After discovering the mid-west was not our thing, we decided the only logical move was to go to Colorado. My Sweet grew up south of Denver and he still had family in the state, therefore, off we went to Denver!
I contacted my agency recruiter, she explicitly stated “DO NOT GO TO COLORADO!”. She advised me that the wages were low, and the benefits were not great, but we had already committed to the move. Basically, I was told that because “everyone wants to go to CO”, employers did not need to make employment enticing and employees accepted that as the cost to living in the great state of Colorado. What?!?
As I finished up my contract in IN, packed the house for the move, and prepared for a vacation before starting the next contract. My Sweet had gone ahead to CO to find housing and settle into his new job. The three weeks we were apart were emotional, fatiguing, and busy! After arriving home from our vacation with our daughters, I watched the movers load up our things and I packed the last few items into my car. I headed west for the 16-hour drive towards my new life.
A new life is both exciting and anxiety provoking. My hours in the car gave me lots of time to think about life, literally where was I going and where had I been. While Indiana was not the way of life we were accustomed, nor was it where we saw ourselves living for an extended period of time (for many reasons), it did offer us lots of growth, learning, and opportunities. By now, I’ve had 2 different travel nursing assignments, which prepared me somewhat for more (maybe). Indiana taught us to be self-sufficient and rely on each other as there was no real close friends or family to help us out. And, Indiana allowed us to understand our personal values related to living environments.
Moving forward mile by mile, CO became my rescue. I was definitely feeling some anxiety about starting a new job (again) but the idea of having family, mountains, and a job minutes from home were the signs of “real life” that I was craving. There are going to be many stories ahead of what Colorado brings us but for now the idea of what it can be is what kept me moving forward!
Colorado, I’ll see you soon!
Have you made interstate moves? What pros/cons did you experience from packing everything and leaping? Leave your stories in the comments!
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Trudi
The Nomad Nightingale 