Traveling for work this year? Help make sure everything goes as quickly, smoothly, and stress-free as possible with this rundown of the best tips for travel nurses and clinicians in 2025.
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2025 Travel Essentials for Nurses & Clinicians
Don’t let a bad travel experience ruin the start of your next assignment. While some travel challenges can’t be prevented, a little planning, preparation, and insider knowledge can go a long way towards helping you avoid missed flights, last-minute charges, and even loneliness while you're on the road. Here's what you should know before you hit the road in 2025.
#1: Top Tips for Planning & Prep
Thanks to the Internet, there are tons of ways to research the place you're going long before you get there — or before you even decide if you want to go. You can easily check out pretty much everything that matters, including the best neighborhood for commuting to your new job.
- Online Resources: Searching on Yelp, OpenTable, Google Maps, or similar apps will show you what kinds of shops, services, or restaurants you can find in every neighborhood. If you’re a foodie, you can make advance reservations, too!
- Insider Tips: Hit up Wikivoyage or Lonely Planet for more tourist-oriented options like museums, zoos, art galleries, and watering holes. You'll find both everything from quick tips to full guidebooks, available digitally or in print.
- Transparency: Search for travel jobs on the HealthTrust jobsite, where you’ll see the specific address of the facility you’ll be working in each job listing, letting you plan your commute before you book your apartment or place to stay.
#2: Top Tips for Buying & Booking
When you travel, you’ll get a stipend to cover the costs of getting to and from your assignment — at least, you will when you book a job at the HealthTrust jobsite! So, the less money you spend on that travel, the more will be yours to keep, and any discount you can find will directly boost your salary.
- Discounts. Nurses and clinicians get deep discounts on lots of travel essentials, ranging from luggage, scrubs, and shoes to car rentals, hotels, and vacation packages. Learn more about those discounts, and where to find them, here.
- Rewards: From flight upgrades to free hotel stays, the money you save by joining a rewards program can add up fast. It's also an affordable way to travel with a bit of luxury. Here's our list of the best programs for clinical travelers.
- Online Booking. The earlier you book, the better price you'll usually get. And you can usually save even more by flying midweek. Set up accounts with Kayak, Google Flights, or Skyscanner to get alerts when flights hit a certain price.
#3: Top Tips for Packing
The more you travel, the more you’ll appreciate the art of efficient packing. Especially at a time when checking a bag could cost you an extra $50, &75, or even $100 at the airport, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the most from that money by packing all the essentials you’ll need. At the same time, if you’re going light, then the more items you can fit in your carry-on, the better.
- Traveling Light: Whether you're looking for easy rolling or hard-shell protection, this list has some great options for upgrading your carry-on bag, from the stylish and stunning to the practical and budget-friendly.
- Driving: If you can drive to your destination, that changes the whole packing equation. You can probably load up your vehicle with as many as suitcases you want, and even boxes and bins of clothes and household goods, too.
- Organization: Save valuable bag space with packing accessories like compression bags, packing cubes, and cosmetics cases, and by rolling instead of folding your clothes. Take a deeper dive with our packing hacks for travelers.
#4: Top Tips for Flying
Flying to your next destination? While any trip to the airport will always have its share of unpredictable challenges, there are definitely steps you can take to make sure the experience goes as smoothly, safely, and stress-free as possible.
- Documentation: You'll need a REAL ID for all U.S. flights starting in May. You can use a passport instead, but if you don't have either, it's time to start lining one up. Visit your local DMV for a REAL ID, or get your passport online.
- Timing. Avoid the stress of worrying about missed flights by getting to the airport early. If you can, schedule your flight for the nighttime or midday, when traffic is lightest. Use FlightAware to monitor your flight status in advance.
- Comfort: Even when a flight is relatively short, you’re still usually spending hours at a time either sitting down or walking in crowds. You can prepare for either with a flight pillow, good shoes, and comfortable clothes.
#5: Top Tips for Living & Thriving
After you’ve arrived and gotten to work, it’s time to meet the locals. Online research is great, but when you’re actually traveling it’s more rewarding to get out there and meet some of the people in your new community. On the other hand, being in an unfamiliar space means you’ll also want to keep a close watch on your self-care efforts.
- Socialize: Even if you're not exactly a social butterfly, there are still lots of ways to meet new people in new places. You can take art or language classes at a local college, for instance, or check out community theater or comedy groups.
- Find Your Space: Another way to build a new social network is by checking out local shops that cater to your hobbies — for instance, a gaming, golf, music, or fabrics store. You could also join a pickleball league or bar trivia team.
- Take Time for Self-Care. If you have a long weekend or time between travel jobs coming up, consider giving yourself a "calmcation" — a break that’s focused on tranquility and wellness, not sight-seeing and socializing.
Travel Smart with HealthTrust Jobs!
At HealthTrust, our mission is to connect nurses and clinical professionals like you with the career opportunities you need to truly thrive in your career. Check out our latest Travel Job Release for the newest jobs, or search our travel jobsite now.
