almanac
the traveling physician's
A Year of Locums:
Twelve Destinations, Twelve Experiences
Every month brings a fresh landscape, a different community, and an
opportunity to see how medicine connects us across places.
JANUARY
JULY
FEBRUARY
AUGUST
MARCH
SEPTEMBER
APRIL
OCTOBER
MAY
NOVEMBER
JUNE
DECEMBER
JANUARY
Costa Rica
Living Pura Vida as a Locums Physician
January does not have to begin with fluorescent lights and the weight of back-to-back shifts. It can begin with salt on your skin, the sound of waves folding against the shore, and mornings that stretch into possibility. For doctors who choose locums, Costa Rica offers exactly that, a reset button disguised as a country.
A Land That Welcomes Renewal
Costa Rica has a rhythm that refuses to be rushed. Pura vida—the pure life—is more than a phrase here. It is how people greet each other, how they linger over meals, how they shape their days. In January, the country is at its best. The skies are impossibly blue, the air is warm but forgiving, and the trails are dry and ready for exploring. It is the kind of place that pulls the stress out of your body and replaces it with ease.
What You Could Experience
Wake in Tamarindo to the sound of surfboards slicing through waves, spend afternoons hiking Arenal Volcano’s steaming trails, and end your day soaking in hot springs beneath a glowing sky. In Monteverde, glide through the mist on a zip line above the cloud forest. In Puerto Viejo, reggae drifts through the streets as you sit barefoot with fresh ceviche. Meals are simple but satisfying—gallo pinto for breakfast, ceviche bright with lime for lunch, and casado with rice and beans at night.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Most physicians inherit their January, filled with meetings and compromises. Locums doctors write their own. Work a packed December, then carve out January for renewal. Flights are easy, costs are reasonable, and the time zone barely shifts. You can stay for weeks without feeling hurried, returning to your career in February with clarity instead of fatigue.
The Takeaway
Costa Rica is not about doing everything. It is about doing what matters slowly, fully, and without apology. It shows you that health is not only delivered in exam rooms—it is practiced in the way you live. Beginning your year here sets the tone for the months ahead: intentional, balanced, alive.
New Orleans, Louisiana
FEBRUARY
Medicine, Mardi Gras, and the Rhythm of Freedom
February in New Orleans is electricity. Brass bands echo through the streets, parades flood the city, and the smell of beignets and gumbo lingers in the air. For locums doctors, this is not just a break, it is stepping into a culture that heals through joy.
A City That Refuses to Break
New Orleans has endured hurricanes, floods, and setbacks, yet it thrives through music and food. Its heartbeat is jazz, its story is resilience. Practicing here means more than clinical care—you join a city that heals itself through connection and celebration.
What You Could Experience
Mardi Gras brings parades that last into the night, floats lit with color, beads flying through the air, and music pulsing from brass bands. By day, wander the French Quarter, where balconies drip with wrought iron and jazz floats through open doors. Eat gumbo thick with flavor, shrimp po’boys stacked high, or powdered sugar beignets that leave you dusted in white. Beyond Mardi Gras, stroll the Garden District under live oaks or explore Tremé’s soulful history.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Mardi Gras happens once a year, and staff physicians rarely time their leave to match it. With locums, you can plan assignments around it. Stack January with work, then take February to immerse yourself.
The Takeaway
New Orleans teaches that joy is medicine too. Celebration heals as much as rest does. With locums, February is not a gray stretch of winter, it becomes jazz, gumbo, and the reminder that life is measured in moments you choose.
MARCH
Japan (Kyoto & Tokyo)
Cherry Blossoms and New Perspectives
March in Japan is fleeting magic. Sakura trees burst into bloom, scattering petals across temples and neon streets alike. The blossoms last only a few weeks, but in that time the entire country transforms. For a physician stepping away from the rush of hospital corridors, Japan in March is not just travel—it is an invitation to pause, notice, and reflect.
A Country of Contrasts
Japan is a land where tradition and modernity coexist seamlessly. In Kyoto, you wander narrow lanes lined with wooden teahouses, pass under the bright gates of Shinto shrines, and hear the quiet scrape of sandals on stone paths. Tokyo, by contrast, surges with neon and noise—skyscrapers packed with glowing screens, trains arriving to the second, ramen shops steaming with late-night energy. Together, these two cities reveal balance: stillness and speed, reverence and reinvention. For doctors who spend much of their lives balancing science and humanity, this duality feels familiar and grounding.
What You Could Experience
Imagine starting your day in Kyoto’s Maruyama Park, where families gather under cherry blossoms, spreading blankets for picnics of rice balls, grilled skewers, and sweet mochi. The air is fragrant with flowers, laughter, and the sound of camera shutters capturing fleeting beauty. Walk through Gion at dusk and you may glimpse geiko slipping quietly into wooden doorways, lanterns glowing against the twilight.
A few days later, you find yourself in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, neon lights blazing against the night sky. Salarymen crowd into izakayas, clinking glasses of sake and sharing plates of yakitori. Around the corner, a tiny ramen shop serves bowls so rich with flavor that steam fogs your glasses as you slurp alongside strangers who feel like companions for the night. At sunrise, you ride the Shinkansen bullet train across the countryside, the landscape blurring past—fields, rivers, and the distant snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Cherry blossom season is famously brief, often lasting no more than two weeks in each region. For most staff physicians, aligning a vacation with this window is nearly impossible. Locums doctors, however, design their schedules differently. By planning assignments around March, you can step into Japan at its most magical, free from the frustration of denied leave requests or rigid calendars.
The Takeaway
The blossoms remind you that beauty is brief, that life is fragile, and that presence matters more than productivity. For doctors, this lesson lands with particular weight. Locums gives you the freedom to be there, to sit beneath a blooming tree with no urgency pulling you back, and to carry that memory into the months ahead.
APRIL
The Netherlands
Finding Balance Among the Blooms
April in the Netherlands feels like stepping into a painting. Fields of tulips stretch for miles in vivid rows of red, yellow, and violet, while Amsterdam’s canals reflect the soft spring light. For locums doctors, April here is not simply travel—it is a reminder that balance, beauty, and structure can coexist.
A Nation in Bloom
The Dutch have long embraced balance as a way of life. Work, rest, and leisure blend smoothly, supported by a culture that values efficiency without sacrificing joy. This is reflected everywhere—in the rhythm of bicycles gliding across cobblestones, in the order of canals winding through the city, and in the easy pace of café conversations. For doctors stepping away from demanding shifts, it is a refreshing model of how life can flow.
What You Could Experience
Begin your day cycling to Keukenhof Gardens, where tulips bloom in precise, dazzling arrangements that feel almost unreal. Pause for coffee at a canal-side café in Amsterdam, stroopwafel warm in your hand, as locals ride past with baskets of fresh bread and flowers. Spend an afternoon in the Van Gogh Museum, standing before brushstrokes that vibrate with color and emotion. Later, take a boat ride through the canals as the sun sets, watching the city light up softly in the evening.
Food here is hearty and unpretentious. Try raw herring with onions and pickles, eat cheese sold fresh from a market stall, or indulge in thick pancakes layered with syrup and fruit. Every bite reflects the country’s practicality, but also its quiet indulgence in life’s pleasures.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Tulip season is famously short, and missing it by a few weeks means missing it entirely. In most medical roles, aligning vacation to this precise window would be impossible. With locums, you can plan your assignments around it, freeing April to experience the Netherlands at its brightest. Instead of cramming in a weekend trip, you give yourself the gift of staying, cycling, and savoring.
The Takeaway
The Netherlands shows that freedom is not chaos—it is structure that makes space for joy. April here is a lesson in harmony, a reminder that balance is not something you wait for, it is something you choose.
MAY
Greece
History, Sunsets, and Slow Living
May in Greece is a tapestry of history and leisure. Athens hums with the weight of centuries, while Santorini glows at sunset, its whitewashed houses fading into shades of rose and gold. Crete, with its olive groves and slow meals, invites you to linger rather than rush. For a doctor stepping away from long shifts, Greece in May is a chance to remember what it feels like to let time stretch.
A Living Legacy
Every corner of Athens whispers of the past. The Parthenon rises over the city, its columns weathered yet proud, while ancient streets wind into neighborhoods alive with cafés and conversation. On the islands, history gives way to presence—people linger at tavernas, ferries cross the Aegean at an unhurried pace, and every sunset becomes a small ritual of gratitude.
What You Could Experience
Start your day climbing the Acropolis, the morning sun casting long shadows over the stones. By afternoon, board a ferry to Santorini, where the caldera glitters in the light. Sit on a terrace as the sun slips into the sea, glass of local wine in hand, the air filled with the sound of laughter and music. In Crete, savor grilled octopus drizzled with lemon, moussaka baked to perfection, or dolmades wrapped tight with herbs. Meals last for hours, fueled by conversation and punctuated with sweet spoonfuls of baklava.
Beyond food and views, Greece offers experiences that slow the heart rate: wandering cobbled streets in Athens’ Plaka district, swimming in the crystal waters of Crete, or exploring ruins where history feels immediate and alive.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Most staff physicians would experience Greece in a rush—a week of sightseeing squeezed between shifts. Locums makes a different story possible. You can linger, spend evenings unhurried, and move between islands without glancing at your watch. The Mediterranean lifestyle becomes not just something you witness, but something you live.
The Takeaway
Greece teaches patience and presence. It reminds you that life is not measured in productivity, but in sunsets, meals, and moments shared. May becomes not another month on the calendar, but a chapter in renewal.
JUNE
Alaska
Practicing at the Edge of the World
June in Alaska feels otherworldly. The sun lingers late into the night, shadows stretch long across vast valleys, and the air carries a freshness that reminds you how far you are from the noise of everyday life. For physicians who work locums, this is not just a trip north—it is a chance to reset in a place that redefines scale and perspective.
A Land That Demands Your Attention
Alaska is not subtle. Mountains slice into the horizon, glaciers groan as they calve into the sea, and wildlife roams freely, reminding you that this is still a wild frontier. June is the start of summer here, which means endless daylight, open trails, and rivers thick with salmon. Every corner of the landscape invites you to step outside, breathe deeply, and feel small in the best possible way.
What You Could Experience
Imagine finishing a stretch of shifts and finding yourself kayaking beside blue icebergs, their edges glowing in the sun. Or trekking into Denali National Park, where the sheer size of the peaks makes you stop and catch your breath. Even a drive along the Seward Highway becomes unforgettable, with the sea on one side and mountains rising sharp on the other.
Alaska’s culture is as rugged as its landscape. In small towns, you’ll find communities where neighbors know each other by name, where fresh-caught halibut shows up on your plate the same day it leaves the water, and where reindeer sausage or wild berries can be a casual lunch. Life here is stripped of excess, and that simplicity feels like medicine of its own.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Assignments in Alaska are different. Communities often rely heavily on locums physicians to meet their needs, and the work carries a sense of impact that is hard to replicate elsewhere. Instead of being one doctor among hundreds, you may be the lifeline for a small town. And when your shift ends, the wilderness waits just beyond the hospital doors.
Locums also gives you the flexibility to make Alaska more than a stopover. You can plan an extended stay in June, timing your break for the best of the long summer days, and return to your next assignment renewed rather than depleted.
The Takeaway
Alaska teaches presence. It reminds you that medicine is important, but so is humility, wonder, and connection to the natural world. Spending June here through locums is not just an adventure, it is a recalibration. You leave with stories of glaciers and midnight sun, but more importantly, with a perspective that grounds you for the months ahead.
JULY
Bali, Indonesia
Restoring Body and Spirit
July in Bali feels like the pause button on a life that rarely stops. The island greets you with humid air scented by incense, rice terraces glowing green in the sun, and waves rolling steady against black sand beaches. For physicians who spend most of their days carrying the weight of others, Bali is a reminder that rest is not a luxury—it is a necessity.
A Rhythm of Healing
Bali is a place where spiritual life and everyday life blend. Temples stand quietly in the jungle, offerings of flowers and fruit line doorsteps, and ceremonies unfold as naturally as the tide. The rhythm here is slower, but it is not stagnant—it is restorative. July brings the dry season, when skies stay clear and the air feels lighter, making it the perfect time to be outdoors.
What You Could Experience
Begin your day in Ubud with sunrise yoga, the sound of roosters and gongs rising together. Wander through art markets filled with hand-carved wood and colorful batik, or take a scooter ride past rice fields that ripple like green stairs. In the afternoons, dive into coral reefs alive with tropical fish or trek Mount Batur before dawn to watch the sun spill over the horizon. Evenings might find you at a café in Canggu, satay skewers sizzling nearby, a bowl of nasi goreng steaming in front of you, and the sound of waves crashing just beyond the street.
Food in Bali is a highlight of every day. Smoothie bowls brimming with dragon fruit and coconut, crispy duck served with sambal, and tropical fruit juices that taste like sunshine itself. Each meal feels fresh, nourishing, and intentional.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Bali is not a destination for a rushed week. It requires time to adjust, to slow down, to allow your body and mind to settle into its rhythm. Locums provides that space. Instead of waiting for burnout to demand a break, you build restoration directly into your calendar. Work an intensive stretch earlier in the year, then claim July for Bali.
The Takeaway
Bali teaches that healing is not only what you provide—it is what you must also allow for yourself. July here is more than travel. It is a reset that strengthens you for the path ahead.
Scotland
AUGUST
Festivals and Stillness
August in Scotland is a lesson in duality. Edinburgh bursts alive with festivals, music, and theater spilling into cobblestone streets. Just beyond the city, the Highlands open wide with misty hills, quiet lochs, and air so still you can hear your own breath. For locums doctors, this month in Scotland is a reminder that both noise and silence are essential.
A Tale of Two Worlds
Edinburgh transforms in August into a global stage, the Fringe Festival filling pubs and theaters with performers from around the world. The city hums with energy, laughter, and applause. Yet a few hours away, the Highlands whisper a different tune—windswept ridges, glens cloaked in heather, and stone cottages standing against the quiet. Both experiences together reveal the balance between connection and solitude.
What You Could Experience
Spend your mornings on the Royal Mile, watching jugglers, comedians, and actors captivate crowds under gothic spires. In the evenings, slip into a hidden whisky bar, the scent of oak and smoke filling the room as you sip a single malt older than your career. When the bustle grows too loud, retreat north to Glencoe, where trails wind through valleys carved by glaciers, and lochs mirror the clouds above.
Meals in Scotland are hearty and grounding. Try haggis with neeps and tatties, salmon pulled fresh from cold rivers, or a meat pie warm from the oven. And always, there is whisky—fiery, complex, and unforgettable.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Most physicians cannot design a month that includes both chaos and calm. Locums makes it possible. You can dive headfirst into the energy of Edinburgh’s festivals, then retreat to the Highlands for recovery, all within the same stretch of time.
The Takeaway
Freedom is not about choosing one or the other. It is about weaving both into your life. Scotland teaches that stillness and celebration are not opposites—they are partners.
Italy
SEPTEMBER
A Season of Abundance
September in Italy is generosity embodied. Vineyards swell with grapes ready for harvest, piazzas hum with laughter under late-summer skies, and the Amalfi Coast glows golden in the fading light. For physicians who choose locums, September in Italy is not just leisure—it is abundance lived fully.
A Life of Plenty
Italy is a country where food, art, and conversation hold equal weight. In September, the pace slows as tourists thin, but the land overflows with harvest. Farmers gather grapes for wine, markets brim with figs and olives, and kitchens turn the season into dishes meant to be savored.
What You Could Experience
In Tuscany, sip wine at a vineyard during harvest, the air filled with the scent of grapes and earth. Drive along the Amalfi cliffs, the sea stretching wide beneath you, villages clinging to the rocks in bursts of color. Wander Florence’s narrow streets, gelato dripping down your hand as you pause to marvel at the Duomo’s dome.
Food here is memory made edible. Risotto stirred patiently until creamy, truffles shaved over pasta, pizza blistered in wood-fired ovens, and espressos that stretch conversations late into the night. Every meal is an invitation to slow down.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Italy cannot be experienced in a rush. It is not a checklist of landmarks but a rhythm of life. Locums gives you the space to live that rhythm—to linger over a vineyard lunch, to stay in Florence long enough to see how the light changes, to feel at home in a piazza rather than passing through.
The Takeaway
Italy proves that life is not meant to be rationed. It is meant to be savored, one sip, one bite, one sunset at a time. September becomes a season of fullness, a reminder that work can fund not just survival, but joy.
OCTOBER
Morroco
Into the Unknown
October in Morocco is a kaleidoscope of color, sound, and scent. The summer heat fades into something softer, the air easier to breathe, and the streets alive with markets and music. For locums doctors, Morocco in October is an invitation to step into the unfamiliar—to trade certainty for curiosity.
A World of Contrast
Marrakech hums with energy. Narrow alleys wind into souks where spices pile high, fabrics blaze in brilliant colors, and lanterns turn the market into a glowing constellation. Just beyond, the desert opens wide, golden dunes stretching to horizons that seem endless. Morocco is a land of dualities—noise and silence, bustle and stillness—and it invites you to find comfort in both.
What You Could Experience
Begin your day wandering the Medina, the air thick with cumin, saffron, and the sound of bargaining voices. Pause in a courtyard shaded by orange trees, sipping mint tea poured high into small glasses. By evening, ride a camel into the Sahara, the sun sinking into sand dunes that blush pink before fading to black. At night, stars spill across the sky in a way that feels almost impossible.
Meals are feasts for the senses. Tagines simmer with lamb, apricots, and almonds, their fragrance drifting long before they reach the table. Couscous fluffs under roasted vegetables, pastries drip with honey, and every dish is shared around the table, eaten slowly and together.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Morocco is not the kind of trip you squeeze between shifts. It demands immersion, time to adapt to its pace and let its contrasts sink in. With locums, you can give October to Morocco, planning your work so that discovery becomes part of your schedule rather than something stolen.
The Takeaway
Morocco teaches that freedom is not about certainty. It is about curiosity, about stepping into the unknown and trusting that what you find will expand you. October here becomes more than travel—it becomes a practice in openness.
NOVEMBER
Patagonia
Wilderness Without Walls
Patagonia strips life to its core. Jagged peaks tear into the sky, glaciers collapse into turquoise waters, and winds whip across plains so wide they seem endless. In November, spring arrives in the Southern Hemisphere, opening trails and softening the chill. For physicians used to fluorescent lights and crowded halls, Patagonia is medicine of another kind—raw, unfiltered wilderness.
A Raw Landscape
Here, silence roars. Torres del Paine’s towers rise like stone cathedrals, Mount Fitz Roy glows pink in morning light, and lakes mirror skies so clear they feel infinite. Patagonia is a place that refuses to be small, and in its vastness, you find perspective.
What You Could Experience
Trek through valleys carved by ice, camp beneath skies scattered with stars, or watch glaciers calve into waters that echo with thunder. In small towns, meals are simple but grounding—lamb roasted over open fire, empanadas warm from the oven, Malbec poured generously into glasses that clink against the wind.
Days are long and demanding, but they give more than they take. The hikes, the cold, the silence—all of it strips you down, leaving only what matters.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Patagonia cannot be visited in haste. The distances are vast, the treks demanding, the rewards slow and earned. Traditional jobs rarely allow the time required. With locums, you create the time, building November into your calendar as a month for wilderness and recalibration.
The Takeaway
Patagonia teaches that freedom is not comfort—it is space. The space to breathe, to walk until your legs ache, to stare into horizons that remind you how small and precious your place in the world is.
Germany & Austria
DECEMBER
Closing the Year in Celebration
December in central Europe feels like a fairy tale come to life. Christmas markets transform squares into glowing villages of wood and light. Choirs echo in stone cathedrals, the air smells of cinnamon and roasted nuts, and snow falls gently over medieval rooftops. For physicians ending their year with locums, December here is not just travel—it is celebration, reflection, and gratitude.
A Season of Light
In Vienna, the grand Rathausplatz shimmers with stalls selling ornaments and warm pastries. In Nuremberg, the Christkindlesmarkt glows with tradition, every booth lit softly under the watch of the cathedral. In Salzburg, Mozart’s music spills into the streets, blending with carols sung by choirs. Everywhere, the air is alive with laughter, the clink of mugs filled with hot glühwein, and the crunch of snow underfoot.
What You Could Experience
Spend mornings wandering markets, sipping mulled wine as you browse handmade crafts. Afternoons may take you into alpine villages, snow blanketing rooftops, horse-drawn carriages creaking along icy streets. Evenings are for feasting—plates of schnitzel, dumplings, sausages, and gingerbread that tastes like memory itself.
The rhythm is festive but unhurried. Every square, every stall, every choir invites you to slow down and savor.
Why Locums Makes It Possible
Most doctors end December exhausted, sprinting into the new year without pause. Locums changes that story. Work hard earlier in the fall, then gift yourself December in Europe. Flights and connections are simple, markets run all month, and the timing aligns perfectly with the season of reflection.
The Takeaway
Germany and Austria remind you that endings matter. December here is more than a holiday—it is a chance to close the year not with exhaustion, but with joy, light, and gratitude. Locums gives you the freedom to choose that ending, and to begin the next year renewed.