If you’re looking for the opportunity to enjoy plenty of culture in between working your healthcare travel job shifts, you can’t go wrong by taking an assignment in one of these fantastic destinations.
New York City, New York
We’d be remiss in not including New York City, though it’s surely the most obvious place for an allied traveler who wants to enjoy lots of culture. In fact, it offers so much, that you could easily spend 13 or 26 weeks here and not experience it all. The Big Apple hosts the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere, the Metropolitan Museum of Art with its collection of more than two million works from antiquity to present. You’ll be able to check out paintings by Vermeer, Rodin and Rembrandt, an incredible Egyptian Collection which includes the circa 2440 BC tomb of Perneb and much more. There are many other world-renowned galleries along with countless music, theater and dance options too.
Charleston, South Carolina
This rare southern city retains the charms of its past, with its cobblestone streets in the Historic District lined with magnificent period homes, yet it’s also managed to reinvent itself for modern times. Charleston offers a wealth of outstanding cultural attractions, from the Beaux-Arts Gibbes Museum of Art to the Scottish ballet and Dock Street Theatre, the very first building in the country strictly devoted to dramatic performance. It also has an impressive music and nightlife scene with everything from major concert venues to speakeasy-inspired bars and rooftops for dancing and drinking.
Houston, Texas
America’s fourth largest city also has an exciting culture scene. In fact, the tree-lined Museum District boasts 20 different institutions, like the Museum of Fine Art with its collection that covers 6,000 years of human history and the incredible Menil Collection which hosts works by 20th-century masters like Picasso and Duchamp. Performances are wide ranging too, you can check out big-name music acts at Warehouse Live and the House of Blues, intimate, free shows at Cactus Music, and enjoy the Houston Ballet too.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles is home to a lot more than Hollywood stars and film studios. A travel job here will bring the opportunity to discover one of the most famous ice age fossil excavation sites in the world, the La Brea Tar Pits. It formed some 40,000 years ago when oil permeated through rock and the pits entrapped animals that passed by, getting stuck in the muck. It’s served as a natural preservative for fossils for centuries. Stargazers are likely to find themselves at Griffith Park Observatory quite a bit, enjoying mesmerizing views of the stars through powerful telescopes, all free of charge. The park also houses the Los Angeles Zoo, a Greek theater and equestrian center. Music lovers will truly be in paradise, with more live music venues than you could possibly experience during your travel job.
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago offers just about every cultural attraction imaginable. It’s home to world-class museums like the Art Institute of Chicago, and Loyola University Museum of Art, a true treasure with the Martin D’Arcy, S.J. Collection one of the Midwest’s finest collections of Renaissance, Baroque and medieval art. The Windy City also has one of the best theater scenes in the nation, with leading venues like Steppenwolf and the Goodman, while its music scene is impressive too. Live blues an be found across Chicago, and the annual Chicago Blues Festival brings music lovers from far and wide. The city hosts classical music festivals too, like summer’s free Grant Park Music Festival. And, of course, there are countless dining and shopping opportunities along the Magnificent Mile and beyond. In fact, Michigan Avenue and the Magnificent Mile alone is lined with over 200 dining establishments.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Another fabulous Midwest city, Minneapolis is also one of the top destinations in the U.S. for theater, home to the legendary Guthrie, which is also renowned for its magnificent architecture. It’s big on art too, hosting the Minneapolis Institute of Art with works from everyone from Gauguin to Rembrandt, the Weissman Art Museum and the Walker Art Center, along with numerous small galleries and artist studios in the Northeast Arts District.
