When Tess began journey nursing in 2015, the journey was actual. New cities, new hospitals, new mountain ranges to discover on her days off. However behind the spotlight reel, one thing vital was lacking.
“Each three to 6 months I packed up and moved into one more residence,” she says. “Furnished with different folks’s issues, crammed with recollections that weren’t mine. I beloved the journey of journey nursing, however deep down, I by no means felt like I had a real house.”
Like loads of journey healthcare staff, she was effectively paid and continually in movement—however all the time sliding into another person’s house.
Discovering Van Life as a Journey Nurse
In 2017, Tess moved to Denver to coach as an working room nurse. Sooner or later on the climbing fitness center, a stranger casually talked about that his dream was to reside in a van.
That night time, she did what loads of us do: fell headfirst into the van life rabbit gap—YouTube builds, tiny house layouts, journey nurse van excursions. For the primary time, she noticed a model of journey healthcare the place house strikes with you.
The First Rig: A Nissan, a Cot, and a Lot of Coronary heart
Not lengthy after, Tess purchased a Nissan NV2500—her first van.
“I used to be decided to construct it myself as a result of YouTube made it look really easy,” she laughs. “Spoiler alert: I shortly discovered I used to be a greater nurse than a contractor.”
As a substitute of ready for an ideal construct, she threw a cot and a folding chair within the again and began taking weekend journeys into the Rockies.
“It wasn’t fancy, however it was mine. I didn’t need to wait to make use of the van. I’d simply end a shift, drive into the mountains, and sleep below the celebs.”
Turning a Cargo Van right into a Actual (Easy) Dwelling
She took out a small mortgage and employed an organization in Fort Collins to do a primary construct:
“It wasn’t fancy: plywood, a six-gallon water tank with a pump sink, and a mini fridge. However it was mine—and it was way more snug than that cot and chair.”
Her house was small, however her world was large: mountain cities, ski resorts, nationwide forests—and no leases.
“I bought to expertise a few of the greatest ski mountains within the U.S.—Tahoe, Utah, Colorado—not from lodge rooms or costly residences, however from parking within the locations I needed to be.”
Hitting Pause…and Realizing What She Missed
When the pandemic hit, Tess moved again into an residence in Denver after years on the highway.
“As good because it was to have a gentle place, I stored craving for the mountains,” she says. “By 30, I used to be financially steady and determined I deserved to deal with myself to one thing I had all the time dreamed of—a ‘fancy van.’”
The primary construct had been sufficient to show the life-style. Now she needed consolation: warmth, a bathroom, extra room for Teva, and finishes that felt like an actual house.
Leveling As much as a Drifter Customized Coach
This time, Tess wasn’t simply searching for “a van.” She needed a coachbuilt Class B motorhome—a real customized coach designed round how she lives as a journey nurse.
“I’d confirmed to myself that I might reside in a van,” she says. “Now I needed one thing that felt like an actual house and never only a intelligent setup behind a cargo van.”
She known as Drifter Vans and selected the Wanderer Layout as her start line.
“The Wanderer format simply made sense for a way I exploit a van,” Tess explains. “I wanted an actual mattress I didn’t must rebuild each night time, an area to prepare dinner respectable meals, and room for my gear and my canine. That was my non-negotiable checklist.”
From there, every part turned coachbuilt—a customized Class B constructed round the way in which she strikes via a day:
A fastened mattress sized so she and Teva can stretch out after lengthy shifts or ski days
A kitchen with actual counter house and an Isotherm fridge, so she will be able to prepare dinner as a substitute of residing on takeout between contracts
Good storage for ski gear and outside stuff, so nothing finally ends up piled on the mattress
A correct rest room and warmth, so winter assignments in mountain cities really feel like an invite, not a punishment
What stunned her most wasn’t the methods—however the design course of.
“Working with the inside design group was an enormous a part of it,” Tess says. “They didn’t simply ask what colours I favored. They requested the place I sit with my laptop computer, how typically I prepare dinner, the place the canine sleeps, how I transfer after I’m preparing for a 6 a.m. shift. Each cupboard, each cushion, each gentle change is the place it’s as a result of I truly use it.”
From materials that might deal with a moist canine to lighting scenes that shift from “charting after work” to “winding down within the mountains,” the Wanderer turned greater than a format. It turned a custom Class B coach that displays who she is.
“With my first van, I made my life match the construct,” she says. “With this one, the construct suits my life.”
Life Now: Journey Healthcare, 49 States, and a Actual Sense of Dwelling
At this time, Tess and Teva have turned that van right into a life.
“Since then, we’ve pushed throughout the nation three or 4 instances, visited 49 states, and constructed a life the place house is all the time with us,” she says.
As a substitute of juggling leases and deposits between contracts, she brings her house alongside:
“I don’t fear about hire, and I can keep in locations that will in any other case be too costly. I get up on the facet of a mountain watching the dawn, espresso in hand, canine curled up beside me.”
For a journey nurse who spent years in borrowed areas, the largest change is inner.
“Van life gave me freedom, flexibility, and luxury—however most significantly, it gave me a way of house.”
What Tess Desires Different Journey Nurses to Know
Her story didn’t begin with a six-figure construct. It began with a stranger’s offhand remark, a used van, and a cot.
“It began with a stranger telling me it was attainable,” she says. “Then an empty van with only a cot. And now, years later, I reside the life I as soon as thought was only a dream.”
For different journey nurses or journey healthcare staff desirous about van life, her message is straightforward:
“You don’t have to attend till every part is ideal to start out. Step one could be uncomfortable, even humbling, however that’s the place the journey begins.”
When you’re transferring from contract to contract, all the time in another person’s house, Tess’s story is a reminder: generally probably the most steady “house base” for a journey nurse isn’t an residence in any respect. It’s a van that goes all over the place you do.
Let’s Get You Transferring within the Proper Course
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