Normally when I am going on an assignment, I will opt to receive mileage for travel and either drive or ship my car to the destination. This time I didn’t want to bring my car up because the lease will be ending mid-assignment. I am considering not getting another car once I return my current one, because it doesn’t make much sense to have one as a traveling nurse practitioner. As much as I love my current car and bringing as much stuff as can fit in the car, driving long distances seems less and less attractive to me.
So instead of asking for mileage, I had the site provide me with a flight and rental car. If I decide not to get another car after I return my current one, I will just continue to obtain rental cars for work. When I am home, I can always borrow my parents’ car since they live abroad, or even rent one if I will be there for a short period of time.
I realized taking a flight to Maine was going to limit how much of my belongings I could bring. I was a bit stressed during the packing phase because I hadn’t taken the flight option since my Washington assignment several years ago. It ended up working out, as I like to pretend I am a minimalist.
When I picked up my rental car, I was hoping I wouldn’t end up with a compact hatchback. Fortunately, the rental car agency upgraded me to a small sport SUV. Since I would be renting it for 3 months, they gave me the newest car they had so that it wouldn’t need any maintenance.
Prior to coming I looked at my housing options. Being 1 hour north of Portland, Maine, I didn’t see any apartment options. I began to be nervous when all I could find were cabins in the woods for rent. Being a city girl, this wasn’t going to work for me. I talked to my recruiter about it and she let me know that the site had actually rented out a house for me and sent me some pictures which seemed fine.
The house turned out to be pretty big for just me. It is 2 bedrooms and 1 bath with an entire basement downstairs, and an entire finished attic upstairs. It also has a big screened in front porch and a detached 2 car garage. The house came completely furnished, with all essentials, from bed linen to dishes. The best part of the house is it’s across the street from the clinic so I can actually walk to work!
An added bonus is that they allow employees to use their brand new cardiac rehab gym at the hospital (which is across the street from me) after hours. So I often have the gym to myself when I go after work.
