About

I am a Traveling Operating Room Nurse in the United States, moving across the country every 13 weeks.  Over the past five years I have worked, lived, visited, or driven through 49 states (I still need to explore Maine).  I have found my passion for travel and recently mustered up the courage to venture off internationally.  Sometimes I will go with friends, meet them there, or travel solo.  On the side I am hired to do freelance writing by different travel companies.  I can’t believe this life of mine and how lucky I am to be given these opportunities to see the world.  I hope you all enjoy my blog. Please leave your comments and questions.

Happy and Safe Travels 🙂
-Leah

I would like to dedicate my blog to my father who taught me many things in life, but most importantly to never give up!

Gary David Helmbrecht, MD

4/17/1957-2/10/2011

19 comments

  1. Hi Leah, I am working on a nursing podcast at the moment and we are looking for collaboration opportunities. I came accross your blog and thought the podcast may be of interest to you. Please send me an email if you would like to know more — I will be happy to share more information with you.

    Best regards,
    Julia

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  3. Hi Off The Clock Nurse,
    I’m a recent grad (May 2017) RN who has had 6 months experience in LTC and I HATE it. I am currently trying to turn my life around and find something I am passionate about, getting more into the hospital setting. I stumbled across your blog and I am mesmerized. This is the kind of life I could only dream of having. Do you have any advice for someone life me to keep my head up and keep going? Maybe even someday do what you do?

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    1. Hi Marisa! Thanks for your comment! I was not happy with the unit I was on either so I switched to something I thought I would enjoy more. That’s the great thing about nursing is there are so many different types to choose from! I suggest shadowing on different units to see if it’s a place you would want to transfer to… get your 2 years and start traveling! That’s what I did and I’ve been loving it for the past 5.5 years! I mean, I definitely still have my bad days, but more good than bad. Your spend more time at work than you do at home, so it needs to be something you enjoy. I hope that helps.

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  4. Hello Off the Clock Nurse. Over the past few months I have enjoyed visiting and reading your blog and so I have nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award. It’s an award given to bloggers by bloggers to recognise the hard work that they do and encourage them to do more. Please take a look at my link and follow the instructions – and happy blogging 🙂 https://travelswithmyart.com/2017/10/10/ive-been-awarded-the-blogger-recognition-award-not-once-but-twice/

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  5. It’s guitar slinger! We are beings of light who exist for eternity in the still magnetic light. The physical maisteitafnons are simulations of who we are in the stillness of eternity. The bodies we live and die in change through eternity so that we may be different actors on different stages on different worlds under different Sun. Life is a dance through endless incarnations for our learning and experiencing the unbounded vastness of the Creator’s Eternal Love.

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  6. Leah, I just wanted to say I stumbled upon your blog the other day and read through your many posts. You articulate so well what so many feel. Thanks for sharing your stories and experiences. I worked with you a short while at UVA and I remember you were always so kind. I’m so happy that you have excelled and found the appreciation that you deserve. Best of luck to you!

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      1. They are getting big. Time has flown by. Matt was deployed last year so we are readjusting to him being home again and we are now stationed in San Antonio. Let me know if you travel to Texas. Would love to see you!

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  7. Hi Leah, I’m not sure if you will remember me but I was the Nurse Educator in the OR at UVA when you started. That was shortly before your father’s passing. I’ve often wondered how you have been and stumbled across your IG and then your blog. I’m so happy to see you are doing so well. You were so quiet when you started! I’m also glad to see that you stuck with the OR. You were very good at it. Well, I just wanted to tell you I’ve enjoyed reading about your travels and I’m so proud of you for making your life what you wanted it to be. I’ve since left the OR but I haven’t forgotten those that made an impression on me – you were one of them.

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    1. Tracey! Of course I remember you! It is SO great to hear from you. Thank you so much for all your support during the worst time in my life. You were one of the few people at UVA that were supportive and understanding. For a long time I felt like everything was sinking and the moral and bullying that went on there was too much to handle so I left and haven’t looked back in 5 years. It’s been great! The 6 year anniversary of my dad passing was just last Friday. It’s so crazy to see where I was and where I am now. I can tell you I will never forget you staying on the phone with me while I was having a total mental breakdown panic attack. It brings me to tears thinking about how much I hurt back then, but have since learned to accept what happened. You are such a kind person and I’m so thankful you were in my life back then.

      Where are you now? I hope we can keep in touch. I’m currently on my 17th(?) Travel contract in Minneapolis 🙂

      -Leah

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    3. I love you guys recipes! One question I do have is, typically Somalis use oil to fry the sabaaya. However, I noticed other cultures just fry the sabaayad/chapati without oil. Does the oil contribute to the softness, and is it possible to maintain the softness of the sabayaad w/out the extra oil? Also I noticed that you add baking powder and I’ve never seen baking powder added to sabaayads. I’d like to know what it does for the sabaayad? I have a relative who adds baking powder and it usually turns out a bit harder than other relatives. Axsaanti!

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    4. Hi Kevin,Thats a successful Transformation man, congrats to that, also thanks for helping me along the way, really appreciate it.With the next phase of cutting, are you going to be talking about nutrition? from my limited experience I’m assuming this is a big part of it and believe this would really benefit me/us in knowing what one should be eating and when.Thanks broBarx

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  8. I love your blog because you sound just like me. Or maybe I’m just like you!!! I do travel nursing in the OR and when im between contracts, all I do is jump on a plane and experience the world. Thank you for sharing! You continue inspire me.

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    1. Abolultesy his earlier works should carry greater weight. I would say that he strings his arguments together coherently here, it it just that the venom really gets in the way with this one. Perhaps the illness was setting in.

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