Whitney & Jared

Jared Casazza and Whitney Eakin

We are Dr. Jared and Whitney Casazza.

We are both Doctors of Physical Therapy, and we’ve been traveling physical therapists since 2015. For the first few years of our traveling careers, we lived and traveled full time in our fifth wheel camper while working as Travel PTs, thus the name of our blog “Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist.”

In 2018, we decided to start taking more time off from work, and start spending more time traveling for fun. From July-December 2018, we took a 5 month trip around the world, to 3 different continents and 11 different countries! Then in 2019, we traveled for 4 months throughout Europe to 14 different countries. We had 5-month trip planned throughout Latin America in 2020, until our plans got rocked by COVID. Since then, we’ve been able to resume traveling internationally and spent several months out of the country traveling in 2021, 2022, and 2023. We’ve also now visited all 50 US states and all 63 US National Parks!

Over the next couple of years, we plan to continue our part time work lifestyle, while traveling as much as possible both domestically and internationally. When we’re not working in the clinic, we work online on our FifthWheelPT blog, as well as our online business where we mentor and educate current and aspiring travel therapists, Travel Therapy Mentor. We may settle down into a more permanent location in the future, but for now we are enjoying our traveling life!

In addition to physical therapy and traveling, Whitney has a passion for photography and writing about our adventures. Jared has a passion for finance and enjoys learning and writing on our blog about financial independence, credit card rewards, travel hacking, investing, cryptocurrency, real estate, and various other money making hacks! In addition, you’ll sometimes find random health, nutrition, and philosophical articles pop up on this site!

Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoy! Feedback, criticism and discussion are always appreciated.

Disclaimer: Please note that any financial information on this site is not meant to be specific financial advice for you or your personal situation. Jared is not a licensed financial advisor. He is a physical therapist and has not received formal training in finance. Everything mentioned on this site is for entertainment and informational purposes only. Everyone’s situation is different, so if you are unsure about your personal finances, please seek a financial advisor that can consider your own individual case and make recommendations to you.

To learn more about Jared, check out his personal story here.

16 thoughts on “Whitney & Jared”

  1. Jared, I read this and feel like I was reading something that I wrote about my life and interests. My girlfriend is an OT and we have been traveling with our 5th wheel for a little over 2 years. I enjoyed the read and I am interested in your financial pursuits to obtain independence. Keep up the good work!

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  3. Jared, I just completed my first year of PT school and have planned to work as a travel PT, living in a 5th wheel from the beginning. I’ve really appreciated reading your blog, especially the financial information! If you’re so inclined, it would be great to read your/Whitney’s thoughts on the experience of living in the trailer, tips on maintenance, finding sites, proximity to the clinic, meeting friends, etc. Thanks again!

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  4. Hi Jared, I am a third year DPT student and have been planning to do traveling while living in an RV since starting school. I have found your page so helpful, thank you! My main question is about weekly income. I may be a bit confused but $1400-$1800 seems like very little compared to the “hype” of traveling pay. I thought you usually make no less than $100,000/year. Can you explain a bit more? Thanks!

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  5. Hi Jared,
    I’m planning to start doing travel PT in a few months from now and really interested in living in an RV while I do it as well! One of the recruiters I spoke to told me that you needed to have your permanent address (of course) but also your temporary address while you’re on assignment. Is this something you’ve been required to do and is it problematic with living in an RV and not having an address?
    Thanks!
    Shelly

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  6. Hey Jared 🙂 Love your blog. I am currently working as a travel nurse, and my husband graduates in May with his DPT, so we’ll be able to travel together soon. Looks like we have a lot of the same interests and goals!

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  8. Hi Jared,

    Found your blog through the Doctor of Physical Therapy Student Network on FB. I’m a fellow DPT who is intrigued by personal finance and investing. Just curious, what are your favorite books on such topics?

    A few titles that have been my personal favs:
    – A Random Walk Down Wall Street
    – Irrational Exuberance
    – The White Coat Investor
    – Stocks for the Long Run
    – Millionaire Real Estate Investor
    – Common Sense on Mutual Funds
    – One Up on Wall Street
    – The Intelligent Investor

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    1. Hey, Andrew! Thanks for checking out the blog. It’s always nice to meet other physical therapists that are into personal finance and investing. That’s a great list. My favorite personal finance/investing books are definitely The Millionaire Next Door and The Intelligent Investor. There are many many more that I’ve read, enjoyed, and learned from. But those are always the two that stick out in my mind the most. Last year I got intrigued by value investing and read a few good books on that topic. But so far I haven’t pursued value investing with any significant portion of my portfolio.

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  9. Hi I am thinking of beginning a traveling therapy career (COTA) which is how I found your blog! I would be traveling with my daughter and sister along with three dogs. I’m curious about your decision to go with a fifth wheel rather than an RV? I’m in the dreaming and researching stage! I’ve been wanting to do travel OT since I was in school and after 2 years of unsatisfactory jobs and low paying offers I think I’m ready!

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    1. Hey, Brandi! We had a few reasons why we chose a fifth wheel over a Class A or Class C motor home. 1. Many of the motorhomes and travel trailers that we went in didn’t have a shower that would fit me. I’m 6’4″ and many of the showers seem to be for people 6′ or smaller. 2. The motorhome that we found that would work for us and were less than 10 years old were all pretty expensive and we were worried about a huge hassle with the motorhome needed engine or transmission repairs while we were living in it. 3. Since part of the motorhome is driving area, a 33′ motorhome doesn’t have nearly as much living space as a 33′ fifth wheel.

      Having three people and three dogs, I would go as big as possible because it will get cramped very quickly in there.

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  11. hello! I am applying to grad school soon and I am quite confused with my life….I have always been set on applying to PT/OT school but the debt to income ratio obviously isnt very nice, they have a clinical nurse leader program in my area (16 month masters program where you can become an RN) and do you think i should just do that instead? ..I somewhat believe OT/PT seem more enjoyable than nursing and a little less stressful..but idk it seems doing the master in nursing route is better from a financial standpoint (20K for whole program) … so confused 😦 help

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    1. Hey, Jayna! That’s a very tough question. I would agree that the debt to income ratio isn’t as good for PT and OT school as it is for other healthcare professions. From a purely financial standpoint, nursing school is hard to beat since it’s so much cheaper and will be a lot less time in school. With that being said, I would much rather be a PT than an OT or a nurse. Physical therapy is a great profession and very fulfilling. Also if you’re willing to take travel assignments as a therapist you can met the debt much more manageable due to the higher income. I would recommend that you shadow PTs, OTs, and nurses to see how you like each job and make your decision based on what you think you would enjoy the most. Finances are important but enjoying your job and being happy in your life is more important.

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  12. Hi!

    I have always wanted to be a travel PT for the same reasons you both did. I’m starting to look into it more now that I’m entering my 3rd year of PT School. I just got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in December 2020 and was wondering if you guys still were covered by the travel agencies insurance when you took your big trips (which sound awesome by the way). Unfortunately Continuous Glucose Monitors and Insulin are wild expensive when you’re not covered so I would have to consider that now.

    Thanks so much!

    Austin

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    1. Sorry to hear about the diagnosis. For short gaps between contracts you can either stay on the company insurance or if changing companies, you can use COBRA. For us on our long international trips, we sign up for an ACA marketplace plan during that time which has been surprisingly affordable especially with the subsidies. Here’s an article with more detail on this that should be helpful. https://traveltherapymentor.com/2018/11/18/travel-therapist-health-insurance-options-explained/

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