CRYSTAL STRAUB, RN, and husband, Tom, reflect on the mobile lifestyle.

Geography is our first consideration when choosing an assignment. Once we know where we want to venture, I just call my recruiter at Wilton, Connecticut-based Onward Healthcare to find a contract.

Occasionally, we head home to New Orleans where I'm fortunate to have a position waiting for me at Tulane University anytime I want it. My son, Nathan, lives in The Crescent City with his wife and four children. So, sometimes I return there just for a chance to visit.

Favorite companion

Tom travels with me always. He jokes that my staffing company's housing stipend pays his salary as my live-in chauffeur. He's a carpenter, plumber, electrician, and mechanic. So, he never has trouble finding work when we change locations. Sometimes, he works at the RV campgrounds where we stay; sometimes, he performs work for people I meet at the hospital. Someone always seems to say, "Gee, I wish I knew someone who could fix my sink and change my brakes." Tom is great about helping these folks out—often for free.

As much as I love traveling, I wouldn't do it without Tom. I know I'd miss him too much. It's so fun sharing all the new experiences, different cultures, and amazing scenery with my husband. Of course, I make many friends on the road, too. I've found that a 13-week assignment is just perfect for me. It's enough time to make good friends, but not so long that it's too difficult to leave.

Right where I'm supposed to be

Often, I feel a divine hand in the friendships I make. I remember one woman I worked with on an assignment at Carillion-Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia. We engaged in polite conversation, and she revealed that her son had recently committed suicide. Over the weeks, we became close friends, and I believe that I was sent there specifically to help her through her difficult time. That's why I don't plan my travels too far in advance. I know it's never a coincidence when I end up in a certain place. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be for a reason.

In fact, one of my goals is to work on disaster relief efforts. Coming from New Orleans, I know how desperately nurses are needed after hurricanes and earthquakes. Recently, after Hurricane Gustav made landfall, my staffing company posted a message on its website asking anyone who was available for immediate departure to consider providing relief services. I wasn't free at the time, but I hope I'll be able to lend a hand when future needs arise.

Travel by design

In my free time, I love to sightsee and explore my surroundings, but my real passion is for interior decorating. Traveling to different parts of the country has opened my eyes to different regional styles of architecture and design. It's wonderful to immerse myself in Victorian style for a few months and then change to something else like Spanish mission technique.

Tom and I have renovated three houses over the years, and the entire inside of our RV is redone. Living in our fifth-wheel has taught us how to downsize. I'm proud that I can be packed and ready to leave with only an hour's notice. When we retire, I think we'll just live in a nice log cabin —one I don't have to renovate—on a lake somewhere. Until then, I'll just keep moving wherever the good Lord takes me and give thanks that I have a career that allows me to be there for the ones I love.

As told to Julie Anne Eason, freelance writer, by Crystal Straub, RN, a med/surg and orthopedics nurse on assignment with Onward Healthcare, a staffing company located in Wilton, Connecticut.