Looking back, I can’t quite remember how we decided on traveling to Vermont. By the time we settled on it as our next work assignment, we had spent almost two months parked in my parents front yard, revamping Shirley (our camper, if you’re new here) for new adventures. The only things I knew about this northern state were that Bernie Sanders was from there, and that the state was rumored to be very beautiful in the fall.

Our first impression of Middlebury, Vermont was that is was a charming small town in a beautiful rural setting. It was the kind of small town you see in movies, where everyone gathers at the square on the weekends, and people sit in the grass and listen to live music while eating food from the local farmers market. It was also very politically charged, almost every street corner had a sign or banner supporting some current movement. The campground we had found was only a 15 minute commute to the hospital, and we started settling into to our new state.

My new hospital was a critical access hospital, meaning that any major issues got sent to Burlington for care, after we triaged them. Critical access was new to me, but I quickly fell in love with the eclectic team of mostly travelers who worked there. Everyone was very down to earth in all the best of ways: genuine, open, and friendly, I quickly found that this was a drama free zone (something that is sadly rare in the medical field). The resident doctors would come and sit with us on the unit, and discuss complex patients with a sincere desire for our input, and then we would create plans of care together. It was a dream come true in terms of work as a nurse.

We had one good snow after our arrival, and then winter quickly melted into the loveliest of springs. Except for the fact that spring in Vermont is also synonymous with “‘mud season’, a term we were not familiar with, which quickly became associated with boot trays outside every major building, and the need to carry a change of shoes as the thaw turned everything outside into liquid brown. Mud season was a new and interesting experience.

Vermont statistically has one of the best work life balance ratios, people are very active for the most part, and there is an abundance of outdoor activities available. We spent spring hiking the Green Mountains, attempting mountain biking on the trails that wound through town, and swimming and paddle boarding on Lake Dunmore. We also discovered maple creemees (a delectable Vermont soft serve specialty) and attended the local maple syrup festival. Our life in Vermont was laid back and relaxed, the mountain air, and days of sunshine rejuvinated, and refreshed us.

I also can’t forget to mention the abundance of amazing food we found while in Vermont. It’s a good thing we found a great gym in Middlebury Fitness, and stayed active outdoors, because otherwise, the amount of double palm sized sandwiches we ate would have surely tipped the scales not in our favor. The sandwiches! We haven’t found anything like them, they were huge, stacked, and delectable! Often accompanied by a side of perfectly crispy and soft sweet potato fries with a special honey mustard sauce, they’re one of the things I crave often. Food was just well done there, I don’t know why, but everything was good. Maybe its because the people there understand the importance of health and quality foods better then their southern neighbors, but every restaurant we ate at was delicious.

It may be a controversial statement, but when I talk to people about our Vermont experience, I sum it up in the phrase “the one place where socialism might actually work”, now obviously the concept of socialism has some major flaws, but if it worked like Vermont does, I could see why Bernie Sanders likes it so much. The people there were conscious of the importance of hard work, and land conservation. Almost every house we drove by had a drying line out back, and a garden plot for homegrown food. The roads were free of litter, because there are weekly trash pickup meetups. Natural medicine is practiced, and incorporated into modern healthcare, and the culture is health conscious, and well informed. I really do think the people there cared about their neighbors would loan you the shirts off their back if you were really in need. It was a wonderful thing to see.

Our time in Vermont was a wonderful experience. We considered extending my work there, but ultimately decided in favor of new adventures. Like many good things, our 13 weeks flew by, and we soon found ourselves packing up again. Our travels were taking us back down South for warmer weather, and I thought I was ready to go.