Travel nursing is an exciting career path filled with adventure, flexibility, and the chance to make a difference in healthcare across the country. But behind the Instagram-worthy sunsets and new cityscapes, many travel nurses face a quiet challenge: loneliness.

Being away from family, friends, and familiar routines can take a toll on your mental and emotional well-being. The good news? You’re not alone in feeling this way—and there are practical, powerful ways to stay connected and build community wherever you go.

Tackling Loneliness as a Travel Nurse:

Acknowledge the Feeling

First things first: it’s okay to feel lonely. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or ungrateful. Loneliness is a natural response to change and disconnection. Recognizing it is the first step toward managing it.

Try journaling your feelings or talking to a trusted friend or therapist. Sometimes, just naming the emotion can help reduce its power.

Build Micro-Connections at Work

You may not be in one place long enough to build deep friendships, but small, consistent interactions can still make a big difference.

Introduce yourself to coworkers early and often.
Join unit potlucks or after-shift hangouts if invited.
Ask questions and show interest in your colleagues’ lives.

Even a few friendly faces on your shift can help you feel more grounded and less isolated.

Stay Connected to Your Support System

Technology makes it easier than ever to stay close to loved ones, even from thousands of miles away.

Schedule regular video calls with family or friends.
Send voice notes or quick texts during breaks.
Share photos or updates from your travels to keep others in the loop.

Creating a routine around communication—like a Sunday night FaceTime—can give you something to look forward to each week.

Prioritize Self-Care

Loneliness can be amplified when you’re physically or emotionally drained. Make self-care a non-negotiable part of your routine:

Exercise regularly—even a 20-minute walk can boost your mood.
Eat nourishing meals and stay hydrated.
Practice mindfulness or meditation to stay present and reduce anxiety.
Get enough sleep to support emotional resilience.

When you take care of your body and mind, you’re better equipped to handle emotional ups and downs.

Get Involved in the Local Community

Even if you’re only in town for 13 weeks, you can still find ways to connect locally:

Join a fitness class, book club, or hobby group.
Volunteer at a local shelter or food bank.
Attend community events, farmers markets, or festivals.

Apps like Meetup, Bumble BFF, or Facebook Events can help you find activities and people with similar interests.

Travel With a Buddy (or Pet!)

If you’re open to it, consider traveling with a fellow nurse or bringing a pet along for companionship. Many travel nurses find comfort in having a furry friend or a roommate to share the journey with.

Just make sure your housing and assignments are pet-friendly or suitable for shared living.

Seek Professional Support

If loneliness starts to feel overwhelming or persistent, don’t hesitate to seek help. Many travel nurse agencies offer mental health resources, and there are plenty of virtual therapy platforms that cater to mobile lifestyles.

Talking to a professional can provide tools and perspective to help you navigate emotional challenges more effectively.

Join Online Travel Nurse Communities

There’s a whole world of travel nurses out there who understand exactly what you’re going through. Online communities can be a lifeline:

Facebook groups like “The Gypsy Nurse” or “Travel Nurse Network”
Reddit threads like r/TravelNursing
Instagram and TikTok creators who share travel nurse content

These spaces offer advice, humor, and solidarity—and sometimes even real-life meetups.

Create a Routine

One of the hardest parts of travel nursing is the lack of routine. Establishing a few daily or weekly rituals can help you feel more stable and connected:

Morning coffee walks
Weekly grocery runs
Sunday meal prep
Evening journaling or reading

These small habits create a sense of normalcy, no matter where you are.

Loneliness is a real and valid part of the travel nurse experience—but it doesn’t have to define it. With intention, effort, and a little creativity, you can build meaningful connections, nurture your well-being, and thrive on the road.

Remember: you’re not just a nurse—you’re a brave, adaptable, and resilient human being. And you deserve connection, joy, and support wherever your journey takes you.

Find Your Next Travel Nurse Assignment with Our Job Board!

Are you on the hunt for your next travel nurse gig? Look no further than our job board! Click here to explore all our current opportunities.

Discover the Perfect Housing for Your Next Assignment

Need somewhere to stay on your next travel nurse assignment? We’ve got you covered. Check out our housing page to find your ideal home away from home. Click here to start your search.

Travel nurse loneliness is a real thing. As a travel nurse, you pack up your belongings after every assignment ends. Often, these assignments are thousands of miles away from your family and friends. So, how do you handle being that far away from those you love in a town you aren’t familiar with? Loneliness can be a real fear for travel nurses, but it doesn’t have to be.

Avoiding travel nurse loneliness is possible! Aside from working, there are many options to keep your time occupied while on assignment. We have put together a list of things you can do to handle the travel nurse loneliness you may feel while away from your family and friends.

Tips for handling Travel Nurse Loneliness:

Get a pet:

Pets can provide you companionship no matter where you go. You won’t feel quite so alone having them with you in your new “home.” Coming back to an empty home can make the loneliness worse, but having a pet there waiting can make a huge difference. Having a pet on assignment can change how you travel and look for housing. There are numerous articles on these topics on the TGN website. Our Facebook network group is also great for looking for tips and tricks on traveling and housing with pets.

Join a gym:

Find a gym in your new area that offers classes! You have a better chance of meeting people by joining a class at the gym than just by going there. Yelp is a great place to search for gyms in your area because they also give reviews just like they do for restaurants. Many gyms offer classes more than once a week so that you can work around your work schedule!

Video chat:

Today’s technology makes staying in touch with loved ones while on assignment much easier than ever! Our cell phones now allow us to make video calls. If that won’t work for you, there are numerous ways to use different apps or programs like Skype. While it may not be the same as seeing them in person, it will help you feel closer to them and avoid travel nurse loneliness.

Get out:

Explore your new temporary city. Getting out and exploring your new area is a great way to get out, and you may meet some friends along the way as well. A lot of cities and businesses offer events to bring people together. Facebook is a great place to look for events happening around you. You can also ask your co-workers for ideas on what to do.

Meetup App:

Many travel nurses use the Meetup app. People use Meetup to meet new people, learn new things, find support, get out of their comfort zones, and pursue their passions together. The app has groups you can join that interest you, such as; Health and Wellness, Outdoors, Family, Sports and Fitness, and many more. When you join a group, you will see who is hosting local events for that group. If there isn’t a group for a topic you enjoy, you can always create one yourself. It is a great way to find others in the area that enjoy the same things you do.

Meet other Travel Nurses in the area:

This is a great way to curb your loneliness while making friends! We see posts on The Gypsy Nurse Facebook network group all the time looking for other travel nurses in the area. What better people to connect with than those who know exactly what you are going through? There are many groups on Facebook dedicated to certain cities for travel nurses.

Learn a new hobby:

You are usually on assignment for 13 weeks, giving you plenty of time to pick up and learn a new hobby. Learning a new hobby will help with loneliness because it keeps you busy and your mind off being away from family and friends. There are so many options to choose from. Knitting, crocheting, hiking, writing, yoga, and the list goes on and on.

Hiking is a great option if you can find a place in your new city. It gets you out and about and away from your home, away from home. Knitting and crocheting are great because they can be done from your home, and many YouTube tutorials make it easy to teach yourself. The list of new hobbies to learn is endless; it depends on what interests you and what you think you will enjoy.

Volunteer at an animal shelter:

Giving your time is also a great way to curb your loneliness. What better way to give your time than spending it with adorable animals at an animal shelter? Animal shelters are always looking for volunteers. Volunteering will get you out of the house while you spend time with other people and animals who appreciate any attention you can give them. At the same time, it may not be in the books for you to adopt a pet while on the road. You can give love to those in the animal shelters while you are on assignment.

Loneliness is inevitable while being away from your family and friends, but it doesn’t have to be.

These are just a few ways to handle your loneliness while traveling for an assignment. There are many more ways. Reaching out on our network group about certain cities is also a great way to find out things to do in your new city.

We hope that providing these tips to ease your travel nursing loneliness will get you started on finding ways to handle the loneliness and enjoy your assignments that much more!

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

Medical Solutions provided this article.

Many travel nurses and allied health professionals choose their careers because they enjoy the independence of the travel nursing lifestyle. If you’re a solo traveler, your road is wide open, and you’re fully empowered to choose your own adventure. If you’re traveling with a partner, family, or your pet, you’ve got someone else to share the journey with, but you’re still free from a permanent home, hospital politics, and other such limiting factors of a perm staff role.

Traveling is a fantastically freeing opportunity, but balance is crucial, just like everything in life. Some travelers report the downside of that freedom can be occasional loneliness on assignment. In light of that, we’d like to share some tips to help you avoid loneliness as a travel nurse!

Embrace Flying Solo

Oftentimes, feeling lonely can be linked to feelings of boredom. Don’t be shy about taking yourself on a solo date. Enjoy the benefit of seeing interesting things, people, and places nationwide as part of your travel career. Hit up a movie, linger at a café, explore a museum, or stroll through a local park. Many of our travel nursing jobs are located near incredible natural or human-made attractions. Sign up for an art class or cooking class. Strike up a conversation and remember the power of positive interactions, be they small or large. Research during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that a lot of people were missing those minor, daily interactions with baristas, co-workers, and acquaintances just as much as they missed their close friends and family, whom they were still able to connect with online or via phone. Be open-minded about making new friends or at least sharing some quality time with new acquaintances. If nothing else, you’re a great date, so take yourself out!

Reach Out to Your People

Connecting with others — especially those who know and love you — is a great way to feel less alone. Make time to reach out to your friends and family back home or even new friends you’ve made on assignments throughout the country. Just because you’re not physically in the same place shouldn’t keep you from togetherness. Reach out often to friends and family via phone, Facetime, Zoom, or other similar avenues. We know you’re busy, but being intentional about making the time to reach out will improve your mood and keep you connected in an important way. Remember, even a quick text or IM session can help you feel less alone and allow you to chime in quickly whenever you do have the time. Maybe start a text or IM thread with some fellow travelers who understand where you’re coming from. Being seen and understood always helps us humans feel less alone.

Even your recruiter is a helpful person to connect with if you’re feeling lonely! A good travel nurse recruiter cares about you and is always there to support you personally as well as professionally, so never hesitate to reach out via phone, email, or text if you need someone to connect with.

Tell Someone How You Feel

A lot of life’s problems can be helped by sharing your feelings with another human. They may not be able to solve your predicament, but sometimes it just feels good to get it out. Be thoughtful about who you choose to confide in — you’ll want to share your thoughts and feelings with a good listener and confidant rather than someone who may be reckless with your trust or minimize you.

If you truly don’t have anyone to talk to, try journaling. Sometimes just getting your thoughts and feelings out on paper can help you figure out solutions or provide that important release that allows you to move forward with hope.

Make New Friends

A really positive feature of travel nursing is being able to make new friends and acquaintances. Some of the tips above are actually wonderful avenues to meeting people, but if that didn’t work and you’d like to meet new friends to help you feel less lonely and enjoy life with, you should focus on that specifically. We’ve outlined some great tips for making new friends in this previous article.

Be Mindful of Mental Health

If none of the above eases your loneliness or you’re otherwise struggling, please make sure to reach out to a professional. It’s completely normal to struggle with anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns. So, first, remember that while you may be lonely, you’re far from alone in this regard! Consider the factors that may be contributing to your mental state. Some travelers feel alone when they first arrive on assignment but end up getting into a great rhythm. It’s a fairly common pattern for travelers who trend toward loneliness. If you know this about yourself, it’s a lot easier to hang on during that early part of current and future assignments. Some travelers get a little homesick around certain holidays or times of the year. For example, seasonal affective disorder hits many of us hard in the colder, darker months of the year. Once again, knowing your patterns can help you make it through with less distress.

To help you persevere through tough times, Medical Solutions supports all current travelers with a 100% free employee assistance program (EAP) that includes up to eight free, confidential sessions per issue per year with licensed therapists. Sessions are available 24/7 via phone or online. Again, these sessions are completely free and available for all our current travelers — you don’t even need to be on our insurance. The EAP also includes many other helpful resources to assist you with a host of concerns, issues, and obstacles.

We’re Always Here for You

Medical Solutions takes a human-first approach to everything we do, so we mean it when we say we’re always here for you, both professionally and personally. Of course, we provide our 24-hour customer care line, but even beyond that, we want to support you in any way possible. Some assignments can have lonely spells, but we’ll always get through them together!

Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

Each new travel assignment opens up a world of possibilities. New people to meet, new hospital to work in, new adventures to be had, and new cultures to experience. Despite all this, it can be easy to get lonely as a travel nurse. The average assignment is usually 13 weeks but let me tell you what, it flies by! Since you are cycling through places for a short amount of time, it can seem difficult to make connections and feel part of a community. These feelings are all quite normal, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t keep pursuing travel nursing. Here are some ways to combat these feelings of loneliness and disconnection.

Make your housing feel like a home

This is one of my top priorities when I first arrive at my new travel assignment. I try to arrive a few days early to explore the area and get settled in a bit before that first week of chaos. I always pack a few sentimental items from home, such as pictures, my favorite books, and comfortable bedding to decorate a bit. I want my temporary housing to have a peaceful, homey vibe to it. I travel with my two pups, Cooper and Isabella, and having a furry companion that is always happy to see me has also helped me fight feelings of loneliness.

Plan adventures

For me, I started traveling not only for income but also for adventure. Seeking opportunities to try new things is high on my priority list when it comes to travel nursing. You get to have experiences that you normally may not give to have in your hometown. Get out and explore your new city; you might meet some new friends. Plan adventures with staff and other travelers in the area; they likely are in the same situation as you and would love to tag along. I encourage you to live in the moment and push yourself outside your comfort zones!

Pursue your hobbies and passions

During a new travel nurse assignment is the perfect situation to set time aside for a beloved hobby or for picking up a new one. Try to visit places that encourage social interaction. You can join a gym, hiking group, church, book club, or whatever suits you. Those are all great places to meet like-minded people to hang out with. One of my first go-to’s is the Facebook events; it is a great resource to see what events are happening around you. Depending on the city, you can try new things that you normally wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do at home. Don’t ever be afraid to try new things solo. It helps you grow as a person, and you see just how truly capable you are.

Make time for family & friends

I have a little secret for you that many are surprised when they hear. My family was not completely on board with the whole “travel nursing” thing. My parents did not really understand it since they had never heard of it, and they have a very conservative approach to life. So, you can imagine how they felt when I told them I was selling all of my belongings, quitting my staff job of 15 years, and leaving to travel the U.S. They thought I was crazy. However, after inviting them out to vacation at my travel nurse destinations, they quickly understood. Not only do they now get a vacation every 3 months and get to come visit me, they see how truly happy I am! I always try to plan a trip home during or after my assignment too. Since the time you get to spend is more infrequent, you tend to make it more quality time, and you don’t take it for granted. The beautiful thing about living in a digital world is we have FaceTime and Skype, so utilize them often to chat with family and friends.

Take time off to renew yourself.

You have to make sure to take care of yourself and your wellbeing. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and I think we can all agree that nursing, in general has been harder than ever due to the pandemic. One of the biggest perks of becoming a traveling nurse is you can build time off in your contract or in between contracts. Many companies will even ensure you medically for a certain amount of days in between contracts so you can take some time for yourself or plan a dream vacation. I like to give myself small rewards and self-love every week or so. I plan a massage or mani/pedi. Some days I just spend the whole day in my pj’s and order DoorDash and don’t leave the house. It’s called Dolce Far Niente, which is the sweetness of doing nothing!

“You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” -Miriam Adeney.

We hope you found this article on how to combat feelings of loneliness on your travel nurse assignment helpful. Have you found any ways to combat feelings of loneliness while on assignment? Comment your tips for combating loneliness below.

Are you looking for your next travel nurse assignment? Click here to view our job board. Do you need housing for an upcoming assignment? Click here to search our housing page.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Tackling Loneliness as a Travel Nurse:

Acknowledge the Feeling

Build Micro-Connections at Work

Stay Connected to Your Support System

Prioritize Self-Care

Get Involved in the Local Community

Travel With a Buddy (or Pet!)

Seek Professional Support

Join Online Travel Nurse Communities

Create a Routine

Find Your Next Travel Nurse Assignment with Our Job Board!

Discover the Perfect Housing for Your Next Assignment

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Best Books for Travel Nurses to Take on the Road

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Tips for handling Travel Nurse Loneliness:

Get a pet:

Join a gym:

Video chat:

Get out:

Meetup App:

Meet other Travel Nurses in the area:

Learn a new hobby:

Volunteer at an animal shelter:

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

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Embrace Flying Solo

Reach Out to Your People

Tell Someone How You Feel

Make New Friends

Be Mindful of Mental Health

We’re Always Here for You

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

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Make your housing feel like a home

Plan adventures

Pursue your hobbies and passions

Make time for family & friends

Take time off to renew yourself.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

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Travel Nursing Pre and Post-Pandemic

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