Life Update: 2020 Recap

The Beginning

Ugh 2020. What a year. It started out so promising! January was amazing! Colin and I had talked about a surf trip to Costa Rica since we started dating and we finally made it happen (see that trip here).
Prior to leaving for Costa Rica, we signed our highest paying travel nursing contract yet. We started that assignment, our second ER travel RN contract together, in Gilroy California the end of January, just a day after arriving home from abroad.

That was all just weeks before Covid struck.

On the drive up from Los Angeles to Gilroy (just south of San Jose, CA), we talked about all the year’s possibilities. We mapped out our way out of debt, made plans to invest in real estate, dreamed of someday living on the road in our airstream, and knew this year would be different. We had a plan, for once, we had a plan.

Our three month assignment came to an end and when we thought we would be finished in Gilroy, the pandemic made it possible to renew our contract. Pretty soon it had turned into 8 months for me (and a full year for Colin). Our hospital was just about to push out all the travelers when Covid-19 sent the world into a panic and everyone prepared for the worst. Our hospital renewed all the travelers they had planned on getting rid of weeks prior and since we were making the most money we had in our life, we gladly signed on again, and again. We probably couldn’t have been at a better hospital for the pandemic. And I mean better only in the sense that it is tiny. The ER has only 8 main beds, not including the hallway rooms, and chairs lining the other halls that were full of flu patients until Covid struck and the flu became extinct. Interesting huh? There were a wide variety of staff nurses, some were solid and more than up to the challenge of the patient volume, while others still seemed stuck in a time when the town was smaller and patient numbers were much less. Chaos seemed to almost be welcomed in this little department that should have been a cakewalk even with the number of patients we were seeing. The real saving grace for us was the solid group of travelers we had the pleasure of sharing an assignment with. It was like the stars had aligned, or more like the high pay, that brought us all together at the same time. Together we were all able to power through the busy flu season and made our way through the first wave of Covid when the world shut down and suddenly “emergencies” became limited. I don’t know if it was fear or obedience, probably fear, but for a solid month or so we had very low numbers and were regularly “beating the game,” or in ER talk, clearing the board of all our patients. I still can’t believe how lucky we were.

A House of Travelers

Our best friend A was already working at this assignment, so we decided to rent a large apartment with her and two other travel nurses. There was a total of five of us travelers living and working together. We expected to be all busy with our own lives and going home any chance we could get, but since the world was locked up and grounded, we ended up spending literally 24-7 together. Poor Colin had to live with four strong-willed women. I’m not really sure how he’s still sane! We had some great times together through it all though. Between the gin and tonic, wine on the balcony at sunset (when we were home together), evenings sitting on our craigslist couch having deep conversations, trying to make sense of the new world, charcuterie board nights, and “family” workouts, there are some good memories we won’t easily forget.

There’s a bond that forms between travelers. We sometimes feel like the workhorses or dogs of the ER. We don’t get any real say in anything and typically get the worst assignments since we’re the ones filling holes. This assignment was not really any different, except I’ve never seen such awesome, hardworking, kick-ass travelers. It was such a great group we got to know in Gilroy. And it’s a strange thing. There’s definitely a certain type of person that takes on a traveler’s life. We’re all kind of drifters. We come into one another’s lives, we connect, become great friends, making work bearable, and then just like that, we’re on to the next. We make friendships with people we know are probably only in our lives for a season, but it’s really awesome to have the relationships that we do with all these rad folks.. And we even grew to love some of the staff at our little helpless hospital.

The view we memorized: our balcony paradise summer 2020.

Craigslist couch.

Many breakfasts were spent sitting out here on our free chairs. We were slumming it, and it was almost glorious.

Getting Out

Come August, I started to have some health concerns (not related to Corona) and my patience was wearing so thin as a traveler, and just being in the ER in general. My best friend A and Colin convinced me to stick it out until the end of September. And then that was it for me! Back home to the beach! Freedom at last, well sort of.

Now because we were really getting into a groove and getting a feel for financial freedom, Colin decided to stay on and renewed his contract in Gilroy. As a traveler, we can only re-sign up to a year, and then for tax purposes have to leave (at least for a month). So Colin has been working up north for his six shifts in a row, and then comes back home for a week. He’s actually living in our unfinished Airstream and totally camping out in it while he’s up North working. Me and Estelle definitely miss him around here. But the end is in sight and we’re counting down the days until he’s home for good!

What’s Happening Now

I am happily working in Los Angeles part time in the Recovery room or PACU in a lovely sterile, clean, environment for the remainder of this year and into the next. This year has been a rough one for the photography aspect of things. I did have several weddings go through, but the vision dramatically changed from epic destination weddings to local elopements on the beach. They were small and sweet and I loved the intimacy each one brought. It’s been a hard year for all small businesses, and I’m just so grateful for the nursing career I had to fall back on through this very insecure time. I’ll be spending the winter months doing some clean up and refocusing the business. Colin finishes up his contract in Gilroy the end of January, and then we’ll get to have him home full time for awhile. He’s also thinking a little change from the ER scene would be good, so we’re going to be very open to new things come 2021.

This year has taught us a lot about sacrifices and chasing after your goals, even when it feels impossible. We made some insane progress in our personal lives this year, no matter how sad this year has been. We started grinding and we can feel the momentum! It’s given us the courage to do some things this next year we never thought we’d be up for. Stay tuned.