As a traveling nurse, I'm constantly asked why I prefer my job to working in a single surgical facility close to home. Those who know me figure it's money that leads me to live and work in places they've never even heard of. I'll admit the money is good, but it's not the only thing drawing me away from hearth and home, kith and kin. And the assignments in distant towns are by no means vacations. As with anything, there are pros and cons.

Pro: A travel contract is usually 13 weeks. That's about 90 days. Permanent employment often has a 90-day probationary period, sometimes called a "honeymoon period." (Personally, I don't see the comparison, though I'll note that some jail sentences are also 90 days.) Unlike permanent employees, however, when the honeymoon's over, I don't have to ask myself, "Good God, what have I done?" I only smile and leave.

Con: Learning the terrain of a new state or town, or the inner workings of an unfamiliar hospital. GPS can only take you so far.

Pro: The equipment seldom changes in hospitals built in this decade. If I can take a look at it before a procedure, I can make it work.

Pro: Sterility is black-and-white everywhere. If in doubt, you throw it out.

Con: With every new place, I have to prove myself over and over again.

Pro: This never lets me become complacent in my skills.

Pro: You can never know enough people. I've made some great friends everywhere I've been. I've also met some people who've taught me what I never want to become.

Con: Calculating pharmacology equations on those blasted state certification exams is always a nightmare. And the photo for yet another ID badge never ceases to induce nausea.

Con: I could bottle some orientations as sleep remedies. But even those are preferable to showing up on the first day, getting a pager and being told I'm on call that night.

Pro: Listening to someone lecture on the importance of hand hygiene, then watching them lick their fingertip to distribute printed materials, has impressed upon me the importance of carrying hand sanitizer.

Con: I'm always leaving stuff behind on account of limited hauling space, or gathering duplicates of things I already have. It's not uncommon for me to think I own something I don't anymore, or to think I abandoned it somewhere but have it here. Some-day I am going to have the biggest garage sale my neighborhood has ever seen.

Pro: Coming up with new and unique user names and passwords on each new assignment provides me with a marvelous creative outlet.

Pro: Hitting the road has given me the opportunity to see how everyone else does the job. And guess what? You're not alone out there. Someone somewhere is getting through the day the same way that you are.

Con: Even if I was offered a permanent job on a traveling assignment, I'd want to earn my own position, not just inherit someone else's, with all of its previous baggage and associations.

Con: I wish I'd done the travel nurse thing years ago. I could have visited some great places and met some amazing people much sooner.

Pros and cons are subjective. What seems like opportunities to me may be someone else's hardships. But when I see them chalked up on paper, I wouldn't want to change Crocs with the stationary nurse for anything.