My first travel assignment was in New Jersey. Pediatric ICU.
I remember hanging up with my recruiter after signing my contract and thinking — okay, now what?
She sent me a resource page. Airbnb, VRBO, Furnished Finder. That was it. I was on my own.
Airbnb and VRBO would've eaten through my entire travel pay in fees. So I turned to Furnished Finder.
Weeks of messaging landlords. Waiting days to hear back. Trying to get someone to FaceTime me so I could actually see what I was paying for.
All of this while preparing for my first ICU assignment in a state I'd never lived in.
When I finally found a place — a landlord who actually responded fast, sent a video, seemed genuine — I sent the deposit. I was so relieved.
I shouldn't have been.
I showed up to an apartment that looked nothing like the video. The landlord was late with the keys. That warm, responsive energy? Gone.
That first night I woke up with a sore back. The mattress sagged straight down the middle. When I lifted it up, there was a stain on the foundation and the frame was snapped clean in half.
The kitchen tiles had dirt and rust packed into every crack. And when I opened the cabinet — roach tablets. Just sitting there out in the open.
I called the landlord and told them I was moving out by the end of the week. Suddenly they were warm again. Told me not to worry about the deposit.
A few days after I moved out I texted to ask when I'd get it back. They said I wouldn't — because I'd left early.
I quoted New Jersey tenant law word for word. Their response:
"This is Furnished Finder, not New Jersey tenant law."
I said see you in small claims and blocked them.
I was a pediatric ICU nurse. Alone in a state I didn't know. Working the hardest shifts of my career.
The last thing I needed was this.
I deserved better. And so do you.
That's why I built FlorInnce.
