The Surest Way to Insult A Travel Nurse
Amy, a fellow travel nurse and good friend, sent an exasperated text the other day. A staff nurse inquired about her travel plans and lifestyle, and in response to Amy's explanation, the staff nurse said, "your plans sounds fun, but it's a good thing you're single and have no attachments or you couldn't be doing all of this." Amy's tired of hearing this.
My reply to Amy: "they're putting you down to make themselves feel better about not choosing their priorities with intention. It's not kids or a significant other that prevent people from traveling, it's things like spending money on the fourth big screen TV for the house or the mortgage they can't afford. So just smile and remind them that you aren't 'lucky' to be living the life you're living, because that would imply it just 'happened' to you. You've worked for it, just as they've worked for their TVs and 40 year mortgages with shitty interest rates."
Have I ever mentioned that I'm sassy at times?
Don't assume a traveler/nomad is single and unattached. SHOCKER: some travel nurses are in long-term, committed relationships and cherish their roots in their original home as equally as they love traveling. I should know; I'm one of them. Also, realize the argument that having a family prevents you from a life of travel is invalid. There are plenty of couples and families who travel together (full-time!) and do it successfully (i.e. Intrepid Motion, The Freedom Travellers, Families On The Road).
Comments like the above are a back-handed way of saying "what you're doing isn't real life. It's play. A vacation." As if our lives will only truly begin once they resemble a stationary, 9-5, two-weeks-of-vacation-a-year lifestyle. This is real life. Just because my version is different doesn't make it any less real or mature. I have goals, a career, and care about my significant other and loved ones just as much as you. I've just rearranged my priorities and removed the "cant's" and "shouldn'ts" that were preventing me from living life on my terms.
I don't think my life is any better than yours or that I'm right and you're wrong; and a wanderer deserves the same respect. The next time you assume a travel nurse is a careless, single person without any ties to people or places, ask her about her story instead. You'll learn something... and avoid being written about in her blog ;)
My reply to Amy: "they're putting you down to make themselves feel better about not choosing their priorities with intention. It's not kids or a significant other that prevent people from traveling, it's things like spending money on the fourth big screen TV for the house or the mortgage they can't afford. So just smile and remind them that you aren't 'lucky' to be living the life you're living, because that would imply it just 'happened' to you. You've worked for it, just as they've worked for their TVs and 40 year mortgages with shitty interest rates."
Have I ever mentioned that I'm sassy at times?
Don't assume a traveler/nomad is single and unattached. SHOCKER: some travel nurses are in long-term, committed relationships and cherish their roots in their original home as equally as they love traveling. I should know; I'm one of them. Also, realize the argument that having a family prevents you from a life of travel is invalid. There are plenty of couples and families who travel together (full-time!) and do it successfully (i.e. Intrepid Motion, The Freedom Travellers, Families On The Road).
Comments like the above are a back-handed way of saying "what you're doing isn't real life. It's play. A vacation." As if our lives will only truly begin once they resemble a stationary, 9-5, two-weeks-of-vacation-a-year lifestyle. This is real life. Just because my version is different doesn't make it any less real or mature. I have goals, a career, and care about my significant other and loved ones just as much as you. I've just rearranged my priorities and removed the "cant's" and "shouldn'ts" that were preventing me from living life on my terms.
I don't think my life is any better than yours or that I'm right and you're wrong; and a wanderer deserves the same respect. The next time you assume a travel nurse is a careless, single person without any ties to people or places, ask her about her story instead. You'll learn something... and avoid being written about in her blog ;)
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