In my previous post on this subject, we discussed the biggest obstacle to overcome as a travel sonographer, loneliness. But that is only half of the things to be considered when deciding whether a career in this field is for you. Let’s dive deeper into this topic.
As a travel sonographer, much of your paycheck will come in the form of tax free income, due to the fact that you will be working and living far enough from home and inevitably incurring expenses there, while simultaneously incurring expenses on your property back home, known as your tax home. Because of this tax free income, it is important that you are able to prove that money was spent to live in your job location, in the event you were audited, so having a lease or other documentation of expenses filed away is wise. Depending on whether you have a double income household or not, this can prove to be a lucrative paycheck, for some. However, if you are living off of one household income, you need to be more proactive in finding housing arrangements that will allow you to have some money leftover after paying for both household expenses, to budget for exploring your new area, and to hopefully be able to put some aside, as well. Saving some of your income aside is important, because inevitably, you will end one job and either spend time at home for anywhere from one to three weeks or longer, catching up on things in your life, like healthcare appointments, seeing friends and family, etc. before you start the next job. The non-glamourous side of travel is that you typically do not get paid for personal time off, whether in the form of sick time, vacation time, time between jobs, none of that. It is wise therefore, to bank some of what you make, in order to ride the wave of unemployment (usually by choice), in an effort to survive financially during these times.
A lot of people think if they do travel work that they can just pick and choose where in the country they want their next assignment to be. This may work for some travel healthcare jobs in which your particular work experience is in high demand, but in the field of sonography, especially if it is a niche specialty like OB/GYN, you let the jobs available at the time you are looking, be your guide as to where you go next. At any given time, my agency may only have 10 – 15 jobs nationally to choose from in my specialty, which is not unusual for most agencies out there (some may even offer less). When I think of it in that way, it is mind boggling that in 5 years I have only been in a state of unemployment once, while doing travel work. And that was in the early throws of Covid when no-one, whether traveler or permanent employee, was getting hired. In fact, some were even being furloughed. But the possibility of unemployment is always there in this line of work, which can make it very anxiety-inducing when you are in your final week on assignment somewhere and you don’t have your next job lined up. This is usually something that is tackled a month before your intended start date, to allow adequate time to find the right job and get all the pre-job requirements out of the way.
Before you start any new job, the facility dictates what your agency will have you do in preparation for that job. Every single time, you can be assured you will need to do a urine drug test. Beyond that depends on when your last physical, eye exam, hearing test, TB test, etc have been done, and you may need to do those as well. Then there is the paperwork that is often required, annual agency tests which can take hours of reading and testing, and buying scrubs, if a particular color is required for the job you are about to start. Most agencies will provide “some” money toward scrubs, however it usually doesn’t cover all of your expense. I must own 40 pairs of scrubs by now. More than half as a result of doing travel work – I may want to consider opening up a used scrub store by the time I decide to retire. All jokes aside though, this is a LOT to do, known as “onboarding”, and all of which must be done in a timely fashion. So procrastinating is not recommended. Get it all done in the first week you are home between jobs and you hopefully have the remainder of that time to yourself to enjoy with your family and friends. But that week can be almost a full time job. So as Larry the Cable Guy would say, “git er done!”
Initially when embarking on travel work, you may feel like a short assignment is best – maybe the rare job that is only for a few weeks or two months, as opposed to the more typical duration of thirteen weeks. It isn’t a bad way to test out the waters, but remember, with every new job comes ALL that onboarding. It doesn’t take more than a couple jobs to realize how annoying that can be and how desirable it is to be offered and accept an extension, provided you like the job that is. Seventy-five percent of the jobs I have worked have asked me to extend. Most all of them I liked well enough to say yes to that extension, but the ball is definitely in your court. When you try to land your assignment, you are competing with others nationally and need to be the most desirable candidate for the employer. But with an extension, both of you already know what to expect from the other, and you have the right to say yes or no to it, depending on whether it feels like a place you want to continue working. By staying on however, you can stave off the exhausting onboarding process. And that can be a very good thing, indeed!
Hopefully, the information discussed so far is giving you a sense of what needs to be considered in making your decision about whether to continue your career in a permenent job or to switch over to a career in travel work. It is not all a bed of roses, as some people who have not experienced it may think. Most people see this line of work as a source of a big paycheck, which is true, but most people don’t consider the fact that the reason the paycheck is so big, is because you have double the expenses of the average person and that you are leaving your life behind back home to live in isolation for a period of time, so it definitely comes at a cost! But with that cost, comes a whole lot of reward as well. I have met other travelers who say they are strictly in it for the money. They “follow the money trail”, as I have heard one sonographer word it. Sure, to make those sacrifices, money is very important. But for me, it is way beyond the money. It is just as much, if not more, about the benefits that are tied to this type of work arrangement: fulfilling my passion for travel and seeing new places, experiencing new things, meeting new people, making new friends all over the country – amazing people that I would never have met if it weren’t for this job, and also for learning so much in my field of ultrasound. The various facilities, doctors, and sonographers I have met, have taught me so much more than I would have learned by staying in the same environment all the time. I can honestly say that I have learned more in five years of travel work, then I have in the twenty years prior, working in the same geographical area.
In my next blog post, part 3 of this topic, I will address the first day, the last day, and then put it all together to help you make your decision as to whether travel sonography is right for you.