Spouse of a Traveler - Job Hunting???

My husband is the traveling nurse, and I go along with him. We are currently on our first assignment and loving every minute of it! I have my degree in Management and Marketing, so my career isn't exactly ideal for this lifestyle. For this assignment, I have used the time to adjust and take a breather. I keep the house, pay bills, do the shopping, and plan all of our fun activities. I have started a blog Food, Fitness, & Fun in All 50 States and am hoping to eventually do some freelance writing. But in the meantime, I have to find a way to make some money. I have to get a job during his next assignment, but I don't know what to do.

Does anybody else have spouses that travel with them and work? What do they do? Any suggestions?

We have some close friends that traveled for 6 years. She was the nurse and he worked as a bartender in most cities. So I have thought about trying to get a serving job or maybe seeing what a temp agency has to offer. But here is my main dilemma...I don't want to be stuck working some stupid part time job on my husbands days off. Our whole point of traveling is to see the country while he improves his nursing skills. We literally have something planned nearly every day he has off. There is no way that as a new, part time, temporary employee I will be given much flexibility in a work schedule. And I feel like if I am working when he is not, it will defeat our purpose for doing this.

Ok, ok...I know. I'm an adult and sometimes that's just life. I might have to sacrifice having fun all the time to be responsible and work. But I would seriously appreciate any advice or suggestions on job searching for temporary, non-medical jobs. Ideally, I would love to find something flexible and that I can do from anywhere.

Hey Kelli!

Yes - I know exactly what you are going through!  Wes is a PT and I left my career in Austin when we started traveling together.  I willingly left it...wanted a complete career change but didn't know what I wanted to do.  My degree is in Environmental Science but wanted to move away from any regulatory jobs. 

When we started out I got jobs wherever we were.  The first job I got was substitute teaching which was PERFECT!  I could choose when to work and it is fairly easy to get in to.  (you don't need a degree in education).  Actually, this job led to a longer term job at a school when I had a principal call and ask if I would take a Teacher's Assistant position for a few months while the current assistant was off doing her student teaching.  I was floored! It was a perfect fit.  Wes is a PT and rarely works weekends or has a day off during the week so our schedule matched well. 

My next job was at a bakery/coffee shop.  I loved it as I really like service positions.  My schedule was flexible and I didn't have to wait tables! (I am NOT a good watiress! I do not have the short term memory for it! hehe)  So, this job worked well and I met some great people and best of all had free access to lattes and baked goods!

Next town I decided to go a different route...after going through the only temp agency in town with no luck I decided to give up and volunteer.  I volunteered for the local humane society.  It was by far my most rewarding work!  This actually led to a regualar job where they hired me on as an "animal care tech" which meant "cage cleaner".  This is not for everyone, I know, but I truly enjoyed it and felt completely fulfilled when I left for the day.  My hours were in the morning and I left when I was done...it rarely took more than a few hours so I still had full days to do what I wanted.  This job is what inspired me to become a vet tech.  As soon as we stop traveling, my plan is to get into a program.  So, my desire to find "what I really was meant to do" was found in a most unexpected place!

Since then, we started to develop and research Healthcare Travelbook.  My hours and days were filled with phone calls, trips to the library, and on the internet.  Now, I work from home full time on Healthcare Travelbook and I love it!  It allows me to be creative and very busy! 

To me, working was more about a sense of sanity and purpose...which I found by being productive.  I find a great sense of purpose now working on the site just as you may feel by contributing to your blog. (What a great idea, by the way!!)  I could see how that could lead to something much bigger for you! 

I hope this helps some...  I do believe that you can have it all: work and have PLENTY of time for fun!  This lifestyle is so unique and offers so many unique opportunities!  Please let me know how it works out for you!  I wish you the best!

Rebecca

Rebecca - Thank you so much for all of this great info! It is exactly what I needed to hear! I have actually been thinking about substitute teaching...and after reading about your experience with it, I think that is the direction I will try next. I have substituted before, right after I graduated college, before I got a 'real job'.  I loved it then and have thought about it off and on but just worried about the different requirements for each state. But I imagine it will just be a background check and fingerprints?

Have you had any luck with temp agencies? I'm just curious how much work I will be able to get substituting. Maybe I will also need to try to connect with some sort of temp agency for backup. Ideally, I would like to work the 3 days a week that Sky does, and have the other 4 days off. We'll see if I can get that lucky, but I feel like subbing is the best chance of that!

I think we have a lot in common! I was definitely ready to give up my career when we started this journey. I have known for a while now that the 'corporate grind' isn't my thing...but not quite sure what is yet. I'm hoping that this adventure will help lead me to my true calling too. I feel like it has something to do with writing, but we will see! :)

Thanks again, so much! I love hearing what other spouses are doing...I don't think there's too many of us out there that travel with our traveling partner. I love the lifestyle though, and wouldn't trade it for anything! :) I love what you are doing with this website by the way! FABULOUS idea and execution!

Hey Kelli -

Yes - I did leave that out but I did work for a temp agency at one assignment a couple of years ago.  It was the economy went down hill so I don't know how it is now, but I enjoyed that too.  I ended up doing a couple of admin/receptionist jobs through an agency which worked out great for me.  However, the jobs may require 8-5 Mon - Friday which may be hard for you.  But, there could jusy as easily be jobs available that are one to three days only.  I would just get on the phone and call a few agencies.  Then, I would go and fill out the applications at a couple of them.  The application process can be LONG!  With the tests etc that they give you, it could easily take a few hours.

Hope this helps!  Thanks for kudos on the site!  We have worked hard and we hope it is a good resource!

Thanks again so much! This definitely has helped to give me a starting place. I am a bit intimidated  by starting the process of looking for a job on the road, but you have helped me break it down a bit. The extra income will be so nice! :)

Hi Kelli,
I'm a recruiter with Clinical One and we are a part of Randstad, the 2nd largest staffing organization in the world.  Randstad staffs everything from healthcare to engineering to legal to HR to clerical...and everything in between.  While you may not be traveling with Clinical One, you should look into Randstad as a resource for you while your husband does the travel assignments.  And with offices across the US, they can "move" with you and your husband from one assignment location to the next.  We have helped a few spouses of our travelers by setting them up with Randstad and it's worked out well.  I do not know the position Randstad is currently recruiting for, but every open job is on the website at www.randstadusa.com. 

As Rebecca suggested, you could take admin/reception type of work or with a marketing background may find a contract type position working on a special "project" for a company.  As long as you are up front with the agency on the days/times you are available to work, they should be able to work around your schedule. 

Hope this helps and keep us posted if you find that perfect temp job for you too!  I definitely understand wanting to keep busy while he's at work, but also wanting the flexibility to enjoy your new travel city!

Good luck,
Alison

This is great info! Thanks so much Alison! I am definitely going to check out that website.

This is interesting never thought about substitute, My wife is the RN and I'm a wood worker boat builder (wood), cabinet maker, etc. and really have been worrying about what I was going to do, you see we have not started traveling yet. The traveler that we know husbands are collecting disability and I am perfectly healthy and have been really racking my brain to figure out what I was going to do. I also am a grill master and figured well I will just cook....lol
I also never thought of asking the recruiter to see what they had.....thanks alot for the info

This is a helpful article. I am a PTA who would like to sell our home and start traveling. My husband has an excellent job at general electric for this area. So that makes it very hard for him (and me) to justify packing up and leaving. We have been brain storming for things he could do on the road. He is an electrician, very good at math, and figuring out puzzles/fixing things. Anybody have luck with randstad? 

Your situation makes it a challenge.  You would be giving up the security of your husband's job to travel.  It can be done and work out very well with some planning.  A few things for you to keep in mind: 

1) it MIGHT be better if you kept your house rather than sell it.  Owning a home in your home state of residence can help justify the tax free earnings from traveling...which can be huge.  But you should seek advice on this first.  It's a big decision with significant financial implications for you.  A good resource on tax advice is a member of the community named Joseph Smith.  His company, Travel Tax, represents travelers and provides tax advice.  Check him out. 

2) you will make more money as a traveler than as a permenent PTA.  This can somewhat offset your husband's current income, but probably will not completely cover it.  Could he use his time on the road to pursue an idea or invention of his?  He seems like an inventive guy with skills.  Just a thought.

You are going about this in a smart way.  Do your research first.  Talk to several other travelers and recruiters.  Plan for most contingencies (you can never plan for the ALL!!!)  And then make the best choice for you.  We have been traveling for 6 years and love it.  Can't imagine life any other way!  Let us know if you have more questions and we are happy to help.

Any new job gettin' ideas??? I did the temp agency thing in San Jose. It was okay but not ideal. I have checked into substitute teaching (although now that it's summer wouldn't work), but most states anymore seem to require you to have a teaching certificate just to sub these days. I got a job as a waitress in San Diego, but I didn't take it b/c by the time I got it (after 3 interviews!) we only had 5 weeks left in town. I really need/want a job while in Seattle. It's even harder now because we sold one of our vehicles and our company housed us in a small town outside of the city with very little opportunities for work. I'm applying at a couple of restaurants to see how that goes, but any new suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would love to get something that pays better than minimum wage and that is somewhat flexible. Sky joked that I should just become a work from home recruiter the other day b/c I handle all of his stuff for him! :)

My wife wanted to work as we travel, but we found it very difficult to find a decent job for such a short stay. She had an opportunity to become a Life Coach with a certification, but it didn't work out. Life Coaching is a great opportunity for those who have the time and love giving advice about job changes, life in general and whatever else the Life Coach does to make your life better. Trying to get D back into it now. She would be a great Life Coach. Since she isn't working we 
are doing the best we can to keep our housing costs down, ie..living in Short Term Stay or Extended Stay. It's a bit crowded sometimes, but it saves. We are 
fortunate to own our home outright, so we take the Per Diem/Gov Housing.  I find out online what the Per Diem and Housing Costs are for the areas we travel and then I bargain to get that without the Travel Company cutting it back for their profit. Oh and for SarahPTA, keeping your house is not an easy thing. If you rent it out, then you have to have someone to do that for you. We don't rent ours out, and don't have anyone to look after it for us, so we have to make trips home during the year to keep it up. IT IS NICE TO BE HOME once in awhile. Love it. Love traveling also as it is a great opportunity to see the USA and the World if you wish. Here's wishing you all the Best in your travels!

So has anybody on hear ever heard of Leapforce, Lionbridge, Workforce Logic, or Butler Hill? They are all companies that hire work from home search engine evaluators. From the research I've done, it seems pretty legit. Not a lot of money and not all that exciting...but flexible work nonetheless. I have been offered a position by Leapforce, but I keep putting it off because I don't know anybody personally that has done this type of job before. Any insight would be appreciated!!!

Also, I am looking into becoming a Travel Agent. It's something I've thought about for years, and it seems to really be a good fit for our current lifestyle. I have been talking to another wife of a travel nurse who is a travel agent, and she loves it. I would love to hear from any current Travel Agents or if you know any and have any thoughts on the career path? I again, just don't know any personally and am trying to gain some perspective on the industry and how to do it from home. Any suggestions on host companies? Training materials? Suggestions??? I'm just in the 'thinking about it' stages and am trying to gather as much info as possible. I've just gotta figure some way to start a career for myself while still maintaining our flexible traveling lifestyle. :)

If your typing skills are good, I have a few friends that are into medical/insurance transcription. They make $20-$50 per transcription. It is something you can do from home, and from anywhere. They say that you have to be above 80 words a minute and low typos. 

Tigerfish.com

Its one of the companies my friend works with. She has been doing it for a few years. 

Larniegrl - Thanks so much for this info! It is very interesting. I had thought about becoming a medical transcriber, but I had heard that it is impossible to get jobs without having years of experience. Do you know if this is the case these days? And do you know if you have to get any of those online certifications or schooling to be considered? I don't know my typing speed off hand, but I imagine it would be sufficient. I checked out the Tigerfish website and read how to submit an application. I am really thinking I might give it a try. But let me know if your friend thinks I will need to go through one of those transcriptionist programs before applying to actually get hired. Thanks so much again! This could be a good possibility for me!

Hello everyone. I have been reading through everyones comments and suggestions and I am finding them very helpful. I have been discussing the option of traveling as a Certified Surgical Tech with my husband. We have started this conversation because he just lost his job. He was working through the same University I am currently working through (Outpatient Surgery Center). He worked as a Patient Care Tech on a Cardiovascular Unit. So now we are down to one income, he was unemployed for 3 years before he landed this job and was still on the probationary period when he was let go due to conflict with a nurse. Anyway, we have been discussing this because the pay could potentially be better. We rent a home, we have a dog and a cat and I have two children still in school (previous marriage). I guess I would like to know if anyone has kids from prevous marriages and how you handle that. Can pets come not to worried about the cat I can find a home for her but our dog Lilly, is the child my husband and I could never have together LOL. Any advice anyone can share would be welcomed. We are giving ourselves a time line of 6 months so my husband can hopefully find a job here. However if that doesn't work then this is the other option that would work best.

Thank you so much

Michelle Johnson

I did quite a bit of substitute teaching in Indiana, it just required 2 semesters of college and a background check. In Iowa however, you have to take a 6 month substitute teachers course! My understanding is most states are much stricter than Indiana. Do check this out before picking a state. Good luck!