If you fly to your locum tenens assignments, you obviously have to take luggage with you, but you don’t have to check it!  A single, tightly-packed bag that fits into the overhead compartment is all you need to avoid unnecessary fees. 

To help you pack smart and travel light, we turned to the web and found helpful advice from a couple of personal packing gurus, Doug Dymant and Susan Foster.  Among their tips:

Start with a personal packing list.  A packing list serves a couple of purposes, says Dymant, who writes at www.onebag.com. First, it helps you remember what to bring.  More importantly though, he says, the list acts as “a sort of contract you make with yourself, an agreement that if it’s not on your list, it shouldn’t be in your bag.”

Try bundle wrapping your clothes. This unusual packing technique is best explained in greater depth by Dymant on his website.  It purports to have a couple of benefits.  First, he says, it reduces wrinkling.  Bundling also takes up less space in your bag as compared to traditional folding and stacking of individual garments. 

Plan your wardrobe.  Let go of the idea of wearing a different outfit each day, writes Foster on her website, SmartPacking.com. Instead, she says, pack interchangeable pieces based on one basic color and plan to wear each piece more than once.  Two pairs of dark slacks plus one jacket plus four shirts/blouses should get you through a week on the road.

Choose thin items over thick. A turtleneck plus a cardigan sweater is warmer, more versatile, and packs smaller than a sweatshirt or bulky sweater, writes Foster.

Both authors also stress that you check ahead of time to ensure that you know your airline’s requirements for checked and carry-on luggage sizes and weights.

But outside of retirement planning, a more fundamental question that many individuals and couples ask is:  do I/we need a financial planner?   I’ll try to briefly answer that below.

What is Financial Planning?
Simply stated, it’s the process of meeting your life goals through the proper management of your finances. Life goals can include buying a home, saving for your child’s education or planning for retirement.

A financial planner should be able to guide you through an evaluation process that will help you take a “big picture” look at where you are financially. The process involves gathering relevant financial information, setting life goals, examining your current financial status and coming up with a strategy or plan for how you can meet your goals given your current situation and future plans.

To answer the original question, I think you would benefit from professional financing planning if:

• You need expertise you don’t possess in certain areas of your finances. For example, a planner can help you evaluate the level of risk in your investment portfolio or adjust your retirement plan due to changing family circumstances.
• You want to get a professional opinion about the financial plan you developed for yourself.
• You don’t feel you have the time to spare to do your own financial planning.  This is a common scenario for busy physicians and locum tenens.
• You have an immediate need or unexpected life event such as an inheritance or a major illness.
• You feel that a professional adviser could help you improve on how you are currently managing your finances.
• You know that you need to improve your current financial situation but don’t know where to start.

Choose from a list of ingredients to build your own nutrition bar at YouBars.com

There’s a lot of junk out there but luckily the Web helps us sort through it. From the news on our home pages to whose ramblings we read on Facebook – we adjust a few settings and we have some choice over what we consume. Now that choice extends to food, and for locum tenens on the go, I’ve found a site that’s a nutritional godsend.

YouBars.com lets you easily design a personalized nutrition bar on the Web.  A simple online checklist let’s you choose a base (such as almond butter and organic dates), a couple nuts and seeds, a few dried fruits (Goji berries, anyone? They’re high in anti-oxidants and riboflavin), sweeteners (I like the low-glycemic agave nectar), and other additions such as organic ginger, coffee crystals or the libido-boosting maca powder.

Each ingredient pops open a definition and description of its benefits. You can even adjust the levels of sweetness and protein and whether you like it heavy on the seeds, nuts and/or fruit.

The company also offers YouShakes and the brand new YouTrailMix which are similarly customizable.

You’ll get a kick out of seeing your name on the packaging, but beware. The Deanna bar didn’t stay Deanna’s bar for long enough. If your significant other shares your taste, hide your box before YourBars becomes HisBars or HerBars.  (YouBars.com, 13 bars at $2.99/bar)

Bluets dot the Appalachian Trail in NC

Bryson’s sojourn through NC found him waiting out a snowstorm in a rural hotel to great comic effect.  Snow shouldn’t be a concern, though, if a summer locum assignment brings you near the 300+ miles of Appalachian Trail that hug the state’s western border.  Colorful wildflowers will be in view and hiking highlights include the 5,300 ft. Wayah Bald in the Nantahala National Forest, which offers a panoramic view of  Georgia peaks and the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Beaches Await
On the opposite end of the state lie the sandy islands of the famed Outer Banks.  Atlantic beaches beckon you to sunbathe, swim, and explore charming villages like Swansboro, on the Crystal Coast. Beautiful waterfront views are complemented by a quaint downtown filled with boutiques and wonderful seafood and barbecue restaurants.

There’s more to explore as a locum tenens in North Carolina, including the historical mystery and recreational activities of Roanoke Island. Some 400 colonists disappeared from this 16th century English settlement, and archaeologists, historians, and scientists have not yet solved the puzzle, staged as “The Lost Colony,” the longest-running outdoor theater production in America.

Classic Golf Courses
If golf is your game, North Carolina offers luxe resorts as well as surprisingly affordable public courses.  Golf Magazine’s list of the “100 Top Courses you can Play” includes four courses from the TarHeel state topped by the challenging Pinehurst (Number Two).  GolfLink.com is another helpful guide to top NC courses.

Whether you prefer to walk 18 holes or hike the Applachian trail, do take Bryson’s classic along with you.  A Walk in the Woods is quite simply the most hilarious book I’ve ever read.