Love on the Road: Nurses Travel as Couples
Travel nursing together as a couple is an option to be explored, according to some who should know.
"Go for it!" advises Travis Maronn, RN, BSN. "Don't sit around wondering if you'd like to be a traveler. Try it once and then you'll know if it's for you. And, you won't ever have regrets about not trying it."
Maronn and his wife, Jodi, who also has her BSN, should know. They have been traveling together with their English bulldog, Ollie, for four years and are grateful for the experience. Especially the chance to check out different places they might want to live so their final decision about where to settle down is the right one.
"We're from the Green Bay, Wisconsin area originally." said Maronn. "We both accepted our first travel assignments when we were dating. We got married two years later, during the summer, and then decided to keep traveling together."
Neither of the Maronns has a practice specialty on the road. They work in everything from Step Down Units to Express Admissions and like the variety. They both did the latter in the same unit, on the same schedule, when on an assignment in San Diego.
"We worked the unit together," said Maronn. "Some facilities don't allow it, but some don't mind at all. My wife and I work very well together so we enjoyed it. And it was great to have the same schedule."
San Diego was one of the Maronn's favorite places, partly because they became very good friends with another couple who they are traveling back to visit soon.
"We became very good friends," shared Maronn. "The kind of friends you know you'll have for life. That's a nice thing about traveling, the great people you meet."
Their other assignments have taken them to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, Phoenix and Los Angeles. They also chose assignments back in Wisconsin a few times for family reasons.
" St. Thomas was interesting," said Maronn. "The beaches, the warm weather…it wouldn't be hard to get used to that island lifestyle. We met another travel nurse couple who were raising their kids there. They had extended their assignments a number of times because they enjoyed it so much.
"Something we'll always remember about St.Thomas was how the locals would always run up to us asking ‘Back to the ship? Back to the ship?' It was very funny. We started wearing our scrubs around town so they'd realize we lived there."
Maronn said that although Los Angeles wasn't their favorite spot, they did enjoy the community they lived in, Studio City, and its close proximity to a lot of film and television studios and the chance to visit well-known tourist attractions like Universal Studios and Magic Mountain.
The Maronns decide together where to choose assignments and don't have any problem agreeing. Being from Wisconsin, warm weather is always a priority. They also like to choose places that offer opportunities for hiking. Phoenix was a particularly good choice for that.
How do their friends and family back in Wisconsin feel about their peripatetic lifestyle?
"They're jealous!" laughed Maronn.
"We can decide where we want to visit and how long we want to stay. We work three 12-hour shifts so we have four vacation days each week," Maronn pointed out. "And we have a secure income and are in demand. It is hard to beat. In fact, we have a few friends who want to go back to school to get their nursing degrees so they can become travelers."
While the Maronns are planning on settling down in Wisconsin, they aren't so sure it will be easy to stay put. At least they will know what else is out there, which is important to their decision-making.
"We wanted to make sure home really is where the heart is," said Travis. "If it's not, we'll just start traveling again."
