San Jose, CA
Here I come!
This time I had two companies searching for me (due to lack of contract as I ended my last contract!)
Old company came through in the end. Darn- their health insurance is no so good. At least I'll be able to attend my annual trip one last year without any awkwardness! Speaking of annual trips, this year it is in Jamaica and I talked an old friend into attending with me (we split the guest cost- mine would have been free and hers would have been excessive- split it was okay!)
Mexico last year was fun- but a bit lonely. des petites and I were roommates in college and traveled overseas 2 weeks while I was in graduate school. We spoke about taking a trip every 5 years- but life interrupted (me, and my traveling; her, and her lovely family). We are overdue for quality bff time.
Eeeekkkk! 2 months to fit in my bathing suit!
First thing I will find in San Jose will be an exercise routine!
posted by Rambling Speech at 7:36 PM
3 Comments:
I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog about travel speech therapy. I am an SLP looking for a change and have always had questions about what traveling ST is all about and your blog answered alot of those questions. I have a few more...
1. Is it difficult to be switching insurance companies? And when your not under a contract, say off for 1 week of planned vacation, do you have any insurance converage?
2. I read in one blog that you recommended establishing a main base...do you think a company would pay for my housing elsewhere if I kept my home where i currently live and own?
3. It is tax season, so do you have to do taxes for every state you work in?
4. Is it hard to get licensure in each new state? (I am ASHA certified)
Any other info would be great and appreciated! Good luck with your travels! You can answer here or email me at Hayley219@hotmail.com.
Thanks so much!
Hayley Wallace
Hi Hayley,
On my blog, July 12, 2009 (second post that day) there's a FAQ with a lot of answers to questions I get frequently. I'll be happy to answer your specific ones, though!
1. Is it difficult to be switching insurance companies? And when your not under a contract, say off for 1 week of planned vacation, do you have any insurance coverage?
*companies differ on this. One company may let you take up to 30 days off before canceling your insurance, another you may have to start your new job by the first of the month, and my current one allows 2 weeks between assignments before you lose benefits. That was the problem between my last two jobs- I wanted a job in a specific area and there was a greater than 2 week period between assignments. Not only did I lose my benefits, but they did not restart until the first of the next month.
2. I read in one blog that you recommended establishing a main base...do you think a company would pay for my housing elsewhere if I kept my home where i currently live and own?
*absolutely. that's how they do the tax-free money and housing. You HAVE to keep a home base where you pay rent, mortgage, or expenses.
3. It is tax season, so do you have to do taxes for every state you work in?
*Yep. And it becomes expensive. My favorite tax state so far is Massachusetts because they just do a flat straight out tax- very easy to calculate. Twice I got lucky and a retired accountant did my taxes for $50. Then he retired from even doing that- I shopped around and finally decided turbo tax was the most economical way.
4. Is it hard to get licensure in each new state? (I am ASHA certified). Depends on the state. Usually it's just a lot of paperwork and a some $$$. That gets expensive too- for each state you apply for, you have to send verifications from all the other states you hold licensure in. They don't send the verifications for free- usually it's about $30 per state. So to apply for my next state, I'll have to pay for the licensure fee PLUS 7 states X $30 ($210). Yikes. I'll eventually allow some of those states go when I stop traveling, but with the economy I want to keep options open.
Hey there Rambler...
While not a speechie ;-) I am a traveling therapist (PT). I love your blog, being a junkie of similar wandering souls and their experiences.
I don't know if you might have heard of MedTravelerClub, but it is a website that started specifically for us traveling therapists. We can network with other travelers, rate facilities, companies, housing, etc. plus we have a home exchange/travel partner-finder service, forums, etc. etc.
We also do... BLOGS! lol I would love if you signed up, if but to do nothing but check out our setup and see if it suits you. Best case, you might consider copying in your blog and experiences for our 100's of travelers and potentially "counsel" our other speechies considering traveling careers.
We are not a company, we do not allow recruitment, we are simply for the therapists...
www.medtravelerclub.com
Hopefully, see you around, but if not, then I will keep on reading here!
J
Traveling PT, Admin/owner/operator of MTC
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