After working a 12-hour shift as nurses at the hospital, married couple Meg and Ty DeWitt go home to their van, where they live full time. After a three-day workweek, Ty, 33, and Meg, 28, hit the road in their van to explore surrounding areas.
In the past, that’s meant hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana, camping in Sedona, Arizona, or taking a road trip along the Oregon Coast. As travel nurses, the DeWitts, who are from South Carolina, work short-term contracts at hospitals with staffing shortages around the country.
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“Getting to travel the country and see what every state has to offer as far as adventure goes, and getting paid to do it … is why I wanted to become a travel nurse,” says Ty.
The DeWitts took up van life in 2019 to travel more efficiently and save as much money as possible to meet their long-term financial goals. Now the couple is able to put away up to about $20,000 per month.
Meg and Ty DeWitt moved into a van in 2019, to save money while working as travel nurses.
Photo by Meg and Ty DeWitt
Moving into a van
Meg and Ty met by chance, because of their jobs. In 2017, they were both working night shift as staff nurses at separate hospitals in Charleston, South Carolina. One day, they crossed paths at the beach after work. “There were two people on the beach wearing scrubs,” Ty says. “You don’t usually see that, at that time in the morning. So yeah, we just kind of hit it off.”
The couple married in April 2020. They bond over their shared love of adventure. “Every free day, we would just plan mini-trips and even just traveling locally,” says Meg.
That led the DeWitts to quit their staff jobs and become travel nurses in 2019. They have completed seven short-term contracts so far, each time working together at the same hospital.
“It’s not uncommon for one unit to have two positions open,” Meg says. “So we might have to wait a little bit longer and do a little bit more of a search to get two positions. But it is definitely possible.”
The DeWitts eloped in April 2020 while working a travel nurse assignment in Arizona.
Photo by Chasing Sunsets Photo and Film @ChasingSunsetsLLC
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