High Heels Abroad

While sipping on a glass of Rose, Connextions Magazine Travel Lite Expert, Ross Christianson, put his glass to the side for a few minutes to sit down and tell us all about his High Heels Abroad project!

Connextions Magazine (CM): What’s your ethnic background?

Ross Christianson (RC): My family’s ethnic background is a whole slew of European countries. Primarily English, German, Swiss, some Polish, and beyond.

CM: Tell us a bit about yourself.

RC: I grew up in a small town called Cornell in Wisconsin, USA. There were only 1,400 people in Cornell, and the nearest city of 50,000 was an hour away. It was at least a couple hours to anything larger than that. Living in a small and rural town was fun growing up. There are definitely a lot of things to do outside and it is a nature lover’s paradise. I appreciate what the area has to offer, but I am more of a city type.

In terms of growing up in a rural area as a young gay person, it was very crippling. I had never met an openly gay person until I had gone off to university. As a result, I didn’t even come out to myself until I was 20 years old! Crazy right!?

Well now here I am all these years later strutting around the world in heels and I think it is safe to say I have come a long way since. (He flashes the biggest smile full of pride!)

I came out on Spring Break during my first year of university. I was driving home to my parent’s house and came to a point where I had to choose between either continue to suppress and mentally harm myself or accept who I truly am inside. It all seems kind of silly now to have lied to myself and those around me for all that time. I think growing up in a small town had a lot to do with that.

CM: When did you decide to travel the world and present it to others?