a facility that you absolutely love, and they make an offer for you to stay there full time. In some cases, this can lead to finding your new permanent home and permanent job for the long term. But, quite often, therapists may be enticed to stay at a location for a year or so, without wanting to make it their forever home. Many therapists will take a “permanent” job temporarily, with plans to leave and go elsewhere after a certain amount of time.

Helpful Tips for Transitioning Between Travel and Local Jobs

Remember the big differences from travel: weekly vs. biweekly pay, no stipends, guaranteed monthly hours minimum, and making your own schedule but having to rely on the facility’s needs.

Getting back into the mindset of a regular, non-travel job can be tough after travel, and it is important to prepare. Know that you will most likely not be paid as frequently, and may be taking a pay cut without the tax free stipends. You will also need to look into the positions you are considering and how much they will need you at their facility. Some PRN jobs are able to offer a lot of hours, where some may not have the staffing need for a lot of hours. This will help you determine if a PRN position will be able to provide you with enough hours for your situation and financial needs, or if you may need to take on multiple PRN positions or go full-time.

Consider your health insurance options.

While a lot of healthcare travelers use their company’s health insurance while they’re traveling, it sometimes gets tricky between contracts, or if you decide to take local contracts or a PRN job. If you take a full time local job, you’ll likely be offered benefits, but most PRN jobs do not offer benefits. Going with a private health insurance plan, or another type of plan that you maintain independent of your employer, allows you to have health insurance throughout the year without having to worry about this. I switched to private insurance when I went PRN. In some cases, signing on for more of a permanent/full time job that offers benefits may be a better option for you depending on your healthcare insurance needs. This post goes over different health insurance options to consider.

Know that you can always transition back to travel therapy at any time!

Travel therapy job options and permanent job options will always be available. Taking a break from one or the other won’t limit your job options when you decide to transition again. I guarantee if you put word out to get back into travel therapy, you’ll have multiple travel therapy recruiters immediately itching to get you set up with another travel contract.

Take Aways

Ultimately, there are a number of reasons why it may be beneficial to stop traveling and pursue a local contract if it aligns with your goals and/or life circumstances at that time. Fortunately, as healthcare providers, we have a lot of different job options available to us at any given time, both for travel jobs and local jobs. We can design our lives to be flexible and pursue the opportunities that fit us best depending on the current stage of life. We don’t have to feel stuck in one type of job or another if it’s not working for us.

I hope these tips are helpful in making that transition between travel therapy and local therapy jobs more seamless. And if/when the time comes that you decide to go back to travel, it’s always an available option. After all, once a traveler, always a traveler.

Thank you, Morgan, for sharing your experiences and insights with us. Learn more about Morgan below.

You can also watch the video we made discussing this topic further here.

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 five different travel therapy assignments in SNFs, from OR, to CA, to TX, and NC. A little over 2 years ago, I planted some temporary roots in Asheville, NC to get some inpatient/acute/LTAC/home health experience, working PRN for a hospital network, before returning to travel therapy this year. I travel with my mini-Aussie pup Zoey who has been the best adventure buddy, and we are now currently in Indianapolis, IN where I am working an acute care travel therapy contract at a level 1 trauma hospital. 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.