In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Aspen Tucker was working as a staff nurse at a hospital in his native Spartanburg, South Carolina, making roughly $2,000 per biweekly paycheck. When he saw a posting for a travel-nursing job in Amarillo, Texas, paying $6,700 a week, he was practically on the next flight.
“I hate to say this, but I didn’t give notice. I got my stuff, went to Texas, and told my manager when I got there, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,'” Tucker told CNBC Make It.
Tucker, now 29, has been on the road ever since, picking up travel-nursing contracts that range from four to 13 weeks long. While on contract, he typically works 48- to 60-hour weeks, putting in long shifts to maximize overtime pay.
The goal behind all that overtime is downtime. Tucker works only nine months out of the year and spends the rest of his time back in South Carolina or on vacation. His 2022 income: $187,000.
“I absolutely love living in Spartanburg and being a travel nurse. Spartanburg has a small-town feel. I know everyone here. I have family here,” he says. “The big benefit is the low cost of living in South Carolina. I’m able to have a high salary as a travel nurse, but come back to where the cost of living is low.”
The advantages and drawbacks of travel nursing
For someone like Tucker, who says he has dreamed of traveling since childhood, travel nursing offers some obvious appeal. His jobs have taken him all over, from Rhode Island to California.
As a profession, it’s a no-doubt price performer. Tucker began his career as a travel nurse after earning an associate’s degree. On average, a four-year undergraduate degree will cost about $29,000 per year, compared with just over $11,000 for two-year degrees, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
A more expensive education often coincides with a higher salary. The median annual pay among American workers with a bachelor’s degree is about…
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