Nurse explains why she flies 5,000 miles every month to work from Sweden to San Francisco

Commuting for work is something most of us do not enjoy. And if the journey takes long hours, employees often find it tedious to look forward to working every day. But for this nurse from Sweden, flying more than 5,000 miles to get to her job is what she calls a 'mini vacation'! On September 23, Courtney El Refai revealed how she manages to hop on an 11-hour flight to San Francisco, where she works as a nurse.

Courtney, who originally hails from the US, moved to Sweden after her marriage to her Swedish husband and lives with their two-year-old daughter. But after giving birth in early 2023, her family moved back to the US for a while, until they returned to Stockholm in December 2024. But for Courtney, she missed her career as a NICU nurse in the US. Unlike others who would hesitate to move away from their family for their career, Courtney made a willful decision — to commute a long distance, all the way from Stockholm to San Francisco, for her US job! Sounds wild, right? Well, for 31-year-old Courtney, it has a lot of benefits that we may not know. Since January, Courtney has clocked in more than 30,000 miles and spent around $1,500 on flights, but she believes that it's worth every penny.

Her pay is a major reason the extreme travel works for her. Courtney revealed that working during the weekends earns her extra pay, and training other nurses brings a 25 per cent premium over regular staff. She noted that her work-life balance has improved significantly, as being so far away reduces the obligation to pick up extra shifts. Courtney takes on just four eight-hour shifts a month, yet the income goes much further than they would in Sweden. She also shared that a single 12-hour shift in California can cover an entire month’s rent back home. The arrangement allows her to stack shifts back-to-back, which gives her up to six weeks off at a time. While in San Francisco, she stays with another nurse for $50 a night and leaves her scrubs and car there until her next visit. Explaining the pay differences, she revealed, "In the US, nurses are paid differently; in the San Francisco Bay Area, they have the highest paid nurses in the country, and we have a nurses' union which a lot of other countries don’t have."

Describing her work routine as a 'mini vacation, Courtney remarked, "[It's] because I’m flying away from my obligations at home and can catch up with my friends in the US." Although she enjoys the way of work, there are a couple of downsides to this routine, one of which is the challenge she faces in communicating with her daughter in another timezone, and the other is being away from her family for 10 days. However, for Courtney, balancing long-haul flights, well-paid shifts, and the perks of raising her daughter in Sweden — where childcare and healthcare come with little to no cost — is the reason why she does not plan on changing this routine anytime soon.

According to a study by the ERI Economic Research Institute in 2025, it was revealed that in Sweden, the average annual salary for a registered nurse is approximately SEK 571,063  (about $60,000 USD). In contrast, the average annual salary for an RN in the United States is around $75,000 USD. Coupled with the benefits of Sweden’s subsidised healthcare and childcare, with better pay as a nurse working in the US, Courtney's extreme travel becomes a smart choice rather than a financial burden.

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