Pre-Travel Nursing Travel

As my post How the Travel Bug Bit Me mentions, my family provided many opportunities to travel in my younger years. Here I provide the travels that adult Nathalie began to enjoy. Here are my travels before I transitioned to my travel nursing career.

The Year of Cruising

I was born and raised in Florida which provides me access and discounts to Disney attractions and cruises. Globetrotter tip, always research what discounts you can apply before searching for your vacation. Did you now that seasons could affect the price of your vacation? Okay, back to the subject. No matter where you live, you can drive about twenty minutes or a few hours to a port and sail off to the Bahamas by the end of the day. Therefore 2013 became the Year of Cruising.

The Nurses’ Cruise

My alma mater, Florida A&M University’s School of Nursing created a group of friends that have now come to call each other family. It was March 2013, about 3 years after graduation and we each lived about 4 hours away from each other. One evening during one of our phone conversations, we were trying to figure out the best way to form a reunion. After much deliberation and a few wine conference calls, a vacation was planned. We decided on a cruise to the Bahamas. We reunited aboard a Norwegian cruise ship and it felt so good! The trio ate, danced, and went to every source of entertainment the cruise provided and we slept just enough for our sanity. This trip inaugurated our pretty consistent annual girls trip!

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Grad Bash Cruise

A couple of months later in May, my bestie that I’ve known since the Seventh grade, was graduating from Florida A&M University, and she thought, what would be easier than planning a cruise for her celebration? We did just that! We boarded that Carnival cruise full of energy and as we disembarked it was the total opposite.

Girl’s Trip Cruise

The last cruise for the Year of Cruising was in August. This cruise trip consisted of a group of high school friends that needed a total break from reality, therefore we set aboard a five-day cruise on Carnival. Our favorite port of call was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We ate some really good food while vibing on the beach. I think we came home with every souvenir cup that they offered, yes, they were initially filled with an alcoholic beverage.

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The Party with a Purpose

Essence Festival, also known as the party with a purpose, is a yearly festival held in July. The destination for this festivity is New Orleans and it is a weekend full of fun! We roomed with a friend in Metairie, and transportation was a hassle. Globetrotter tip, if it is on your bucket list, start planning your trip in October because lodging close to the French Quarter runs out quickly. To top off the Essence Festival I was in a snippet of The Braxton Family Values and we got to see Beyoncé!! All my single ladies, all my single ladies. At that time, she had the Les Twins dancing with her and they put on quite a show! If you haven’t heard of New Orleans’ reputation for amazing food, well now you have. We got to eat, eat and eat. Our dining ranged from eating at the Famous Gumbo Pot to eating crawfish in a mutual friend’s backyard. Café du Monde provided me with one of my best cups of coffee and their beignets…well, I did develop a plan to live in New Orleans simply to eat beignets and drink coffee.   

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Winter is Coming

Most of my trips as a child and my early travels as an adult were either in the tropics or the perfect season in other locations. In attempts to try something new, my bestie and I (God has blessed me with a few besties) decided to do our first winter trip. After research with wine conference calls, yes we love wine, we decided to attend the festivities of Urban Ski Weekend which was hosted in Gatlinburg, Tennessee by The Set Network. What a beautiful and friendly city! We went horseback riding and did one zip line tour. To fit in with the theme, we attempted to ski and I almost lost my bestie that weekend, due to newbie skiing errors. By the way, how come no one mentions how sore you’ll be the next day?

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August 2014, I decided to take my career as a nurse on a new level. I wanted to travel as a nurse and I did just that. I can’t wait to share with you my transition to a travel nurse in an upcoming post. What do you think about my travels before beginning my travel nurse career?

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore

– Andre Gide