Healthcare professionals are often drawn to Locum work for the travel opportunities that come with the job. As a Locum, you get to choose when and where you’d like to be temporarily relocated – from mountainous small towns with plentiful outdoor activities to busy cities with incredible nightlife opportunities, and everywhere in between. Whether you’re taking an assignment during the holidays or considering a future travelling Locum opportunity, LocumBase has put together 4 tips to make your travel less stressful.

Comfortable stay

Staying comfortably is the most important part of your travel. Here are a few hacks for that:

• Get quality hotels: The best way to look for quality hotels is to look them up on TripAdvisor or Google Travel. You can find the Google Reviews for a business Try avoiding any hotel that has a rating of less than 4 out of 5. 
• Also, check out the “travellers” photo section to get an idea of what to expect.

• Step up your game and sweet stay in a suite: The benefit is that when you stay in a suite, you don’t just have more space, you are guaranteed to have a better sleep.

• Pick your room like a pro: Not only do you need to stay in a more spacious room, but it is also a good idea to pick your room’s location. 

• Make sure to call the hotel or B&B reception a few days in advance and let them know your preferences such as wanting to stay on the highest floor possible or far away from the elevator and also facing off the road. 
• If they cannot satisfy all these requirements, at the very minimum you should avoid the ground floor like the plague: you’ll be distracted by cars, lights, people talking, etc. 
• This makes even more sense if you work night/evening shifts and need to sleep during the day.

 Long stay = Airbnb or furnished apartment

Now, if your Locum assignment is longer than a couple of weeks at a time, we would recommend staying at the “home-like” settings. 

Renting Airbnb or furnished corporate apartments would be better options.

Packing

Never spend more than 5 minutes getting ready for your travelling. Here’s the trick to pack quickly, UNPACK as little as possible after you are back home from your trip. Basically, the only thing that you remove from your suitcase is your laundry. Everything else should stay there e.g. toiletries, gym shoes, utensils, lab coat, stethoscope, pager, badge, etc. This way it will only take you a few minutes to pack your clean clothes and you are good to go.

Beating “cabin fever”

Cabin fever is real! 

Just imagine that you are away from home, from your usual circle of friends and family, your favourite hobbies, activities, sometimes for months and months on end.

We understand that some medical professionals start feeling lonely, isolated and cut off from the world. Fortunately, the solution is very simple: you MUST GET OUT of your room and go places.

Take a walk outside in the park, hike in the woods and breathe some fresh air. Drive around a little bit or even better - socialise with other Locums if possible. The key is to change the environment and your surroundings when you are off work to keep your “battery” charged and stay sane. 

The best ways to prevent and beat cabin fever: get out of your hotel, change the scenery and socialise with other people.

LocumBase is a software as a service platform that connects medical professionals and practices directly with no hidden fees. We have over 4000 medical professionals signed up to our system across industries and over 500 active, medical practices.

Sign up to LocumBase as a medical professional here to start earning & saving!

Feel free to contact us via email at hello@locumbase.com or drop us a WhatsApp on 079 013 3962.

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