The Atlas Life #45 - Kira Kelly, Traveling ICU & PACU RN

Jake Brower: All right, so usually Rich is the one that's asking these questions. But today is a little bit different because Kira and I share the same birthday, December 18.

Kira: Yay, Sagittarius.

Jake Brower: Exactly. We just thought it'd be fun if we switched it up a little bit. I get to ask you the questions today and you can just respond. We'll have fun with it.

Kira: Awesome.

Jake Brower: Deal?

Kira: My name's is Kira. I work in ICU and PACU. I've been traveling for just over three years now. Right now I am on an assignment in Honolulu, Hawaii, which was my original reason for-

Jake Brower: Sounds brutal.

Kira: ...original reason for travel nursing, I wanted to go to Hawaii. Here I am.

Jake Brower: Very good. How did you first connect with Jake? Well me, this time. Do you remember how we first connected?

Kira: I think I tracked you down on Facebook.

Jake Brower: It's always Facebook.

Kira: I remember I was working in a different job and I was in the middle of my contract and you just checked in and just were like, "Hey, how's it going? I'm just seeing how you're doing". I was like, "Oh, you're so friendly. Fine I'll do a checklist just for you". I have always loved change. Doing the same thing every day makes me feel a bit stagnant and I love the challenge. I feel like I grow more the more uncomfortable I am. That's actually a Sagittarius thing to be constantly looking for the next adventure.

Jake Brower: That's right. And that definitely defines you, at least from the time that I've known you, which is cool.

Kira: The best part of travel nursing is never knowing where you're going to go next. Just that element of surprise, never knowing who you're going to meet or what adventure you're to find yourself on or what road you're going to get lost on. It's unexplained, it's the unknowing, it keeps you on your toes.

Kira: The worst part of travel nursing is sometimes you feel lonely, but it makes you a really outgoing person. You have to be able to make friends, adapt, and meet people on the fly. I did an assignment once in Ventura. In Ventura California, I would work night shift and when I would get off work every day in the morning, the sun would be rising just over the edge of this mountain. It would just fill the Valley with just the most beautiful sunlight. It was like waking up in a fairy tale every morning.

Jake Brower: Fairy tale in Ventura County.

Kira: I know.

Jake Brower: Sounds.

Kira: Surprising. The most difficult things to was how to adapt. Everywhere you go, being the traveler, you're the one that gets floated to different units. You can't show up to a place and say, well, I'm used to doing it this way. You just have to say, okay, even though you might not agree with the way that a hospital does something. Just knowing that everywhere has their own way that they do it. And there's a reason why that you're just there to help people and it's only temporary. So you just help them.

Jake Brower: What's next for Kira on this journey?

Kira: Oh what's next?

Jake Brower: This is good information for me actually.

Kira: I still really want to go to Alaska for the summer maybe. Or Denver or maybe even take a month off and do some international traveling. I don't know [crosstalk 00:03:58].

Jake Brower: I like everything except the month off part. I don't like the month off part.

Kira: What'd you say?

Jake Brower: I like everything except a month off part.

Kira: Can I give Jake a quick shout out for remembering what my favorite type of tequila was and sending it to me in the mail?

Jake Brower: Yes. We talked about doing a birthday shot together, but that's not happening today. Kira works tonight.

Kira: It will happen.

Jake Brower: It will happen.

Kira: It will happen. I start opening and I was like, what is this? I have no idea what this is. And then I was like, oh my recruiter said he was sending me something for my birthday and I take the top off. I was like, wait, no way, no way. Okay, he remembered.

Jake Brower: You knew it was from me as soon as you saw it.

Kira: Totally, totally. And then when I saw it was Herradura, I was like oh my gosh.

Jake Brower: Eventually she's going to enjoy it, but for now, it's got to stay in its bottle.

Kira: Yeah.