Healthcare Traveler - November 2008 - (Page 39)

this type of adventure. I chose The Magic Bus, on which I met other free spirits. They had donned backpacks and were roaming the world in search of their ultimate overseas experience. With my fellow misfits, I climbed glaciers, visited rain forests, went blackwater rafting in underground caverns, surfed 400foot sand dunes, jumped from airplanes and bridges, and explored the coasts of New Zealand from top to bottom. A few of us also climbed into what can only be described as a giant hamster ball and rolled down a very steep hill. The Kiwis call this activity zorbing. For the fainter of heart, who want to descend the hill at a slower pace, the Kiwis will kindly add about 3 gallons of water to the ball. Then, the activity is referred to as slooching. I describe the experience as similar to riding inside a washing machine on the rinse cycle. The hardest part of my assignment was leaving the magical country of New Zealand. Boarding the plane for their flight home, most travelers swear to the island gods that they will return time and again to Akaroa. When my incredible adventure finally came full circle, I had “no worries” about settling back into the job market in the United States. All I had to do was contact my U.S. recruiter, Kerri, and request, “Find me a job and a place to live.” Like any other travel assignment, the first couple of days overseas may be a little bumpy. However, once you settle in, you will have the time of your life. Trust me. Robert Frost put it best in his poem, “The Road Not Taken”: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Where I will work next is still up to the travel gods. At the moment, I’m eager to determine where in the world I will end up—or down—next. You’re probably wondering if I found out whether the water in the Southern Hemisphere goes down the drain in the opposite direction of that in the Northern Hemisphere. I’m leaving it up to you to discover that for yourself. Kia ora, mates. HT Christopher Merkley, MA, CCC-SLP, is a speechlanguage pathologist traveling with Clinical One. “When I was looking for fun, Wellington, New Zealand, was the place to find it.” Circle Career Card No. 612 www.healthcaretraveler.com November 2008 Healthcare Traveler 39 http://www.curastat.com http://www.healthcaretraveler.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Traveler - November 2008

Healthcare Traveler - November 2008 Editor’s Desk Contents In a Flash Paws for Thought Field Notes You Said It Perks and Preferences A Latitude Adjustment Drug Update Clinical Tips Advice of Counsel Cityscape Advertiser’s Index Name It When In. . . It’s in the Bag Contest Rules Big Deals Tax Facts Going the Distance Allied Corner Classifieds Tales from the Road

Healthcare Traveler - November 2008

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