So you have locked in that travel assignment. The pay is good, the location is right, and now the hunt for suitable housing begins.
Rather than stress about housing availability, costs, lease terms and whether they allow your pet, maybe consider another option—the recreational vehicle. An RV or travel trailer, especially if you plan on travel assignments for the long term, may be a lucrative and comfortable option.
Depending on your taste, RVs/trailers can range from a few thousand dollars (second-hand) to over $100,000. Realistically, based on the typical profile of our Cariant travelers (traveling alone), a smaller travel trailer ranging from between six and $10,000 can be acquired and offers most, if not all, the comforts of home. At first, cost may seem quite high, but if you figure the math on a typical furnished one-bedroom apartment in most larger towns/cities (ranging around $1,500/month), the one-time or financed cost of an RV can be quite affordable. Don’t forget, you also need a vehicle that can adequately pull your COW (cabin on wheels), so that may potentially be an extra expense to add to the equation.
Campsites also vary in price. The basic pads range around $20/night and the higher-end pads can go from $35 to $45/night. Where most of the basic pads offer electrical hook-ups, they won’t necessarily have water/sewer so regular “dumping” may be required. The higher rates can mean having an addition to electrical, full sewer/water hook-up (meaning you don’t have to move the camper to dump or get dump service), access to cable television/Wi-fi, modern bathroom/shower facilities on the premises, as well as laundry facilities.
And as long as you maintain a tax-home, you should be eligible to received applicable lodging per-diem for the travel assignment, which should in turn help pay for the costs associated with RV camping.
So if you have the means (monetarily and mechanically), lodging via an RV/travel trailer may be something at least worth looking into.
By Tony