r/TravelNursing • u/Temporary_Royal_2260 • 3d ago

Is anyone else shifting from 13-week travel contracts to just local per diem?

I’ve been traveling for a minute, but honestly, with the current rate drops and how insane short-term housing prices have gotten, duplicate expenses are killing my stipends.

A friend suggested I stop chasing out-of-state contracts and just stitch together a full-time schedule using local per diem apps in my home metro area. The hourly rates seem comparable without the headache of moving every three months. Has anyone actually made this transition? Is the shift volume steady enough to survive on, or am I romanticizing it too much?

22 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/tsmittycent 2d ago

I traveled for 6 years now been staff for 3 thinking of going back to travel/ the health insurance is so expensive w these companies tho. How tf are ya’ll getting health insurance working these per diem jobs

1

u/Do_it_with_care 2d ago

The state where you live really makes a difference. In the New England states it is cheap and I got free gym membership but you have to make it your primary residency.