A 13-week contract lands, orientation starts in 3 weeks, and the housing hunt begins again. Furnished rentals want 6-month leases. Extended-stay hotels add up fast and never feel like home. If you own an RV, or you’ve been thinking about buying one, there’s a housing option most stipend calculators skip: a monthly site at an RV park.
This guide covers what travel nurse housing costs at an RV park, how monthly stays line up with contract timelines, and which RJourney parks sit within commuting range of hospital hubs.
Why RV parks fit the travel nurse contract
The standard travel contract runs 13 weeks. That’s the mismatch at the heart of the housing problem: most landlords want 6 or 12 months, and anything shorter gets priced like a vacation.
Monthly RV sites solve the timeline. You book month to month, extend if your contract extends, and roll out when it ends. There’s no lease-break penalty for taking a contract 2 states away, because there’s no lease. Your housing follows the work.
There’s a second advantage that only shows up on contract 2 and beyond: you stop moving in and out. Same bed, same kitchen, same coffee mug. The address changes; home doesn’t.
What it costs
Numbers vary by market, but the comparison is consistent:
- Furnished short-term rental: commonly $1,500 to $2,500+ per month in hospital markets, often with fees on top and limited availability for 13-week terms.
- Extended-stay hotel: frequently $2,000 to $3,000 per month once taxes land, for 1 room.
- Monthly RV site: typically a few hundred dollars to around $800 per month depending on region and season, usually plus metered electric. Water, sewer, and trash are generally in the rate.
If you already own the rig, the math tends to favor the RV site by a wide margin, and the difference is money your housing stipend doesn’t have to cover. (Stipend and tax-home rules are their own topic; a tax professional who works with travelers is worth the fee.)
The rig payment is the honest counterweight. If you’re buying an RV specifically to travel nurse, run the full picture: payment, insurance, fuel between contracts, and maintenance. For many nurses it still pencils out, especially past the first year. For a single contract, it probably doesn’t.
What to look for in a park
Not every campground works as working housing. Before you book, confirm:
- Full hookups at the monthly rate. Water, sewer, and electric at your site. Ask whether electric is metered separately (it usually is on monthly stays).
- Year-round operation. Some northern parks close for winter. If your contract runs January, this is the first question, and it’s worth asking how the park handles hard freezes.
- Reliable connectivity. Charting from home and telehealth shifts need real bandwidth. Ask about park WiFi, then check your carrier’s coverage map anyway.
- Laundry on site. 3 twelve-hour shifts a week produce scrubs in volume.
- Quiet during the day. If you’re on nights, a park full of summer weekenders sleeps differently than one with a long-term community. Ask the office about the mix.
RJourney parks near hospital hubs
RJourney runs monthly-friendly parks across the country. 4 sit notably close to hospital employment centers:
Clarksville RV Resort (Clarksville, TN). Minutes from Fort Campbell and its Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, with Tennova Healthcare on the civilian side of town. A steady long-term community and full-hookup sites. Monthly RV sites near Clarksville · (931) 774-7901
Applewood RV Park (Wheat Ridge, CO). Lutheran Hospital’s new campus is in Wheat Ridge itself, and the wider Denver metro hospital systems are a commute, and a mountain view, away. Monthly RV sites near Denver · (303) 872-0677
Pin Oak RV Resort (Villa Ridge, MO). Mercy Hospital Washington is a short drive west, and the St. Louis metro medical corridor is reachable east on I-44. Monthly RV sites near Villa Ridge · (636) 329-6154
Muncie RV Resort (Anderson, IN). Positioned between Anderson’s hospitals and IU Health Ball Memorial in Muncie, with the White River out the back. Monthly RV sites near Anderson · (765) 259-3305
Browse the full network of long-term RV parks if your next contract points somewhere else. Odds are decent we’re already there.
Booking a monthly stay
Monthly sites are limited at most parks, and hospital-adjacent parks fill ahead of season. Call the park office directly for monthly availability and current rates; the phone gets you answers the booking engine can’t, like which sites are quietest during day-sleep hours.
Tell them you’re a travel nurse. The office has probably set up a dozen of you already, and they’ll know which site to hold.
