- What is the hardest part about being a travel therapist?
- What are the cons of travel PT?
- Do you get lonely or homesick?
- Are you afraid of traveling alone?
- What do you do about loneliness as a traveling therapist?
As with anything worth doing, being a travel therapist comes with its share of challenges.
Here are the hardest parts about being a travel PT, in my opinion.
Being Alone.
Missing friends and family was one of the biggest challenges I had early on in my career as a travel therapist. While this is a common concern, in my experience, the new friends you make on assignment become life- long friends and are your “family” while on assignment. And these friends inspire you to do and try new things. It’s crazy to think of not ever meeting them.
Also, as a traveler, you can request time-off (before you sign your contract) to return to visit family and friends as you wish. What worked for me to help overcome this is to schedule visits back home a few times during the assignment by taking long weekends . Pre-plan the trips by requesting days off in advanced to break of the assignment. After your first contract or 2, these feelings subsided for me.
Also, using apps to connect regularly, like FaceTime™ and Marco Polo helped to feel connected to loved ones while I was away. And joining a local kickball league, attending events through Meetup.com and finding friends on BumbleBFF are other ways to meet people quickly.
Packing, Moving, & Finding Housing often as a Travel Therapist
With each new assignment, comes packing all of your belongings, moving, finding housing, and reacquainting yourself with the new place and area. For some, this is a chore, but if you are anything like me and enjoy HGTV’s House Hunters, it is very much an adventure straight out of the TV show. I enjoy the process of finding housing and exploring the new area to see which option would suit me best. “Will she go with the hidden country bungalow or the Boho downtown condo?!”
To learn more about how to find housing, click here.
Learning New EMRs as a Traveling PT
Nowadays, learning new technology is nothing out of the ordinary. While, learning a new EMR (electronic medical record) at each facility can feel daunting, you begin to understand the similar formats, and it’s just a matter of understanding where to click versus what to write. Before you know it, you’ll have experience with a lot of different systems!
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