TravelingbeebryantRN & Flicks_withNick

My total plan was to post this before we flew home. We got wrapped up in the BBQ in Kansas City, and the love and joy at home with our friends and family. We made it to our final destination of Omaha, Nebraska. Fast forward two weeks ya’ll… then I can’t wait to catch you up on some things.

We wanted to get to Omaha to explore before flying out in the morning. Therefore, we didn’t stop much along the way. We ended up flying out of Kansas City to go back home before starting our new contract. I wanted to touch base on what we kind of explored last night, but also wanted to touch base on traveling on a budget. I think everyone thinks that traveling fare is always expensive (which is expensive when you do it every 13 weeks), especially if you are driving distance, and doing any type of exploring. Travel nursing used to be a lot of money, but now it’s kind of died down. We do it for the freedom of flexibility and being able to explore different areas of the United States.  We will get into some details of how you can make this as affordable as possible, ways you can try to save money, and saving money in the future.

This will be our last little get to know us a little more for a little bit, as we won’t be road tripping for another 13 weeks. We will try to make it a good one.

Dominique: I said I would make it a good one, but I can’t help but share this because I am excited for it! This week my nursing license for Alaska FINALLY went through. I applied for a Alaska nursing license in March of this year. I’ll have to do a blog on what it takes to apply for certain states, it’s insane! Now… I’ll just have to convince Nick it’s time for an Alaska contract. There was a contract in Kodiak, Alaska, as I was applying for Omaha and I really wanted to go… My Alaska people, please convince my husband!

Nick: I used to be a mall cop and ride a segway. It’s how I met all the girls in college,  and was popular. I wish I had pictures to prove this, but I don’t…  you will just have to believe me. This isn’t really my fact, but Dominique likes to tell people this and really finds this funny for some reason. I think I’ll have to go off Dominique’s fact in her blog, “A New Beginning”. We started working from home in March 2020 due to COVID. After COVID improved, we were given a choice to return to the office or continue to work from home. This gave Dominique and I the opportunity to travel nurse, as I worked from home with Wex. It was my claim to fame, when I actually suggested travel nursing. Her friend Abby suggested it and I encouraged it. Dominique was really burnt out from work and really wasn’t enjoying being a nurse anymore.  I enjoy working from home, as it gives us the flexibility to travel and explore different places. There are definitely some cons to working from home and also being so far away from our permanent residence. The only social in-person interaction that I really get is with my wife, or neighbors at our apartment complex.  Although I do enjoy going to the gym, and exploring on my own (when my wife has to work the weekend), I do miss going to the office some days. When we go home to visit friends and family (like the last few weeks), I do go into the office for a few days which is a nice change of scenery!

Before we go into traveling long distances on a budget, let’s talk about first impressions of Omaha! We spent the night at the downtown Hilton. Honestly… this was the best service at a Hilton we’ve ever had. Top notch service from the bellman and front desk. I was very impressed with the staff and the hotel. It was in great condition and walkable distance from the downtown area. We have to be careful with our car topper (shout out to roofpax… we wouldn’t be here without ya!) Check out my blog on packing and tips for a cross country road trip for the best topper. We got it from my parents for a wedding shower gift, and we love it! It fits so much. It’s honestly like a game. Now the question is, who do you think is the true packer of the topper is?

Passports and Preemies, a local Nebraska travel nurse ( She’s a super cool travel nurse that’s currently exploring East Asia. She puts together group trips and works on preventing nurse burnout. She’s a breath of fresh air! I honestly can’t wait to take her recommendations on Omaha and all things Nebraska!)  talks about how they recently redid the riverwalk, bringing new life to the old market and downtown area.  Check out Kylee’s recs on her Instagram at @passportsandpreemies or her blog at passsportsandpreemies.com. So far, here’s our bucket list for Nebraska! This doesn’t even include day trips to surrounding states! If anyone has any recs, please comment. 

The first thing we did when we arrived in Omaha was  visit the Lewis and Clark Historic trail. We thought it was super cool because we’ve been on the other side of it in Oregon,  near Portland. Afterwards, we walked the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. This bridge always reminds me of a certain movie. Any guesses?

We explored the riverwalk, Old Market, and downtown area the night before our flight. The bellman at the hotel gave us a few recommendations for food down in the Old Market. We decided to check out Jams Grill. The food was honestly so good, but the service sucked. The service may have impacted my first impression of the place. This place has raving reviews from locals! I think we’ll have to try again. We did have their specialty Lavosh and it was so tasty! 

Now, let’s get to traveling on a budget. I’ve talked about travel pay and duplicating expenses in the past, but I haven’t talked about expenses of traveling from one destination to another. It can get pretty expensive to travel from one destination to another. Your travel company will include reimbursements in your contract (if they don’t, make sure you ask before you sign! TIP: you can even ask after the fact) Unfortunately, they won’t cover all costs of relocation.  Oh, how I wish! Other reimbursements I’ve seen are scrubs, parking, certifications, medical expenses for onboarding (tb test, physical, vaccines, drug tests),  and other various things. I’ve noticed, the worst thing you can do is ask and they say no… For this contract, we were reimbursed $500.00 for relocation alone and I was also reimbursed for hospital monthly parking and scrubs. This $500.00 can go towards gas/hotels/flights for however you’d like to use to relocate to your new assignment. Nick and I have goals on our road trips to eat somewhat healthy meals and stay in safe clean hotels. We also have a goal of at least doing an activity a day if possible.  With these goals in mind, there is a cost. Ok, do you have a number in your mind? 

Fortunately, we do get points with Hilton and IHG to work towards free nights in the future. It’s smart to book with the same hotels and the same credit card. We prefer to use Chase Sapphire, as it has the most travel perks. Let’s talk about the numbers now. I’ve broken down our daily spending on our relocation from Everett, Washington to Omaha Nebraska. Was your number higher, lower, or accurate? I am actually generally curious. Nick and I try to be really good about spending during this time, as we do this every 13 weeks. This isn’t considered a vacation. When we are off exploring it’s a “vacation”, but not when we are in a car for 13 hours. Do you have suggestions of how we could save money, but still achieve our goals? We’d love to hear your suggestions! Drop your suggestions in the comments. Until next time, we can’t wait to tell you about our time at home. Flicks with Nick is coming out with Sleepless with Seattle this week also. He’s getting mushy on us.

We really enjoyed our trip back home. We spent two weeks in Maine/New Hampshire. Nick works on our off time between contracts.

We also get to enjoy time with friends and family. It’s also an opportunity for us to do our normal routine doctors/dentist appointments. It almost feels like we are normal people for a few weeks. We were excited to get back to our normal routine, and get to our new location. It was so good to see my brother’s little ones,  and Nick’s sister’s kids. They always make my heart feel so full. It definitely makes it hard to leave home sometimes. 

Alright readers, let’s switch gears a little and talk about our past assignment a little before we start talking about Nebraska! We started our bucket list for Nebraska. Any fellow readers/bloggers have any Nebraska suggestions?