Charity Crawford

I started as a recruiter in April of 2008 very reluctantly, ha! I had a good friend who was working in the industry at the time, and she was always trying to “recruit me” to come work with her. After a lot of nudging, she finally talked me into it. It was totally different than anything I’d ever done before, and there was definitely a learning curve, but in hindsight, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

Healthcare professionals are helpers at heart. Even though their jobs are anything but easy, they are passionate about helping and making a difference in the lives of their patients and families. It’s that calling to service that lies within each of them that makes me proud to serve them, myself.

I consistently get glowing reviews of Washington State and New England, probably for obvious reasons. I tend to attract travelers who are passionate about the great outdoors, which isn’t too surprising since I am also passionate about it. These parts of the country are attractive to outdoors enthusiasts who love hiking, biking, water sports, beautiful scenery, and everything else you can do in the wilderness.

It’s difficult to narrow it down to one piece of advice, so I’m going to break the rules a little bit and share a few shorter pieces of advice.

• – Just do it. You might ultimately decide that traveling isn’t for you, but you’ll never regret taking the chance to try it.
• – Be flexible because flexible travelers will have more options to choose from.
• – Be particular about which recruiter(s) you will decide to work with. There are plenty of us out there, so you can be selective and make sure you partner with someone who will support you, communicate with you, and walk you through all of the ins and outs.

I love the movie Nomadland. It speaks to my own nomadic soul, and I think travel healthcare professionals who have that intangible “travel bug” will feel the same. A few other movie recommendations in that same vein are Into the Wild, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Wild, based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed. Any documentaries about our incredible U.S. National Parks are also great for inspiration.

• – Visit every U.S. National Park
• – Do a solo backpacking trip in the wilderness
• – See the Northern Lights, ideally in a place like Iceland or Scandinavia.

I hate to pick a favorite when I haven’t been everywhere (yet), but so far, the entire state of Maine has my vote. I got to spend a late summer and autumn in Maine and I made so many fun and incredible memories there. I’ve never visited anywhere else like Maine; it’s very special, and the locals know it!

My first real vacation is my favorite vacation ever. My family took a trip when I was a kid through South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado. We visited places like the Mitchell Corn Palace, the Badlands, Wall Drug, Devil’s Tower, and Rocky Mountain National Park. We camped out in several places. I convinced myself that jackalopes were real. My dad injured his eye on a bungee cord and got altitude sickness. It was straight out of a National Lampoon’s movie.

I’m fairly talented in the music department. I have been known to grace the stage at a karaoke bar and raise a few eyebrows…with my vocal ability, of course. I played French horn all through school and college and won scholarships for it. Music has always been a huge part of my life.

One of the best things about working at Axis is that most people think we’re a huge company because of our online presence and how many positive reviews and rankings there are out there about us. In actuality, we’re a boutique company that focuses on the traveler relationship – the communication, transparency, quality of service and support, which is generally a much different experience than you’ll get with one of the “big guys” out there. And as an employee of Axis, I feel supported and heard, and that absolutely translates into my “customers” (aka the travel healthcare professionals) feeling supported and heard. Amazing how that works, right?