Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ryan Kimball . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ryan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The biggest risk I have ever taken in my life is when I decided to leave my “career” as a preschool teacher and chase my dream to live full time on road out of my truck camper.

I was finally using my college degree becoming a teacher. I truly believed that having a career was the answer. I was excited to tell people, I am a teacher. I very quickly realized that the 9-5 wasn’t the life for me. I loved my kids but I could feel that I was losing myself. I realized it was time to finally chase my long lasting dream of living full time on the road.

So, once the school year ended, I went back to the restaurant lifestyle so that I could save up some money and finally buy that truck and truck camper. So, that’s what I did. I sold, donated or threw away all of my things I believed I wouldn’t need. I started researching like crazy trying to figure out what would be best for me. All I knew is that I wanted a truck and camper and I was determined to make it happen.

I was terrified to finally take the plunge but before I knew it I was making the biggest purchase of my life. As I drove away with my new truck I burst into tears. I knew my life was about to change and I was so excited and so scared.

I quickly learned that the truck I bought couldn’t really handle a camper so it took me a little longer to find a camper that would fit. I raced out to Montana in between snowstorms for a tiny camper.

After Montana I packed up the camper, said goodbye to my loved ones and headed South. I had dreamed for years how it would feel those first few minutes hitting the highway. I thought I would be filled with relief and proudness but instead I burst into tears. I knew I was about to begin a chapter of life that was so out of my comfort zone. I knew nothing about my new house on wheels. But in between the sobs, I felt this little flicker of excitement. I had done it. I had took the risk. I was living.

So, I went straight down to Baja. Where I lived for the entire winter. I met other nomads on the road. I started to feel more comfortable in the lifestyle. Even though I still haven’t figured out how to make money on the road it’s the ultimate goal!

It hasn’t even been a year yet, but I have traveled all over the west coast in my rig with my two dogs. It has been bumpy, messy and so dang beautiful. I am so excited to see where this chapter in life takes me.

Ryan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well howdy I’m Ryan.

Like I mentioned before I live fulltime on the road with my two adopted pups. I am a 33 year old woman, recently single and no desire to pursue a traditional career. I spend my days waking up slow, drinking tea, watching my dogs run wild, mountain biking, hiking, playing with dogs, finding water to “shower” in, relaxing in the sun. Or you can find us on the dirt roads of the south west.

This chapter of life has shown me that you can chase your dreams all on your own. You don’t need to wait for anyone. Even it’s terrifying, you can still do it. Just do it scared. This goes along with what I am most proud of. I didn’t think I was capable of chasing my dream of living on the road full time. Every day is a new adventure and new hurdles to conquer but I have learned to love it. I have fallen in love with the discomfort, the messiness, the constant trying to figure how to fix things on the camper and the freedom of it all.

So, it’s been fun for me to inspire others to get out there. Especially women. I love encouraging women to push their fears away and to just do it scared. We don’t have time in this life to wait for a partner to hold our hand. There is something so empowering conquering your fears and chasing your dreams especially doing it solo.

Another big part of who I am and I feel it goes along with living a solo life on the road is learning how to heal. I started my journey on the road in a relationship. That has now come to an end and I am in a season of healing my broken heart, learning to love myself and push forward in life by myself. I am very open when it comes to my healing process and how messy it truly is. I feel the more open I am about it the more people can relate to me. I love connecting with people who are going through tough times. It makes us feel less alone. I believe all people are going through something and the more we talk about it the more we can support each other.

Living life on the road as forced to me to embrace my heartbreak. I spend so much time alone, that I have to sit with my feelings. I also spend the majority of my time in nature, moving at a slower pace. Nature has been the #1 tool I’ve used to help heal my heart ache. I truly feel that this nontraditional way of life has been such a key ingredient to helping me heal. For that I am forever grateful.

So, in a nutshell I am just a dirtbag who lives out of her truck. I am desperately trying to heal my broken heart by living as authentically, raw and open as possible. I love connecting with people who are going through something similar.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My interesting story on how I built my audience on social media.

I’ll try and keep this story short. I had decided that I wanted to grow my social media. I wanted the challenge. So I took some courses from friends who had. They gave the same tips and tricks. Some examples such as, post every day, post reels, find trending audio, find your niche, post the same time everyday, interact with similar accounts and so on.

I started to notice that people were coming to my profile. I was slowly growing. I was proud of the work I was putting out into the world. Then one day when I was really in my feels I posted a 3 second clip of me in my bikini diving into the Colorado River. Before I knew it my post went viral. Viral in a way I wasn’t expecting. I was getting about a 1000 followers a day, from men. Once my video hit 14.5 million views I decided to delete the video. Instagram wasn’t a place I wanted to be anymore. It has turned creepy and gross.

So once I deleted that post my profile disappeared the the depths of Instagram. Yes, it went to my head which I hated. I hated that no one saw my page anymore but what I hated more was that it didn’t feel like a safe place anymore. My audience was 98% men.

I ended up taking a break with the plan to lose those followers and start again.

I can officially say that a year later I am there. I started posting from my heart. I was vulnerable, raw and real. I didn’t follow the trends, I posted what was true to me. Which began to bring in like minded women. My audience are people who I want to interact with. They inspire me.

So, I would say to anyone who is trying to grow on social. BE YOU. Post content that you yourself would like to see and or follow. Interact with your audience. It’s called “social” media for a reason. Create art that brings you joy. That is true to who you are. I don’t love the idea of a “niche” because I feel that puts us into a box. So instead post from your heart.

I do recommend posting daily though. Don’t overthink it. Just post. Eventually, more and more people will see it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

This is an easy one of me. Interacting with my audience. I LOVE when I receive messages saying that my words helped, inspired, or brought them joy. Sometimes I can not believe that MY silly little words could help anyone. Many times I am brought to tears when people reach out telling me their stories.

I LOVE when people ask me questions about life on the road, how to heal, being a solo woman on the road and so on. Interacting with my audience is hands down my favorite aspect of being an artist. I will never take it for granted.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ry.roams/