I Started Travel Therapy as a New Grad. This is What Happened
Starting travel therapy as a new grad is a scary yet exciting opportunity for a young professional trying to find their way in the healthcare industry.
I, like many others, was not immune to the fears that come with starting a career on the road.
I didn't know where to start. I feared that my skills were inadequate, despite spending three clinical rotations in the outpatient orthopedic setting. I feared that I would be thrown into a nightmare clinic that was poorly run.
I had doubts like:
"What if I'm not ready?"
"What if I'm unable to handle a full caseload in the first few weeks?"
"What if my coworkers don't trust me?"
"What if...?"
Spoiler alert: It all turned out just fine.
And by "fine," I mean I still have my license, and I haven't committed any egregious acts that put my patients in harm's way.
Why I Became a Travel Therapist
The reality is, I got into travel therapy because I wanted to be closer to my girlfriend while she finished up PT school.
I had graduated one term ahead of her, and we planned to try this whole "travel" thing together once she finished school. While it seemed like a simple idea at the time, it wasn't nearly as streamlined as I thought it would be.
First, I had to get my license registered in my home state. Then I needed to get a compact license for another state. Then came the process of finding several recruiters, searching for jobs, interviewing, and eventually signing the right contract.
And all of this happened without a clear roadmap telling me what I was supposed to do next.
On top of that, I had the inevitable imposter syndrome that comes with walking into your first clinic as a new grad with no real practicing experience outside of clinical rotations.
I had spent years learning how to become a physical therapist.
Now I actually had to be one.
The Biggest Challenge: Feeling Like You're Ready
When you start travel therapy, you have to deal with a lot of uncertainty while simultaneously trying to build your confidence as a clinician.
Because you're a traveler, there is an expectation that once you get into the clinic, you hit the ground running. You're only there for a short period of time, and the clinic is spending a significant amount of money to have you there.
That can be intimidating as a new grad.
One thing I was able to do that really helped my transition into the clinical setting was negotiate with the clinic during my interview.
I asked for a longer ramp-up period in exchange for taking a longer contract—six months instead of the typical 13 weeks.
They agreed.
Despite having two to three weeks of ramp-up time, I was still taking notes home every night. I was learning the new EMR, figuring out how the clinic operated, managing multiple patients at once, and trying to become comfortable with the reality that I was now responsible for my own patients.
But I'm incredibly grateful that I had that transition time.
It helped me learn the EMR, understand the clinic's expectations, get comfortable managing two patients at once, and—most importantly—ease into my new role without feeling like I had been thrown into the deep end on day one.
If you're a new grad considering travel therapy, negotiate your ramp-up time.
I would absolutely recommend asking for a longer ramp-up period in exchange for a longer contract.
It might not work at every clinic, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
And if you're a new grad who is nervous about being "thrown to the wolves," this could make a huge difference.
You Have to Get Comfortable With Uncertainty
If you're going to start traveling as a new grad, you have to be okay with uncertainty.
That's because you will never be completely certain where you're going next until that next contract is signed.
You likely won't know where you'll be a year from now.
Two years from now.
And honestly, that's the beautiful thing about travel—and also the thing that causes the most stress.
You have the freedom to decide where you want to go next, but you also have to accept that your plans can change. One contract might take you somewhere you never expected to live. Another might introduce you to coworkers who become lifelong friends. You might love a clinic and decide you want to stay in that area. Or you might absolutely hate it and count down the days until your contract ends.
That's part of the experience.
You don't always know where the road is going to take you.
And that's kind of the point.
Why Travel Therapy Makes Sense for Us
For now, working as travelers makes the most sense for us because:
We don't have anything holding us down in one place. We don't have a mortgage, business, or other major commitment tying us to one location.
We don't have kids.
The financial upside significantly outweighs the cons for us—at this point in our lives.
We love to travel and have new experiences.
We spent the last seven years working our butts off through undergrad and graduate school. It's time to live a little.
That last one might be the biggest reason of all.
We spent a long time working toward becoming physical therapists. Now that we've finally made it, we want to take advantage of the flexibility that comes with the career.
Do I Regret Starting Travel Therapy as a New Grad?
Definitely not.
I'm writing this while on a six-week break between my second and third contracts.
After working for just eight months, I made roughly the same amount of money that I would have expected to make as a full-time new grad PT over an entire year.
And while a traditional full-time position might come with a few weeks of PTO, I was able to take six weeks off between contracts.
That's one of the biggest advantages of travel therapy for me.
It's not just about the money.
It's about control over your time.
I can work hard for several months, finish a contract, take some time off, travel, spend time with family, pursue other interests, and then decide where I want to work next.
That flexibility is something I'm taking full advantage of.
One Year Later, Would I Do It Again?
After a year and some change of working, I can say with full confidence that I'm happy with my decision.
We're excited to keep traveling for the time being, and I would encourage anyone who has even the slightest desire to enter the travel therapy world to seriously consider taking the leap.
Does that mean travel therapy is perfect?
Absolutely not.
There will be bad clinics.
There will be stressful contracts.
There will be frustrating recruiters, difficult patients, unfamiliar EMRs, and plenty of
moments where you question whether you made the right decision.
But here's the thing:
You don't have to do it forever
If you finish your first contract and decide that travel therapy isn't for you, you can stop.
You can go find a permanent position.
And you'll now have experience that you didn't have when you graduated.
In fact, you may even be able to negotiate a higher starting salary because you're no longer a brand-new grad.
So what's the worst that can happen?
You try it.
You gain experience.
You see a new part of the country.
You learn a ton about yourself and the profession.
And if you don't like it?
You move on.
That's not failure.
That's experience.
Take the Leap
Looking back, I realize that most of the things I was worried about before starting travel therapy never actually happened.
I was worried I wasn't ready.
I was worried I wouldn't be a good enough clinician.
I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle the workload.
I was worried that I would make a mistake.
And while those fears were real, they didn't need to stop me.
I figured things out as I went.
That's what being a new grad is all about.
You don't need to know exactly where you'll be a year from now. You don't need to know what your fifth contract will look like. You don't even need to know if travel therapy will become a permanent part of your career.
You just need to be willing to take the first step.
For me, taking that step completely changed the way I look at my career.
And who knows where the road will take us next?
That's the best part.
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