Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to start

Just starting out as a traveler? Traveling questions or experiences to share? Here's the place.
grizgirl
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Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2017 3:36 pm

Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to start

Unread post by grizgirl » Sun Apr 30, 2017 3:53 pm

Hi there,

I'm a PTA and I've been considering traveling therapy for awhile now, but I don't know very many people that have been travelers to provide any personal support/advice or where to start in pursing traveling therapy? What companies would you recommend and ones to stay away from? Pros and cons to traveling therapy? What about traveling with pets? I have a young, black lab cross dog (large breed but not aggressive). One of the main reasons I've been considering traveling therapy is because I currently reside in Montana, but all of my family and a lot of my friends reside on the East Coast and I want the flexibility to be near them when I want to be and for more than just a few days of visiting. I want to explore more of the Northwest Region, including Alaska, before I decide whether to permanently move back to the East Coast or "settle down" elsewhere.
I know there are many traveling companies/agencies out there and the research into figuring out the "right one(s) for me" has been overwhelming and I don't know where to start. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Hobohealth
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Re: Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to st

Unread post by Hobohealth » Fri May 05, 2017 10:06 pm

Sounds great! Get out there. Traveling will be a wonderful way to explore and figure out where you really want to be.

The dog may pose some difficulty in finding housing, but people figure out ways to travel with pets - many live in RVs, if that interests you at all.

I try not to be too public bad mouthing or good mouthing recruiters on the site, but if you'd like to shoot me an email, I'd be happy to share info about the recruiters I use with you: [email protected]

-James

grizgirl
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2017 3:36 pm

Re: Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to st

Unread post by grizgirl » Thu May 18, 2017 8:15 pm

Thank you, James! I will email you.

I have thought about the RV route, but I can't afford an RV nor can I afford a camper and new vehicle to pull a camper....at least not at this time. Perhaps after a few travel assignments.

What about mail? Car insurance? Renter's insurance? And things like that?

Hobohealth
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Re: Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to st

Unread post by Hobohealth » Fri May 19, 2017 9:46 pm

"What about mail? Car insurance? Renter's insurance? And things like that?"

For mail: USPS has a "Change of Address" option that works marginally well. I have a long string of mail forwards through random PO Boxes that mostly get my mail to me... mostly. You will see there is an option for temporary (up to 6 months) and permanent. You'll also be able to find a list of stuff they will forward and won't forward, it's worth taking a look at. You can get PO Boxes for a few months at a time where ever you go. I've found that more reliable than trying to receive mail at my temporary locations.

Keep your car insurance, car registration, voter registration, library card, and anything else located at your permanent address if you have one. The more things you keep at one address, the better your case is to have a "tax home". Also, you should be paying some sort of money to maintain your tax home (i.e. rent, mortgage, etc.) Having a tax home is what allows you to collect the tax free money available through traveling for work. Maybe this helps further explain tax home: http://hobohealth.com/wordpress/taxes/t ... mplicated/

This is a good chance to make a comment I frequently make. Remember that you are only working temporarily in a location, not living there. You "live" at your tax home, you are "working temporarily" wherever you are. This will save you a lot of trouble from trying to always make your drivers license and car registration be where you are working, not living - make sense?

Renter's insurance - yes, get it. Lots of insurers out there offer it.

Hope this helps!

James

domras87
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Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2018 7:44 am

Re: Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to st

Unread post by domras87 » Fri Jul 27, 2018 8:04 am

Hello everyone,

I am a fellow PTA interested traveling therapy, and just like others I have no idea where to begin. My main questions early on are what would the case be for housing, as I would be traveling with my wife and toddler. Are there companies that provide help with the housing searches? Is there a good market for PTAs? As I have been looking most of my research has taken me to jobs for PT and not too many PTA positions. Job wise I'm open to what the market has to offer, but most of the experience I have is in outpatient Ortho rehab. Are there companies that have opportunities in this area of treatment? Do the companies also help with things like licensure for the state I would be looking into? I have a lot more questions to come, but for now my last question is, would anyone out there like to describe their experience, especially if you have a family that has traveled with you. My wife and I feel this is a good time for us to travel with her so young, and want to know if others have done this as well. Thank you for your help!!!

Hobohealth
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Re: Considering traveling therapy and don't know where to st

Unread post by Hobohealth » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:58 pm

Sorry for my slow reply.

All good questions! I think the simple answer to all of your questions is that there is a way to do it if you can make the finances work. Travel agencies should be able to walk you through the process on finding housing, jobs, licensure, etc - and some will offer assistance with most of those things.

You should be able to find a job in any setting if you are willing to be flexible with location, which it sounds like you are - again, a good recruiter will be able to help steer you in the right direction.

One thing you might consider is living in an RV. It would solve the problem of finding housing with a dog. For my wife and I, it was a baby that eventually knocked us out of traveling... but we considered the RV route for a while. Now being 1 year+ into the child thing, I would worry most about sleeping in a camper - the kid would definitely need a separate room, but otherwise, it might be very do-able. If the camper-living thing interests you, there's a facebook group called "Highway Hypodermics" which is all travel healthcare providers living in campers across the country.

I'll shoot you an email about the recruiters I use.

Hope this helps, fire away with more questions and I'll try to answer faster.

James

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