It didn’t take long to find another travel role. I am excited to announce that we will be going to New England! We have visited there once, but now we will have the opportunity to live there and fully explore the area.
It is a long, long, very long drive (36 hours to be exact). My husband has decided not to pull the RV for this trip. We have secured a furnished apartment to call home temporarily. There are pros and cons to this arrangement. The pros are: we can drive one vehicle and trade off driving (with the RV we have to drive two vehicles and never get a break), we won’t have to prep the RV for travel, and we will save in fuel cost (it usually costs around $1500 for fuel to pull the RV to destinations). The cons: I have to try to pack my life into a suitcase, we can’t take the dogs (except Wookie), we have to stay at hotels every night, and the security deposits/first month rent are expensive.
The biggest challenge will be to fit everything into my car. The RV is full of items that we use on a daily basis -that won’t fit into a suitcase. My backseat is full of bedding items right now (6 pillows, comforter, blankets, and sheets). I am trying to figure out how to fit a curling iron, hair dryer, coffee pot, Brita pitcher, a box fan, a television, dog food, and office essentials along with all the clothing items that we both need for the next 3 months. It is not going well. We have decided to pack the essentials and purchase everything else when we get there.
(Actually, the biggest challenge may be riding in the small cabin of my car with another person and a dog. Being in such a small space for such a long time provides stressors that can test your limits with agitation and frustration. It’s easy to like/love someone when you have space, but sharing the same air for 36 hours will certainly create plenty of opportunities to self-regulate and will be a true test for the both of us).
This role will be different from my other ones. I will be an interim director of nursing, but it is to cover a short-term leave of absence for their permanent one. This means that there should be processes in place and I will just need to “hold the fort down” while she is gone. More to come…..
I have spent time reflecting over the past two years. I remember the low-key anxiety that I felt going to that first assignment with all of the “unknowns”. Will the facility be clean and comfortable, what will the challenges be, will the staff be friendly, will I be able to gain their trust and provide direction? That anxiety followed me with each new assignment -but now seems to have disappeared. I guess this is because I have normalized and adjusted to living in the “unknown”. I suppose some of it is also based on the concept of “everything is relative”. Albert Einstein taught us that. The way you see the world depends on context and your point of view. Each travel assignment has created a new perspective and the ability to compare those from the past. The relativity part is ever changing because it is based on continued life experiences and personal growth.
Leave a Reply