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If your home and work are on the opposite sides of town, you might have a long commute. If they're on the opposite sides of the country, you have quite the supercommute. That's the case for Memwanesha Daniels. Daniels, who describes her career as "bicoastal nursing," lives with her boyfriend and three kids, ages 2 to 13, in Jacksonville, Florida, but works in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she says she's able to make three times as much as when she worked locally in Jacksonville. When she was in nursing school, hearing of registered nurses making good money in the Bay Area and saving more by living elsewhere was "like urban legend." "I heard about that and I told myself, 'I'm going to work in the Bay Area,'" she says. Fast forward and Daniels says she's been supercommuting to work in California since 2017, with some breaks in between where she was working locally in Florida. But, "I always end up back in California," she says. Making the trip The length of her time in California varies, but Daniels says she's done everything from working a few days at a time to staying 2-week long sprints to earn as much as possible. Daniels is usually able to fly to work the day of. She'll often hop on a flight between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. in Jacksonville and arrive in the Bay Area between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. She was once stuck in Texas overnight after a flight got pushed, though she says "it doesn't happen often." "I love to fly, and I love to travel," she says, noting that she falls asleep quickly when she's on the plane. "Flying is relaxing for me." When she lands in the Bay Area, she'll head to her apartment in Oakland to shower and squeeze in a nap before heading to work. Targeting $25K a month Daniels estimates she's typically flying 4 days a month. But if she's in "grind mode," she might only fly twice a month, as she might stay in the Bay Area for longer stretches to make more money. She's on staff at one hospital, typically working 12-hour shifts and prioritizing nights and weekends for the increased pay. She makes more than $100 per hour on those shifts, and even more for overtime. She's made $25,000 a month before by doing these shifts and picking up some overtime, generally totaling around 16 shifts in that time. Sometimes she makes less, when she's spending more time at home with family for holidays or birthdays. "I can make more," she says. "But of course you still have to have a life, still have to get home." As for her supercommuting costs, Daniels typically makes two round trips a month, which she estimates costs under $500 total. She pays roughly $1,300 a month for her California apartment. Daniels' apartment is within walking distance to work, but she can also take a local BART train and hospital shuttle to get to work. "I can save a lot and it gives me a different type of life than what I would have trying to make things work in Florida," she says. "Paying an extra $2,000 a month to make three times the amount I would make in Florida is very much worth it." 'This is a retirement plan for me' When she's away, Daniels regularly has FaceTime calls to stay in touch with her boyfriend and kids. While she sometimes feels "sad and worried" about being away from her kids for stretches at a time, they don't seem to mind as much, she says. "I'm the one crying like, 'Oh, I miss my family' and they are just fine," she says. "They don't care because they're used to it." When she's home in Jacksonville, she's "fully clocked out of work" and essentially "living the stay-at-home mom life" with her family. Daniels is considering packing up with her family and moving to the Bay Area full-time. Wherever she lives, she plans to continue nursing in California. "It's very lucrative," she says. "This is a retirement plan for me." Want to level up your AI skills? Sign up for Smarter by CNBC Make It's new online course, How To Use AI To Communicate Better At Work. Get specific prompts to optimize emails, memos and presentations for tone, context and audience. Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and peers.
