Becoming a travel nurse has taught me a lot about myself.

Usually when I start a new job, I’m very quiet and it takes me a long time to become comfortable around new people.  Now that I’m a travel nurse, I can’t afford to be quiet.  I have to become comfortable really quickly.  Every hospital has different policies.  I have to ask questions and that gets me out of my comfort zone.

I not only have to ask questions for myself but for my patients as well.  Some hospitals allow the patient to leave the floor to get some fresh air or smoke.  Some hospitals don’t allow that.

I’ve become more outgoing now that I’m a travel nurse.

That outgoing spirit has affected my private life as well.  I just recently went horseback riding by myself.  I was nervous but I really enjoyed myself.  I’m doing things that I only dreamed of doing.

I also learned a big lesson recently about living the life of your dreams..

Working too much and not taking the time out to have fun will lead to burn out.

I was recently feeling very burned out for the past couple of weeks.  I kept telling myself that I am living the life of my dreams and I shouldn’t be felling this way.  It was getting harder and harder to get up for work.  Don’t get me wrong, I love being a nurse but some days I feel like I just can’t be a nurse today.  I’m doing so many things on my days off that it is easy for me to get burned out and feel like I haven’t had a day off.  I’m sure that people who have a lot of things to do feel the same way.  That there are just not enough hours in the day to get done what they need to get done.

Now I realize that I need to do something every day that brings me happiness or peace.

Some days I just meditate.  Some days I just sit in the park by the ocean.  Being in nature rejuvenates me.  Some days its just exercising.  Some days its just writing in my journal.  Some days its just listening to music.

Every now and then I’ll go on a big adventure like whale watching, para sailing, or horseback riding

I now love to travel to new places.  2 years ago, I was terrified of traveling to new places and not being in my comfort zone.  I was scared of meeting new people.  Some one once told me that it was time to spread my smile and my happiness around the world.  She was right.

Living the life of my dreams hopefully has inspired other people to do the same.   The travel life is the life for me!!!