These Travel Nurses Have the Career and Travel Companion of Their Dreams

While the beginning of Aya Healthcare travel nurses, Kevin Burnett and Chase Wilson’s, travel nursing careers were quite different, the paths they’ve taken since have led them to each other multiple times — even when they didn’t know it. Kevin began his travel career with Aya four years ago. Initially, he planned to go to medical school, but while working in the OR for a medical device sales company, he met other travel nurses who inspired him to go to nursing school with the purpose of one day becoming a traveler himself. While on assignment in Dallas, Kevin met Chase, who was working a staff job at a hospital nearby. This first meeting set the stage for a future connection after Chase left his staff job to begin his traveling career.

Over the course of the next two years, the pair were traveling separately, but were often not far from each other. In 2019, Kevin was on assignment in San Diego where he was able to join Aya to march in the San Diego Pride Parade. Little did he know, Chase was also at the parade, watching from the crowd. “I didn’t even know anything about Aya yet, but we just happened to be there at the same time,” Chase says. “Chase probably saw me walking in the parade and didn’t even realize it,” laughs Kevin.

Despite their almost run-in, it wasn’t until July 2020 that Chase and Kevin reconnected, when they wound up working at the same hospital. A few months later, they decided to begin traveling together.

Since then, the travel pair have been working in Ventura, CA, and taking trips together when they have breaks between assignments. “It’s a very different experience traveling with someone,” Kevin says. “When you’re traveling alone, you typically don’t have anyone when you get to a new city, new hospital and a new place to live. It’s nice now to move somewhere and already have my best friend with me.”

Both Kevin and Chase love traveling for the opportunity it’s given them to make friends with travel nurses throughout the country. “I’ve met friends in each city I’ve traveled to. Now, when I want to go back to a city, I have people to see and hang out with,” notes Chase.

“You’d be shocked how small the travel nursing community really is. We all know each other or have friends of friends who know each other,” Kevin added. “I’ve made some of my best friends through travel nursing and now we get to keep visiting our friends and we have a bunch of cities to visit and free places to stay!”

You Can Have It All — With The Right Recruiter

Kevin and Chase have also experienced the benefit of Aya’s network of jobs that their recruiters help them access. “After almost a year with a different company, going to places I didn’t want to go and things not lining up how I wanted them to, my friend recommended I reach out to her Aya recruiter, Roman — and he’s been great,” Chase explains. “I get the jobs I want and Roman always works out an agreement for me.”

While Kevin works in the ICU, Chase works in PICU and has more limitations on where he can go. However, Roman, and Kevin’s recruiter, Anthony, work to make sure the couple can get assignments close to each other.  

Kevin and Chase are looking forward to where their next travel assignment will take them. “We have so many places we want to visit. San Francisco, Colorado or maybe Hawaii,” Chase says. “My favorite city I’ve traveled to is Seattle and I’d love to go there again with Chase,” adds Kevin.

No matter where they end up, the pair is happy to be traveling together and look forward to many more adventures to come.

Are you looking for your next adventure? Explore our travel nursing jobs to see where you could be headed to next.