We recently connected with Shona Houston and have shared our conversation below.

Shona, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

As I have gotten older, I have been more willing to take risks – knowing just even 1o years ago that I would have never had enough courage to do so! It started with a solo trip to Colorado, then applying for Nursing School, then deciding to start Travel Nursing – moving away from everything that had been so comfortable for me to experience living and working in a different state. But that wasn’t the biggest risk; this risk happened after a 6-year relationship ended. I knew I wanted to still live local, but also knew my love for the Travel RN gig hadn’t ended. The problem – where to live. Do I rent an apartment? A House? Do I buy? None of these options felt right. So instead, I bought a 28-foot Travel Trailer and life began again, I found a completely renovated travel trailer that was located in Colorado – so I made a stop to check it out and the rest was history. The scary part, I knew nothing about this kind of living. Would I be able to find a campground that offered long term stays? I knew I couldn’t pull the trailer myself, I own a Jeep, so who could help me? Fortunately, my family and friends all own trucks so that problem was solved! I remember being so excited to go to Colorado with my best friend to pick it up – she used her truck and pulled it for me – and then once I parked it back home, I cried my eyes out, wondering if I had done the right thing. But it turns out, it was the right thing. I learned to live small, with less things, in a campground, with friendly neighbors. I learned how to “do” the travel trailer life – fixing leaks, dealing with frozen hoses, emptying poop tanks, what can be plugged in at the same time without tripping the breaker. And at times, it’s been a challenge, but I absolutely love it!! This HUGE risk, was worth it!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A little quick backstory on me – I grew up in very small town of 500 on a farm. When I was 18, I moved away and started to figure out what I wanted to do with my life – I didn’t want to go to college right away because I knew I wasn’t ready. I worked in banking for 6 years in 3 different cities in Kansas. Then I worked in the dental field, orthodontics to be exact, for 12 years and I loved it, but I knew that wasn’t the end career for me. My long-time friend Shannon (we knew each other from the dental field) convinced me to start working with her as a CNA at a local hospital, and I loved it – next came nursing school. Her and I graduated 6 months apart – that was almost 7 years ago. Now I work at a local hospital in Kansas City 9 months out of the year and usually take a Travel RN contract the other 3 months. I get to live somewhere I want to explore while working but still have my homebase back in Kansas! I have been at my Kansas City hospital for 10 years now and right now, I see no desire to ever want to leave. It’s home for me.

As far as my side gig – I guess some would say I am an “influencer”, but I don’t see it like that. I do love to create content to share across my socials and I guess maybe my travels influence people to explore too, but I just do it because I love it! I love showing off the places around the world that I have been – especially hiking, outdoorsy places, unique stays, good food, coffee shops, & breweries; if it has to do with travel, I share it!!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Yes 100% yes! I know choices in life lead you to where you are today – at least for me they did – but I wouldn’t change my nursing career for anything! I love helping people and being able to have a flexible schedule, travel, have fun, and I have met so many amazing people along the way!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

For my content creators out there, just be you! I am the same person on social media as I am in real life. I don’t sugar coat things and I am very honest on my social media pages. I think this helps those relate to you; if you can tell a funny story, a sad story, share a real-life moment, and just be you, people will see that. I do think at times being too honest can maybe hurt this “profession” some, but I refuse to be someone who I am not just for likes, views, or collaborations. What you see if what you get :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/dirtroadshighheels
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtroadshighheels
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dirtroadshighheels/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shona-houston/
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dirtroadshighheels

Image Credits
Images by me.