Key Points
- Traveling nurses, technologists, and therapists participated in Healthcare Traveler's survey.
- On your travel nursing job, therapy job, or technologist job, visit the winners of Healthcare Traveler's 2008 Travelers' Choice
Awards.
The mobile lifestyle presents you with opportunities to enhance your skills set, increase your income, meet new people, and
avoid stress and hospital politics. As someone who gets to be a long-term visitor to distinct towns and cities throughout
the country—and occasionally, those outside of the U.S.—you have the chance to experience an array of locations in an extraordinary
way. You get to discover, firsthand, what makes certain places and things truly exceptional in terms of their beauty and their
offerings.
Beginning with our initial survey in 1996, Healthcare Traveler has polled its readers on several occasions about the best places to dine, relax, stay, and play. Here, we are pleased to
recognize your favorites for 2008. Some have changed and some remain the same. But we hope all of the winners and runners-up
inspire you to continue exploring and enjoying all that your assignment locations and their neighboring communities have to
offer. For a complete review, go to http://www.HealthcareTraveler.com/.
BEST PLACE FOR SUNBATHING/PEOPLE WATCHING
South Beach, Miami, Florida
Photo: Mark Lewis/Getty Images
|
From fashion models on photo shoots to grandmothers on motorcycles, you never know what—or who—you might glimpse in South
Beach. In addition to watching the world go by and catching rays from its beaches, you can admire the area's Pez-colored buildings
and soak up the nightlife at Cameo, Mansion, and other popular clubs. No wonder this sizzling locale received the most votes!
http://www.visitsouthbeachonline.com/2nd Place: Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii
3rd Place: Venice Beach, California
MOST EXCITING PLACE TO RIDE A ROLLER COASTER
Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky, Ohio
Photo courtesy Cedar Point Amusement Park/Resort
|
"The Roller Coaster Capital of the World," Cedar Point was also deemed your favorite place to loop the loop in 2002 and 2004.
From its Top Thrill Dragster—the tallest, fastest coaster on earth—to its Corkscrew, the world's first triple-looping "scream
machine," the park boasts a record 17 roller coasters. [ http://www.cedarpoint.com/]
2nd Place: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay, Florida
3rd Place: Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida
BEST ZOO TO TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
San Diego Zoo, California
Photo courtesy San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and Joanne DiBona
|
Situated in Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo is one of the largest, most innovative institutions of its kind. Nearly all of
the main exhibits are open-air or "cageless." (Its Reptile House is the zoo's only major exhibition building.) Picked as your
favorite zoo during our previous polls, as well, it is home to 4,000 animals and currently has the largest population of Giant
Pandas outside of Mainland China. [ http://www.sandiegozoo.org/]
2nd Place: National Zoo, Washington, DC
3rd Place: Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri
Take the company provided housing or take a housing stipend? Jeff Long describes how to find your next housing on 
