How Travel Therapy Transforms Lives and Careers with Aaron Bowe

#170 - Ever wondered what it would be like to turn your healthcare career into an adventure? Aaron Bowe transforms this dream into reality as a traveling physical therapist who has crafted a nomadic lifestyle that combines professional growth with unforgettable experiences across America's most breathtaking landscapes.

Aaron reveals the unexpected financial benefits of travel therapy that most healthcare professionals never discover. With 60-70% of his income coming from untaxed housing and meal stipends, he's accelerating student loan payoff while experiencing more of life than his permanently-placed colleagues. This arrangement doesn't just make financial sense—it opens doors to experiences most people only dream about.

The conversation takes us across the country from the foggy coastline of Seaside, Oregon to the tropical shores of Maui, where Aaron learned to spearfish, and remote Alaska, where local fishermen shared their hard-earned knowledge. Each location transformed him in unexpected ways, challenging him to embrace new activities and perspectives. Together with his wife (an occupational therapist) and sister-in-law (a speech therapist), this "Travel Therapy Trio" has mastered the art of negotiating contracts, finding housing, and maximizing both adventure and income.

What's particularly fascinating is Aaron's perspective on how this lifestyle shapes identity. "We have gotten into so many activities that we never would have done if we weren't traveling," he explains, describing how moving every few months eliminates the intimidation of trying new things. This continuous growth and openness to experience has fundamentally changed how he approaches life.

Whether you're a healthcare professional curious about alternative career paths or simply someone who dreams of more adventure, Aaron's journey demonstrates that with careful planning, you can transform your career into something that nourishes both your bank account and your soul. Curious about combining purpose with adventure? This conversation might just be the permission slip you need to take the leap.

To learn more about Aaron check out his website www.traveltherapytrio.com and give him a follow on Instagram @traveltherapytrio.

Want to be a guest on Journey with Jake? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/journeywithjake 

Visit LandPirate.com to get your gear that has you, the adventurer, in mind.  Use the code "Journey with Jake" to get an additional 15% off at check out.

Visit geneticinsights.co and use the code "DISCOVER25" to enjoy a sweet 25% off your first purchase.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What if your job let you explore the country and make
a difference every day?
Today, on Journey with Jake,I'm joined by Aaron Bowe, a
traveling physical therapistwho's turned his career into an
adventure.
From the challenges of life onthe road to the deeper reasons
behind his journey, aaron shareswhat it really takes to thrive
in the world of travelhealthcare.
Let's dive in with Aaron Bowe.

(00:21):
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
This is a podcast aboutadventure and how, through our
adventures, we can overcome thechallenges of life that come our
way.
While I expect you will learnsome things about different
adventures, this show willentertain you.
Each episode will feature adifferent guest or guests, as
they share experiences andstories from the different
adventures they have been on.
Not only will you beentertained, but you'll also

(00:44):
hear the failures and trialseach guest faces and what they
have done or are doing toovercome the hardships that come
their way.
My goal is to take each of uson a journey through the
experiences of my guests, withthe hope that you'll be
entertained and inspired toovercome your day-to-day
challenges.
After all, it's not all aboutthe destination as it is about

(01:05):
the journey.
Before we dive in, just a quickreminder to follow Journey with
Jake on your favorite podcastplatform so you never miss an

(01:26):
episode.
You can also find me onInstagram at Journey with Jake
Podcast for behind the scenesclips and more inspiring stories
.
Today's guest, aaron Bowe, ispart of the Travel Therapy Trio,
a group of adventuroushealthcare professionals who've
taken their therapy careers onthe road therapy careers on the
road.
Erin shares not only what ittakes to thrive in the world of

(01:46):
travel therapy, but also the whybehind it all and the
unexpected adventures that comewith a life lived on the move.
And if you enjoyed thisconversation, be sure to check
out episode 132 with DanielleKiesling.
Her work in the beauty industryhas taken her around the globe
and her journey is anotherpowerful reminder of how passion
and profession can lead toincredible places.
All right On to my conversationwith Aaron Bowe, all right.

(02:09):
Well, I'm excited I have AaronBowe with me on the show today.
Aaron, welcome to Journey withJake.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Thank you, Jake.
Nice to meet you.
I appreciate it.
I'm happy to be on.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, thanks, I'm glad to have you here as well.
You're a traveling therapistand that something about that
caught my attention.
I thought, okay, I do anadventure podcast.
There's something abouttraveling for your work and, you
know, getting on differentcontracts at different places.
I thought would be interesting.
We're definitely going to diveinto that and what you do and
why you got involved and allthat sort of thing.

(02:39):
Before we do that, though,aaron, I always like to know
just a little bit about you,kind of where you're from, who
you are, a little bit about yourfamily.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
If you don't mind, kind of tell me a little bit
about Aaron.
I'm a traveling physicaltherapist, but I grew up on the
west side of Washington State.
I'm from Issaquah, washington.
It's a little bit moremountainous and kind of forestry
is where I'm from, but it'svery still close to Seattle For
us.
We were able to get to Seattlegrowing up if we wanted to, but
it was kind of nice to be on theoutskirts a little bit away
from it as well.

(03:10):
With that in mind, I spent mostof my life in Washington State,
and then I even went to collegeon the east side of the state,
over at Gonzaga, which mostpeople have probably heard of
from a basketball standpointmore than anything else.
And then physical therapyrequires us to get our doctorate
degrees.
Now I went to school all theway out in Virginia.
Up until that point, though, Ihad only lived in Washington,

(03:33):
and then I ended up as almost asfar away as you can get from
Washington State, going to gradschool out in Virginia.
Hopefully that gives you alittle bit of background about
kind of where I grew up, maybewhy I ended up into the
traveling realm of thingsanyways, because I was sort of
forced to move so far away inthe first place.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, no, that's interesting because I thought
you know you're going to say, oh, I traveled all the time.
I've always wanted to travel.
You know, that's kind of whoyou were.
Maybe there was some of thatBefore we dive into that a
little bit.
Grew up in Washington, went toGonzaga Family life big family,
small family what's kind of thesituation there?

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Most of my family is either or at that time growing
up most of my family was eitheron the west side of the state or
on the east side of the statein Spokane.
So I did have family on bothsides of the state and pretty
big family Grew up really closeto my cousins.
I only have my little sisterand so it's a family of four
with us and, like I said, bigfamily of cousins, and it's

(04:30):
about a four hour drive so wewould visit often with our
bigger groups of family members.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Okay.
So you went to Gonzaga.
That's where you got yourundergrad, is that correct?
Okay, and then you went toVirginia to get to further
education.
So you said I didn't know thisphysical therapists are required
to get their doctorate.
I didn't realize that.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Within the last I'm not sure how many years exactly,
but the program moved to adoctorate degree for all
physical therapists.
So you have any new graduatingtherapists are going to be
doctorates, but back in the daymost were required to get a
master's and if you go evenfurther back it was a bachelor's
program.
Of course anyone'sgrandfathered into it Not to get

(05:11):
too much in depth with kind ofthe specifics of that but
doctorates now for physicaltherapy are more intended to
give an extra year for researchor different clinical studies.
But PT that holds a bachelor'sor a master's is no less
knowledgeable than a doctoratephysical therapist.
So that's kind of the reason Imentioned that is, that a

(05:32):
doctorate of PT isn't that theywent through more education
necessarily, like they didn'tfurther their education to
become a therapist.
They did what's required of usnow.
But interestingly I shouldmention because you did say you
know I traveled out to Virginiaand I hadn't done a lot of
traveling before that my familydid travel up and down the West

(05:52):
Coast every now and then.
We spent a lot of time inSeaside, oregon growing up, and
then sometimes we'll go down toSan Diego or up to Canada, but
we didn't do a lot of travelingacross the States and my
girlfriend at the time but mywife now drove with me when I
went off to Virginia because herprogram that she ended up going

(06:14):
to was in Las Vegas, mine wasin Virginia and that's when we
kind of found out we wereinterested in traveling is
because we hadn't been todifferent national parks, we
hadn't been to different Statesand within like a week and a
half of driving we had seen allthese things we had never seen
before.
You know, we went to Custerstate park in the Dakotas and we

(06:37):
went and saw.
We went to Yellowstone and theGrand Tetons.
We stayed a couple of nights inChicago and a couple nights in
Nashville.
That was all back to back toback.
Then, after spending years in asmall town in Virginia, which I
appreciated for differentreasons, I thought, wow, I
really do miss seeing all thesedifferent national parks and

(07:00):
different regions of the countrythat are so unique.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
I love that.
I love the fact that you wereable to get out and kind of see
things just as you were on yourway to go to school.
You know you're on your way towork, so to speak, getting
finished up your schooling, justall the things you've seen.
It kind of broadened yourhorizons a little bit.
I kind of want to go back alittle bit before that, though.
Why physical therapy?
What made you interested inthat?

Speaker 2 (07:23):
I would say probably 90% of PTs can point to some
injury they had at some pointthat led them to go through
physical therapy sessions andkind of pique some interest in
the profession.
For me, sure that's part of it.
When I was younger and I was arunner, I had a stress fracture
and I thought it was aninteresting profession.
But more so I think part of whyI got into physical therapy was

(07:47):
because I was interested inrehabilitation and strengthening
.
Already.
Then I found out that PTs havethe ability to work in so many
different settings and so Ishadowed in undergrad.
I shadowed a home healthphysical therapist and an
outpatient therapist and anacute care therapist.
I realized, wow, I could doalmost anything with this.
I could, I could work in anysetting and at the time I hadn't

(08:11):
thought I could work anywhere.
But the combination of beingable to work anywhere and in any
setting, kind of they theycompliment each other really
well.
If you're, you know, if you'reopen to working anywhere, you
can take any setting.
If you're open to working inany setting, it kind of opens
you up to a lot more jobopportunities across the States.

(08:31):
And that's speaking as aphysical therapist, I guess,
directly.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
So how, okay you.
You traveled to Virginia andthought, okay, I enjoy this
traveling, I enjoy seeing things, I got to see some national
parks, you got to hit Chicagoand Nashville, some great cities
, things like that.
How did it evolve into okay, Iwant to be a travel therapist.
And how did you even know thatthere was such a thing?
I guess I've heard of travelingnurses.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Right and it actually .
If you think of travel nursing,it's essentially the same.
You're filling in a temporaryneed.
Usually, it could be thatthey're just looking to hire a
permanent employee, but it couldbe that someone's on maternity
leave or they just lost someone.
They ended up moving, so theyneed a temporary fill.
I'll be completely honestTravel therapy also is more

(09:17):
lucrative than permanent therapyand far more lucrative as a
travel therapist and I foundthis out probably two or three
years into my program fromspeaking to another travel
therapist.
If it not only makes you moremoney and you can pay down your
student loans faster and allowsyou to see different areas of

(09:38):
the country.
At the time I remember talkingto my again my wife presently,
but my girlfriend at the timeI'm like we could both do this.
We could.
This would be something.
We could pair up cities andpair up contracts and we could
work anywhere in the country.
My interest from a financialstandpoint and from just kind of
an adventure standpoint, and Ihave so many unique thoughts on

(10:00):
it because I never thought Iwould do it for as long as I now
plan to.
We've been traveling for almost, I'd say, about four years now,
and each medical contract isusually around three months, and
some other contracts can be alot longer.
School contracts, for example,are full school years, usually.
With that in mind, four yearsto a travel therapist is a long

(10:23):
time of traveling.
I know of travelers who havetraveled for seven, eight years,
and that usually caps it,because at that point a lot of
people are thinking if I'm goingto start a family, it would be
hard to move Because, unliketraveling for fun, you're
actually moving to each of theseplaces and staying there for a
prolonged period of time.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah exactly, it's not just recreation.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Right, and as someone without kids and without pets,
I imagine it's more challengingwith kids and pets, especially
childcare or if they're inschool and have friends.
So I do think there's a hardstop to it with us eventually.
In the meantime, it's beenincredible, it's awesome.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
So you keep mentioning us, which you're
talking about, your wife.
Stop to it with us eventually.
In the meantime, it's beenincredible, it's awesome.
So you keep saying you keepmentioning us, which you're
talking about, your wife.
So she's a therapist as well,not a physical therapist, though
.
What's her kind of?
What's her background?
Did you meet her at Gonzaga?
Is that where you met her?
That's correct.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
I met her our sophomore year at Gonzaga.
She's an occupational therapist.
Occupational therapists will,in medical settings, work a lot
on fine motor skills In thesettings that she works in, or,
sorry, fine motor skills andfunctional activities,
activities of daily living.
In the school setting, which isthe setting that she works in.

(11:40):
A lot of times she will workwith children who have sensory
issues or, again, handwriting,fine motor stuff.
You can imagine a lot of kidswith autism or Down syndrome or
other diagnoses that wouldimpact their participation in
the school setting.
Since you brought that up, Ishould mention too that we

(12:00):
travel with my sister-in-law aswell, who's a traveling speech
therapist and she also works inthe school settings only Wow.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Okay, so it's the three of you you, your wife,
your sister-in-law.
Physical therapist,occupational therapist, speech
therapist all different things,all therapists.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
And all encompassing the therapy realm.
That's correct.
That's kind of an anomaly.
And all encompassing thetherapy realm that's correct.
That's kind of an anomaly andit's actually more often new
grads in therapy are able tostart traveling.
That's part of why, as a team,we tend to mentor different new
grad therapists and explain tothem what situations would be
appropriate for them to travelin, and a lot of it is.

(12:41):
You have to feel that you'recompetent in your skillset.
I will note that therapistsphysical therapists,
occupational therapists, speechtherapists all have clinicals or
a period of their educationwhere they're handling caseloads
under supervision, but a lot oftimes handling it under
supervision, mostlyindependently.

(13:03):
With that in mind, if yougraduate and you've done your
clinicals and you know you canhandle an eight patient or 10
patient per day caseload, it'stotally appropriate for you to
start travel therapy.
You should be sure to ask theright questions in an interview
to make sure that they're goingto at least onboard you a little
bit.
But my first contract was verychallenging.

(13:25):
I had five new evaluations onmy first day as a new grad and
as a new travel therapist.
I had a new documentationsystem and five evaluations on
my first day.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
Okay, I want to know where was your first assignment,
where did you?
Where was the first place thatyou traveled to right out of
college?

Speaker 2 (13:42):
I was at a clinic setting called Renew Physical
Therapy.
They're located in the Bay Area.
They have, I think, five or sixdifferent clinics, at least at
the time when I worked there.
And I worked in Novato,california, which is a bit north
of the Bay, and I also worked acouple of days a week in Mill

(14:04):
Valley, which is very like rightnorth of San Francisco on the
other side of the Golden GateBridge.
I lived in several differentplaces.
I was very new to the field soI wasn't as good at the time
about auditing different placesI would live at.
And as a new grad I was moreconcerned about cost than

(14:25):
anything else.
And my wife my girlfriend atthe time was still in school.
She wasn't traveling with me, Iwas by myself, just kind of.
A couple interesting things thathappened were the first place I
was at was a shared room in ahouse and the landlord decided
not to pay for all the utilitiesand we ran out of warm water

(14:51):
and she said I could just go geta gym membership and shower
there.
So I moved out and this was onlyfour weeks into my contract.
And then the second room in ahouse I lived in, the family was
actively trying to reconcile adivorce and there was fighting
and very awkward, and so I movedout again and ended up getting
a studio in Novato that wasbeautiful and just had a great

(15:12):
view of kind of the hillside.
It just was a learningexperience, of course, because
now my wife and I you know a lotof our contracts we've traveled
with Lauren, my sister-in-lawas well We'll get a bigger place
and I'll split the expenses.
But even if we get separateplaces, we still get independent
structures or at least privateentrances and our own living

(15:36):
space to each their own.
But with the experiences I had,I can't share a living space
again.
I feel like I've maybe ran outof my bad luck with it, but I
don't want to test it.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay.
So this is what I love, becausethese are these experiences
that you get.
It's only helped you because,especially with what you're
doing now, trying to help others, you've got a wealth of
experience now.
But let's go back to that dayone.
You've got five new evaluations.
I'm not a physical therapist.
I'm not a physical therapist,I'm not a doctor, but as far as
I understand it, that means it'sfive new patients that you got
to try to figure out what'sgoing on and how to work with

(16:08):
them.
Is that correct?
Am I thinking that right?

Speaker 2 (16:10):
And it was challenging.
But the company was verysupportive.
But you're correct, and therewere other PTs that helped me
figure out the documentation andthe best approach.
Being completely fair to thatcompany, they let me know that
they weren't looking to hire anew graduate and I essentially
had to convince them that Icould handle the caseload.
It wasn't as if they were opento it and they wanted to just

(16:33):
give me a challenge.
They were saying you're the onethat agreed you could do this,
so come in and do it.
You said you're ready to go.
Part of the agreement was I hadto be ready to roll on day one
and they weren't going to do anytraining.
It was they were going to showme my desk and show me the
system and then go.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Wow, okay, when you got there and that happened, you
know where you're like okay,here it is, you're going to be
going.
You knew that going into it Wasthere.
Still, did you have any kind offears or hesitation?
After day one, were you callingup your, your wife and her
name's Gracie, right, your wife.
Were you calling her up andbeing like, what am I doing?
Like, what was that like?

Speaker 2 (17:09):
day one.
Oh yeah, it was terrifying.
I felt like how am I going todo this job?
I'm not going to be able tokeep up with this.
And for two or three weeks Istruggled to.
It was very challenging.
But part of the trade-off was Idid it because I knew it would
kind of opened the door forhigher pay.
I knew I wasn't going tocompromise the pay as a new grad

(17:29):
.
Then there was room fornegotiation in all future
contracts.
I could never say, yeah, Istill need a ramp up period.
I can say, look, I've alreadyhave done a full K.
I started on day one.
I was ready to go.
Yes, it was kind of difficultto get my bearings at first, but
it paid off in the long run forsure.
And a lot of new grads make thatmistake where they will say,

(17:50):
yeah, I'll take lower pay if Iget training in the setting.
The thing is in travel therapythere's a need that needs to be
filled and they pay site willpay a bill rate to the travel
company and out of that billrate the travel company keeps a
percentage and the therapistgets a percentage.
Now, that is true regardless ofif you're a new grad or not.

(18:12):
So it's not beneficial for youto say I'll take less because
they're still going to build asite, the same amount, they're
just going to keep more.
The only reason I would evertell a therapist to take a
little bit less is if they'rereally unsure in the setting.
They really do need thetraining and the facility is
offering substantial training.

(18:32):
I'm not going to take less payand you still start me on day
one.
The same.
Maybe for me in the future Icould see myself taking less pay
if it was a very niche orunique setting like a pediatric
hospital or something where,yeah, I really don't feel that
comfortable here.
I would be happy to take alittle less initially, but only

(18:54):
during like a ramp up periodwhere they're having to provide
resources to train me.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Okay, so you take this first contract, the Bay
Area, a little bit outside ofthe Bay Area how long was that
first contract for for you?

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Usually medical contracts are set up at three
months.
But I will say, a lot of timesthe company can extend you.
Let's say they have a plan tohire someone but they haven't
yet.
They can say I would like toextend you, are you willing to
stay for a few more months?
And with the pay I had secured,and of course, by three months,
I'm actually really starting tofeel okay there.

(19:28):
I can handle the caseload justfine.
I say sure and I extend it fourmore months.
So I stayed seven months inNovato, which is a decent amount
of time for an outpatienttravel contract.
My wife was still in school forthree more months after that,
getting her occupational therapydegree, so she visited me once

(19:52):
or twice when I was in Novato.
My sister-in-law wasn'ttraveling at the time, she was
just working in a permanentspeech clinic.
After Novato I took a job inSeaside, oregon, which was my
family's favorite town to visitand vacation growing up, and so
I took a summer job there forthree months at another clinic,

(20:12):
and that was incredible.
My wife stayed with me there ina house right within walking
distance of the beach andstudied for her boards and ended
up taking her boards in Oregon.
So one weekend we drove outthere and she took her boards
and became licensed, you know,right towards the end of my
travel PT contract in Oregon.

(20:33):
So it was a very uniquesituation where you know she's
looking to get licensed soon.
I'm doing a temporary contractthere, but we're both living it
up anytime we can because it'sand the beauty there was I was
working four tens, I would workfour 10-hour days and then get
to explore.
The greatest, I think, lessonwas that you don't experience a

(20:56):
place the same when you visit it, even growing up, as you do
when you live there for evenseveral months and especially if
you can live there for up to ayear.
You know we joke about thethings we recommend by the end
of a year is always waydifferent than what we recommend
at the beginning.
We'll get visitors after twomonths and we're like, yeah,

(21:17):
check out this coffee stand, orlike you should really go to
this restaurant.
And then eight months laterwe're like, oh my God, that
wasn't even that, wasn't eventhat good.
That's just what we thought andwe had no idea.
I think about this.
In anywhere we travel to, we'relooking up recommendations and
most, a lot of therecommendations are from
tourists.
Do tourists necessarily knowwhat the best place to go is, or

(21:38):
do they know what they've heardfrom other tourists?
Of course, that could be thesame for us too, but a lot of
I'm sure a lot of what werecommend are things we've seen
and then we were like oh yeah,we'll try that out.
But, like I said, when we'resomewhere for 10 months to a
year, it's really a differentfeel for knowing the area.
We're not locals, but wedefinitely don't feel like

(22:01):
tourists at that point.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
No, I would definitely say you're kind of in
that middle ground of betweenbeing permanent and being just a
visitor.
For sure know it's a goodamount of time to live there and
kind of get acquainted withsomewhere.
That's kind of what my nextquestion was going to be, Cause
I did kind of want to ask aboutwhen you're looking at your next
assignment or your nextcontract.
Is it more about thedestination or the work itself,
or a combination of both?

Speaker 2 (22:22):
It's a more of a combination.
Grace and Lauren, travel OT andTravel SLP only work in schools
right, so it narrows down theiroptions and there may be 60
school OT jobs that travelacross the country, versus
myself, who works in any setting, especially if it's a new

(22:45):
setting and I can get someguidance in it.
I'll work in any setting, butI've actively already worked in
either four or five settingsWith that in mind.
They get the jobs first andthen I look for jobs in the area
after.
We have been very particularabout location more than
anything else.
So that's what we've done fromthe start is we've picked our

(23:08):
top places we really want tolive in or places we really want
to check out, sometimes placeswe wouldn't want to live in,
that we just really want toexplore and we know we'll never
live there.
That's the type of location wemight look into also.
A good background is.
So I spent time north of theBay Area.
I went to coastal Oregon andSeaside, which anyone who's been

(23:30):
there knows it is like thequaintest little.
It is such a great town to bein in the summer.
I just loved it.
I was, I was crabbing, I wasclam digging, I was, you know,
do everything I.
Everything you can think of bythe ocean is just, it was
perfect.
Then we head over to Ventura,california, which is again kind
of a nice peaceful, beachy town.
I had jobs there all the way toVentura, california, which is

(23:51):
again kind of a nice peaceful,beachy town.
I had jobs there all the wayfrom Ventura to Calabasas, so up
and down down the coast and wegot to experience all the areas
around there.
Then we went to Maui for a year, which is obviously very
destination based and the paywas lower substantially.
A lot of people don't understandthat with travel therapy is
that a more desirable locationisn't going to, or a more

(24:13):
expensive location, especially,isn't going to pay more.
If it's more expensive and it'sdesirable, other therapists are
likely to take it for less.
We were lucky we really couldleverage our negotiation because
we were traveling with morethan one of us.
Yes, they could get a random PT, maybe to take a little bit
less, but it's unlikely.
They could get a PT, ot andspeech therapist to all work

(24:35):
this contract and sign them allon at once.
So, as advice to travelers, ifyou can even I won't say you
should pretend to, but if youcan at least link up with other
travelers and say let's go takea contract here If you are
interested in working at thesame facilities and they have
more than one opening.
You have leverage.
You have negotiating power as agroup or even as just a couple.

(25:00):
We can touch more on this ifyou're interested in it.
But from Maui to super remoteAlaska for me, I took a break
from Maui because my job wasdone as we hit summer.
The girls both had a jobthrough the summer, so I went to
Alaska while they stayed inHawaii for two more months and

(25:20):
then we all met up in Monterey,california, for the next
contracts.
So we've stayed pretty WestCoast, but our plans are to keep
expanding out over to the EastCoast and other states in the
next coming years.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
This is fascinating to me just hearing where you've
been, what you're doing.
I love the fact, too, that youwent Hawaii to Alaska.
That's the opposite places.
They're both the two statesthat aren't connected to the
mainland.
It's amazing.
Alaska, I think of cold, andyou know that kind of thing.

(25:53):
You fishing too, in maui,obviously, but different type,
you know for sure.
So I think that's pretty neat.
Have you had any when you'retraveling and you're in these
different spots you're in maui,you're in monterey, you're in
seaside oregon have you had anymoments where you're like this
is why I do this, this is whyI'm a traveling therapist, and
whether that's because of whereyou're at in the location, or

(26:17):
maybe you had a particularpatient or you know
professionally as well, anymoments like that you could
share?

Speaker 2 (26:22):
for us looking back, not as particular moments, but
kind of when we, when we seekind of who we are today versus
when we started.
We have gotten into so manyactivities that we never would
have done if we weren'ttraveling.
I think of Maui as a greatexample, when I I tried to pick
up surfing.
I kind of got into it, but thenI got into spearfishing and I

(26:45):
got into kayak fishing.
Anytime I had free time I didthat instead and I I could not
anytime.
I thought free time, I did thatinstead and I could not anytime
.
I thought you know, I could gosurfing right now.
I thought I could also gofishing right now typically.
And spearfishing for me was so,so fun because it's just
adrenaline and it's strategy andit requires a lot of endurance.

(27:07):
But kayak fishing they call itmy buddy out in Hawaii, uncle
Gil, calls it a Hawaiian sleighride, because if you hook a big
enough fish it'll kind of pullthe kayak and it'll just take
you around.
In Monterey all three of us gotinterested and started taking
tennis lessons and picked it up.
And it's way less intimidatingwhen you're in a new place
because you don't feel likeyou're going to run into an old

(27:29):
friend and they see you suckingat tennis and all of a sudden
you're like, oh yeah, this isawkward.
I, yeah, I'm trying tennis forthe first time.
I think you know for the mostpart we wouldn't care about that
anyways back home.
But we never would have said,you know, we should start trying
to pick up tennis.
We lived blocks like one blockfrom the tennis club that was
kind of an outdoor tennis clubin Monterey.

(27:51):
We said you know what, let'sjust go one day and just see
what it's like.
And it was so laid back andthey were super nice to us and
we got very into it and I wouldsay now we still suck, but just
not as much.
It's cool.
We can hit it back and forth afew times now.
And you know, three years ago,if you said, if I said to myself
you know, you're going to beinto spearfishing and kayak

(28:13):
fishing and tennis.
You know, even in Monterey wesaw people paragliding and I'm
like you know, that kind oflooks interesting.
It's just stuff that you know.
You get kind of stuck with whatyou're used to wherever you
live.
Tourism type activities you'reprobably not going to do,
because that's no, that's fortourists.
Even back in Seattle.
I rarely went into Seattle.

(28:34):
I don't need to see the SpaceNeedle, I don't really want to
go on the Ferris Wheel Like Iit's I grew up seeing that stuff
or Pike Place Market, but whenmy wife would visit we would go
and it was fun.
And so I guess one piece ofadvice I would have is it is
kind of nice to, you know, be atourist every now and then and
and just soak it in, becausetourists do have more fun.

(28:56):
I mean, the one thing aboutthem is, even if they can be
irritating, they're having fundoing it for sure.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Such a good point you bring up because you know I
thought of that and you thinkyou do.
You get settled into this placeand you just kind of get into
your routine and you're justkind of settled.
Now, obviously you have acertain routine because you're
working, you're getting paid todo what you're doing.
Did you find the balance hardor was it easy to kind of say,
okay, I can go explore becauseit's new?

(29:23):
Did you ever have any conflictthere between actually getting
your job done and getting outexploring and being adventurous?

Speaker 2 (29:31):
I think it's important to be able to set
aside time to enjoy the area.
Some of my contracts arecertainly harder than others.
There's some that I come homeand I feel so clear-headed and
I'm just ready to I could go ona run or something.
And then other contracts I comehome and I don't feel like I
could even watch TV without over.
Like analyzing, you know,depending on how stressful the

(29:54):
job determines, I think, howmuch I do during the weekdays.
But we pretty much always enjoytrying new things and checking
out the local areas on theweekends.
And I guess when you know theit's a temporary contract and
you know you will be moving onfrom it, because for us that's
always the case.
I will say, legally you can'ttravel in one region for more

(30:17):
than a year, not more than ayear in a rolling 24 months.
So you can travel in one regionfor 12 months out of two years.
Then you could come back afteryou let another 12 months go by.
But for that reason and I'lllet you clarify, I saw your look
on your face.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
I got this look like yeah, what's the?
Is it like tax?
Like what's the reason behindthis?
What's the legality of it, ifyou don't mind?

Speaker 2 (30:44):
Yeah, as a travel therapist, most of our income is
untaxed.
I would say, as a traveltherapist, most of our income is
untaxed.
I would say think of it as 60%to 70% is untaxed.
Usually Most of our income ishousing stipends and meal
stipends, which is part of whyit's such a great way to build
up wealth or to pay down studentdebts, which is why we

(31:06):
encourage new grads to get intoit, because there are so many
advantages, let's say, the firstone being that most of your
income is untaxed, the secondone being that, because most of
your income is untaxed, you'rein a lower gross income tax
bracket and so if you're astudent loan borrower which, if

(31:28):
you're a new grad therapist, youare likely a student loan
borrower then you can be in moreof an income-based program.
That's more beneficial for youto pay down the debt too,
because, let's say, you'remaking $120,000 a year as a
travel therapist, but thatincludes all your stipends and
your gross income is $30,000.
That's a huge asset as newgrads.

(31:49):
To be totally honest about it,a lot of therapists carry debt
way further into their careersbecause it is expensive.
Becoming a therapist is notaffordable and permanent
positions don't pay enough totypically pay it down quickly.
Circling back to the legality ofit is you are required to be

(32:12):
away from your tax home.
So my tax home is WashingtonState, seattle area.
My wife and my sister-in-law'stax home is Las Vegas.
We can't travel, I can't take atravel position in Seattle,
they can't take a travelposition in Las Vegas, because
of course that wouldn't be atravel position, that would just
be a local position.
And the reason is your housingstipends are because you're

(32:35):
having to pay expenses back homeand pay expenses in wherever
you're traveling.
To Gotcha that could just beutility expenses or mortgage
expenses or rent, doesn't matter.
I should say, with an asterisk,it matters.
You need to have expenses backhome.
And to where you're travelingto, let's say you decide I

(32:56):
really like Hawaii and Iactually want to just stay in
Maui for two years, you couldsay I'm going to take the second
year of this contract locallyand it'll be fully taxed, or
what some people do is they hopethey don't get audited With
that in mind.
That's why we're prettystringent about when we've been

(33:18):
somewhere a year.
We move on, because the IRSsees that if you've been
somewhere more than a yearyou're not really traveling
anymore, which is true If you'velived somewhere for more than
12 months, you're pretty much aresident at that point.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, you're pretty much considered a car.
Okay, that makes sense.
Thank you, because I'm likewhat?
That's a tricky one.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
That's not something a lot of people know and a lot
of people get into traveltherapy not knowing that, which
can be dangerous.
Good companies and goodrecruiters make that known.
Bad companies and badrecruiters might either not tell
or might not know, because ifyou get audited and you weren't
following those rules, it's notlike the company has to pay any
back taxes or interest on it,it's just you.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
I'm guessing there's got to be some cases where a
therapist will get on the roadand they may get somewhere that
they really like.
The company that they work formay really like them.
They may end up hiring them ona permanent basis and then they
become a resident.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
I'm guessing that's got to happen every now and
again Definitely, and I thinkit's an interesting scenario
because, regardless of what theneed is most I should say not
regardless, but most traveltherapy needs are they're
looking for a permanenttherapist regardless.
Yeah, most places we go they dooffer us a permanent position.
We're not anytime soon planningto accept any, but I have heard
of travelers that do sign on.

(34:35):
As a local, you know, as apermanent employee, it's all
about there's pros and cons.
You know travelers.
I guess the easiest way to putthis is travelers make more
money.
Typically don't get sick timeunless the state mandates it,
like California does.
Like I said, you don't get PTO.

(35:02):
You could get insurance througha company, but a lot of times
the insurance will only be goodwith that company while you're
on contract with them.
So if you have to take a weekoff and then you go to a
different company for your nextjob, you lose insurance between
those contracts.
So as a permanent employee, youcan think of it more as
benefits, 401k matching,potentially paid time off, paid
sick time, less pay.
From our perspective, if you'rea newer grad and you rack up

(35:25):
$150,000 in loans just by goingto grad school, it's probably
more important that you net moreincome quickly and pay that
down than it is that you have.
You know better benefits, butto each their own.
I mean, everyone has adifferent opinion on that and
some contracts I've been at thepermanent employees actually

(35:47):
make almost the same If youaccount for all benefits, if you
account for 401k, matching andsick time and stuff and paid
time off.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
This is just really interesting to me.
Okay, I love how you talkedabout the fact that, playing
tennis in monterey, you'respearfishing in maui, all the
things you're saying that you'vedone.
Adventure that's what comes tomy mind.
Adventure.
So for you, aaron, what doesadventure mean to you?

Speaker 2 (36:12):
I would say adventure is kind of an openness to not
always having a plan and notalways anticipating everything,
because I think that the mostenjoyable things I've done or my
wife and I and my sister-in-lawand all of us have done is the
things that we didn't reallyplan on.
It's things that we justdecided to jump into, the things

(36:34):
that we didn't really plan on.
It's things that we justdecided to jump into.
I even kind of circled back towhen we first drove across the
country to Virginia.
A lot of times we actuallydidn't have planned out where we
were going to stay.
We said, let's see, you know,let's try to get to here, but if
we get tired we'll just get ahotel, we'll get a cheap motel
here, and gosh, we were probablypaying like 60 bucks a night at
these terrible places.

(36:55):
But it was kind of cool to justnot have to worry about.
You know, we, whatever wedecided to do, we were driving.
I mentioned custer state parkbecause we didn't plan on going
there.
We just were driving throughthere.
We're like, oh, we should stopthere and we see all these wild
horses and gazelle sorry,antelope, good lord, uh, we see

(37:17):
antelope and all these differentanimals.
That it was.
So it was so cool and we justit wasn't even on our agenda, we
just were driving through.
And same thing with our nightsin chicago and nashville.
We just kind of got there andwe're like what, what should we
do?
And just looked a couple ofthings up and okay, let's go try
it.
And I would say that kind ofliving our contracts that way.

(37:38):
When I went to Maui I hadn'tplanned on getting into kayak
fishing or spearfishing.
The biggest advice and it'sdifficult as tourists, but the
biggest advice and it's doableis if you can really show locals
that you're interested,especially in locations like
Hawaii and Alaska, that you'reinterested in their culture

(38:00):
genuinely.
And so a good example is inHawaii that might not be
attending a luau, that mightactually be volunteering to help
with some work on the island orjust chatting.
When you see locals chattingwith them about what do you,
what do you recommend, what doyou recommend for this, this or
this?
They are so friendly when youshow interest, when you show

(38:21):
genuine interest.
I had an experience in alaska.
In alaska that was so uniquebecause I really wanted to go
salmon fishing and do well.
I really wanted to go salmonfishing and do.
Well, I really wanted to catchsalmon out there because there
was a river that I could bike to.
That was only three miles or so.
Each way I thought I'll bikethree miles out, I'll catch
salmon, I'll bike back with it.

(38:43):
And the first like 10 days Icaught nothing, nothing, nothing
, nothing.
And I finally talked to one ofmy neighbors and one of my
coworkers who both fish and areboth local natives there.
They said you should try this,you should try this lure.
Do orange, don't do pink, tryorange.
And when I went to buy theorange lure at the local store

(39:06):
there and this is in Nome,alaska, just so you know, this
is so remote and so small theguy asked me who told me to buy
that.
He said who?
Who told you to get that?
And I said, oh, my co-worker.
And he's like oh great, well,have fun.
First cast salmon, bam,immediately.
And I never would have known.
And I caught five that day.

(39:27):
I catch him five a day and I'mgiving some to locals, giving
some to my neighbors, because Idon't need all that much.
They keep a lot throughout thewinter to to them over the
winter.
Then I find out you can keep 10.
I had no idea.
So then I'm catching 10 a dayand I'm you know all of them are
when they're running, they'rerunning.
I remember telling my family Ican catch a salmon on the first

(39:48):
cast and they didn't believe me.
So I set up my camera and Ishowed them.
I'm like, here it is cast andfive seconds in I had a pink
salmon on and just reeled it inthe story that I want to get to.
That was so unique.
My dad visited.
He was one of my only visitorsthere because of how remote it
was.
My dad visited and we decidedto rent a truck and go down to a

(40:09):
river a bit further to catchcoho salmon, some of the bigger
silver salmon.
We got to the river and we didokay.
We're trying to like use salmoneggs and we caught two and it
was fine.
But again, it was a local thattold us to go there and we were.
We were going to catch zero Ifwe kept going to the spot.
We were trying.
We caught two the first day.

(40:29):
The second day we go therewe're catching.
We caught one.
It was kind of spawned out,which means it's kind of turned
into a zombie at that point frombeing in the river for too long
.
We throw it back and a group oflocals come down in a truck and
they line up on the riverbed andthey're just boom, salmon,
salmon, salmon.
Every cast, if not every othercast, but every cast.

(40:50):
I'm like, okay, I got to gotalk to these guys.
So I go up and I'm like, whatare you doing?
They show us how to hook up theeggs onto the hook and we throw
it in and we get one first cast.
So it's not you know, the localsdo know better, but they're
open to showing you most of thetime, as long as you can show
genuine interest and you're notjust in it for personal gain.

(41:10):
The funniest thing about thiswas they go to leave and they go
, hey, do you guys want all thissalmon?
We're like why?
And they say, oh, we're notreally salmon fishing, we're
just taking a break from moosehunting.
Then they go do you want to seeit?
And they show us in the truckand they have a moose in the bed
of the truck.
I'm like these guys that arejust here to go moose hunting

(41:36):
caught did way better than us inthe 30 seconds they were here
than we did all day, justbecause of the knowledge they
had.
So yeah, the moose huntinglocals caught 10 salmon to r2
with with no effort.
It was just hilarious that's.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
That's such a good story and it kind of captures
perfectly kind of what you knowtravel does for, why people like
to be part of the culture, asthey say, wherever you are, even
though you know Alaska is theUnited States.
But that's a different culturefrom what you're used to and
you're you're living part ofthat.
You know how.
How do you think this wholelifestyle of being a travel

(42:06):
therapist, how do you think it'sshaped?
Who you are today?

Speaker 2 (42:09):
I would say it's changed my perspective on the
beauty of different areas,because until you travel, I
think you may not have as goodof an appreciation for how
beautiful it is where you'refrom, and that depends.
Obviously.
Not everyone's going to comeback to their home and be like,
wow, this is more beautiful thanI thought and my wife and my

(42:30):
sister-in-law travel therapy hasshaped us to be way more open
to try and do things, whetherthat's different foods,
different activities.
Nothing is intimidating to us,nothing like there's.
You know, we've we go swimmingwith sharks.
My friend the other day inMonterey was saying you know,
would you try skydiving?
I'm like I don't know, maybeit's just, it's not something

(42:53):
that I ever would have thoughtof.
You know, a lot of theseactivities and the perceptions
that we've shifted are more justabout being open to trying new
things.
Again, the things we recommendat the start are always
different than the things werecommend at the end when we
have visitors, and I thinkthat's really a great sign that

(43:14):
it's important you keep tryingnew things, because if you find
the coffee shop or whatever itis that you like and you stick
with it, you might not know thatthat wasn't even your favorite,
and you just decided to keepkeep going with what you knew.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
I love doing this podcast because I kind of feel
like I'm someone who kind ofgets set in my ways and you kind
of you know I go somewhere andI order the same thing.
I go, that sort of thing.
That's kind of what I do.
When I hear people like you whoare out exploring, seeing
different things, it opens myeyes to like, yeah, hey, even
locally I can.
You know, I'm living, I live inUtah, I can go look around.

(43:46):
I've only been here for fouryears.
There's so much more I haven'teven seen.
But I'm already in that pointof like okay, now I'm kind of
settled in.
I'm just kind of doing the samething over.
So when I talk to people likeyou, it just motivates me and
gets me excited.
So I appreciate you sharing allthis with me.
Here's a question for you.
You kind of you kind of alludedto this earlier.
There might have to come apoint where you know this is
going to have to end.
What do you think?
I mean, what does the futurelook like for you?

(44:08):
Know, you and your wifesettling down?
I mean, what's kind of the, theplans moving forward?

Speaker 2 (44:19):
You know, I'll say our next contract's in San Diego
and we'll be there for a yearand it feels it's different than
what we've done, but it feelsalso like we're we keep ending
up on the West coast and so wereally want to do either Boston
or the Carolinas, or Maine,possibly Texas, maybe, you know
there's.
There's just different areas ofthe country that we haven't
experienced.
And, granted, california is sodiverse, I mean California,

(44:44):
every different part ofCalifornia is so unique and we
end up always within an hourdrive of so many different.
You know wonders.
If I was going to plan out thenext few years, it would look
like Boston for a year.
It would look like possiblyeither Maine or one of the
Carolina coastal for a year, asweird or different as it sounds,

(45:06):
maybe Florida or Texas, just tolike see different areas.
And again, I said, part oftraveling is maybe living in
places that we wouldn't live inbecause one, it's just so far
from our families, but two, it'sjust so different, you know,
climate wise, than what weprefer, especially Boston.
For my wife, being from LasVegas, I think would be some of
those seasons would be a littletough for her.

(45:28):
I think in four or five years.
We might wrap it up if we feellike we've seen most of the
areas we wanted to travel to.
And the nice thing is it givesus insight to different types of
areas we would want to travelto in the future.
And obviously, if you noticed,most of our contracts have been
very close to the beach or veryoceanside.

(45:50):
There's something about itthat's just different, that's
just so peaceful, but part of itis the, you know, I like, like
I said, I like fishing, crabbing, all that.
But I know if we go out EastI'll be trying to figure out if
there's any way for me to get alobster there's, I just know
there.
You know, it's always going tobe kind of an itch and I think

(46:12):
that's really been kind offinding out what type of place
we want to live in.
Everybody wants to live nearthe beach.
Everybody like it's.
It's really the thing is.
The truth of it is that'schallenging and financially it
would be challenging.
Like I said, we're paying downdebts.
I feel like it wraps up when weare in a financial point where

(46:32):
we can pay down all our loansand have savings to kind of live
the type of life that we wantto live.
I think that's in four or fivemore years.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
So you still got a few more years of hitting the
road and being a travelingtherapist.
I wanted to touch so we've beentalking for quite a while now.
I wanted to touch just a littlebit on what you've got going on
which is Travel Therapy Trio.
Just kind of tell me a littlebit about that and what it is
and what kind of services you'reproviding and what you got
going on there.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Sure.
So that's like we've talkedabout myself, my wife and my
sister-in-law kind of began, aswe found out early on that most
of the people that you can talkto in the realm of travel
therapy are looking for personalgain, whether it's recruiters
or contacts at certain companies.
You know, part of how we foundthat out is prominent figures in

(47:20):
travel therapy referred us tocompanies.
Well, we find out they getmassive referral bonuses for
this or they're contracted withthem.
So they're not necessarilyrecommending them because
they're the best companies.
They're recommending thembecause they get $2,000 each
time, exactly.
Yeah, a little kickback.
So with that in mind and I'mnot going to we can't plead
innocence from that we we do getreferral bonuses, so we do.

(47:42):
But we also refer to, we onlyrefer to companies that we
recommend.
We only refer to companies thatwe know are solid, that either
we've've worked for or we'veheard great things from other
companies, and we don'trecommend to companies that are
not great, regardless of whatthe referral bonus is.
So even if they offer $2,000referrals, we don't refer out to

(48:04):
them.
I won't say what companiesthose are.
If you want to know, you canmessage us.
The other thing is we can bevaluable resources to people who
are trying to travel in groupsacross different professions for
work.
There's a lot of logistics thatgo into figuring out housing.
There's a lot of logistics thatgo into you know which which

(48:24):
field among you is the mostchallenging to find a job in.
And are you strict on settings,pay, location, and if you're
strict on, if you're the moststrict, let's say that that's
you know.
No disrespect, let's say that'sGrace and Lauren, because they
only work in school settings.
If you only work in schoolsettings, we'll find you the job

(48:46):
first and then I'll find thejob after.
I'll work in whatever settingit is.
If it's a physical therapyassistant and a traveling PT,
find the assistant a job first,because there's only 50 jobs
across the country for them.
So you better find that jobfirst and then the PT can find
another one.
Same thing with travel nursing.

(49:06):
If one of you is a traveling OTbut one of you is a travel
nurse, find the nurse job second, because nurses are desperately
needed everywhere.
Those are the type of and we'llanswer questions for travelers
about what it's like to startout as a new grad filing taxes,
how do you get insurance if itis off between contracts,

(49:26):
setting up housing andnegotiating contracts especially
.
I will say we've alwaysnegotiated contracts and if
there wasn't room fornegotiation we moved elsewhere.
We've never had to.
There's always been room fornegotiation and I think, just
like, if you're going topurchase a car from a car
salesman, it's very unlikelythat the rate they give you out

(49:47):
of the gate is what they'rewilling to send you home with.
It's all kind of very niche totravel therapy and I understand
that, but I do think it'sinteresting to see that
perspective.

Speaker 1 (49:57):
So if someone's out there you know, maybe I got a
therapist listening who'sthinking, hey, I want to do this
, or I just want to reach out toAaron and ask questions.
What's the best way they can dothat?
How can they get a hold of holdof you?

Speaker 2 (50:08):
If it's anything travel related or therapist
related, our Instagram is atTravel Therapy Trio or our
website is TravelTherapyTriocomand we're very responsive on
there.
I think that's the bestapproach for those kind of
questions.
I should mention a lot of whatI talked about is very relevant
to remote workers, which is verycommon these days, and I think,

(50:31):
even though it's kind of adifferent rate, like most of
your income isn't going to beuntaxed, so it might be more of
a financial hardship.
I do think if you're a remoteworker but you are a remote
worker in a state that's highpaying, like California or
Washington, you can travel tomore affordable areas and you
actually could profit more ifyou worked remote from somewhere

(50:53):
else and get to experience adifferent location.
So it's just an interestingthought is you know, we've done
contracts that are as short asthree months and it was still
amazing.
We still liked it.
Best advice I could give is, ifyou do travel and work remote
and it or you're traveling inany profession a lot of medical,
most medical professions cantravel.
If you can lock down at leastfour to five month contracts,

(51:16):
that's really ideal.
It's.
It's sometimes feels way tooshort to be starting and then
three weeks later, you're kindof looking for where your next
contract might be.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
Yeah, that would be a little little challenging for
for real.
Okay, so my just to kind ofwrap us up here.
This has been again.
Thank you so much, aaron, fortaking the time.
This has been fascinating to me.
Yeah, thank you, and I love thefact that you've gotten
adventurous and it's really kindof opened who you are and I
could see you lighten up whenyou were talking about your
adventures in spearfishing.
Your eyes were lightened up andthat was fun to see.

(51:46):
We got a graduate, someonewho's about to graduate with
their doctorate physical therapywhat kind of you know just.
And they're debating like, ooh,should I travel, should I not?
What are you telling them?
What kind of advice are yougoing to give them if they
should travel or not?

Speaker 2 (52:01):
The best advice I can give for that, for a new grad,
is that if you are feelingconfident enough in your skills
that with a little bit of helpyou can manage working full time
which, to be fair, you should,like I said, after you've done
those clinicals, you should atleast feel pretty good in one or

(52:23):
two settings Travel therapy Ican't think of cons for new
grads if you also open yourselfup to places that give you
training and onboarding, becauseeverywhere you look in travel
therapy they need someone badly.
A lot of them are going to bewilling to negotiate yeah, we'll
give you two weeks of trainingand shadowing if you just come

(52:45):
help us.
You go into those type ofsituations.
I think new grads think this isgoing to be so much harder than
a permanent job.
It's not.
I've had so many of my peersand my classmates that switched
to travel after two, three yearsbecause they were getting burnt
out.
If they had just done it fromthe start, I think of how much
more they would have saved, howmuch more of their debts they

(53:05):
would have paid down.
And again, if you're a new gradtherapist that's thinking maybe
I'll travel, maybe not, if theplace that you're going to work
in, regardless, is not your taxhome.
If the place you're going towork in is not where you lived
in those three years for schoolor is not where you grew up, you

(53:26):
should travel for that jobanyways for the first year.
Because you're basicallydeciding that I'm going to just
take a permanent position for,you know, 20, 30, $40,000, less
logistically, I think any newgrad therapist or any healthcare
worker that's able to.
If what's holding you back isyou want to be in one spot and

(53:48):
just stay there, then yeah, it'snot for you.
It of course not take thepermanent position.
But if you're not sure whereyou want to work, if you're not
sure what setting you want towork in, if you're not even sure
where you want to end up,absolutely travel therapy,
because a permanent positionisn't as likely to take you on
and try and train you in a brandnew setting and pay you a lot

(54:10):
for it.
They might be willing to trainyou in it, but they're going to
take a huge cut of your pay.
I think as a travel therapist,you know I, like I said, I've
now worked in four or fivedifferent settings.
Each of those were new to mewhen I started.
You know it's like you're a newgrad all over again if I start
in the new setting.
So yeah, I know that was kindof drawn out, but I don't see
many cons to it.
Unless you're really trying tostay put in one spot, then it's

(54:33):
not legal.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
Of course this was great Aaron, thank you so much
for coming on Journey with Jake.

Speaker 2 (54:38):
Yeah, thank you so much it's been a blast Time
really flew by.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
A big thank you to Aaron Bowe for sharing his
journey and giving us a glimpseinto the world of travel therapy
.
If you want to learn more aboutAaron and the amazing work he's
doing with his wife andsister-in-law, be sure to visit
TravelTherapyTriocom and followthem on Instagram at Travel
Therapy Trio.
Thank you so much, aaron.

(55:03):
If you enjoyed this episode,I'd love for you to share
Journey with Jake, with a friendwho could use a little
inspiration, and don't be astranger, feel free to reach out
and say hi.
I always enjoy hearing fromlisteners like you.
We've got another great episodecoming your way next week as I
chat with Barry Mon about hisincredible drive across the
African continent, fromAlexandria, egypt, all the way
to South Africa.
You won't want to miss it Untilnext time.

(55:24):
Just remember it's not alwaysabout the destination as it is
about the journey.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
Take care everybody.