Nick Bray has never been the type to stay in one place for long. An Iraq War veteran, former truck driver, skydiving instructor, pilot, boxer, and world traveler, he has spent much of his life chasing new experiences and seeing where they lead.

"I found comfort in being out of my comfort zone," Bray said.

That journey has taken him across the country and around the world, but it has also come with challenges. A bone infection he developed during his deployment to Iraq led to multiple surgeries and lasting damage to his leg. Even after years of recovery and chronic pain, Bray never stopped pushing forward.

Now, he is starting over again.

As he packs up the few belongings he has on Treasure Island and moves to Brisbane, Bray is preparing for a new chapter as a high school chemistry teacher. Alongside him is Buddy, the dog who wandered onto his porch in Alabama and never left. What started as a chance encounter has grown into a partnership that influences nearly every decision Bray makes.

“I did it for Buddy. I fell in love with him. I walk him for about six hours a day. If I have to go to Burton in the morning and SFSU in the afternoon, I would not get back to Treasure Island for about nine hours. He would have to become one of those dogs that is home Monday through Friday, all day,” Bray said.

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Nick Bray, 40, takes his Labrador/Pitt mix, Buddy, on their last walk on Treasure Island before moving to their new apartment in Brisbane on Monday, June 1, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

Nick Bray smiles as he carries Buddy through the garden of his Treasure Island apartment on Monday, June 1, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“I thought about getting him qualified as a PTSD dog, but he is not really a service dog. I would be lying,” said Bray. “Maybe an emotional support dog, but I am not going to take him to school and let him sit in class. It has been two years since the day he came to the porch.”

Nick Bray signs a petition to get universal healthcare on the ballot after speaking with Selene Stewart, 79, at a grocery store on Treasure Island on Sunday, May 31, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“I had an epiphany in my teenage years about the meaning of life and happiness,” said Bray, about his ideal of the American Dream. “I boiled it down to my health and my freedom. Because I lost both.”

Nick Bray points to the scars on his leg from his bone infection surgery outside his new apartment on Monday, June 1, 2026, in Brisbane, California.

“The whole time, I had a bone infection. My knee was getting worse. Getting out of bed, showering, and going through the process made the infection worse. By the end of the day, I was in bed screaming and crying,” Bray recalled. “I did seven ER visits in the month-and-a-half I was there. By the end, morphine wouldn’t even work anymore.”

Nick Bray studies for his remote Chemistry class in his living room with Buddy at his Treasure Island apartment on Monday, June 1, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“I could teach art with my bachelor’s in theater, but art teachers are not as sought after as science and math teachers, and I can do science and math. I chose science, brushed up on biology, chemistry, and physics, and decided chemistry was my strongest,” said Bray. I decided to be a high school chemistry teacher. If you had asked me eight months ago, it would not have been on the radar.”

Bray's ultimate goal with his education is to leave the United States for Australia. “They have better health care. They take care of their sick, and they educate their young,” said Bray. “We are being priced out of both. You have to be rich to pay for health care as an old person, and you have to be rich as a young person to get an education. I see those as paramount.”

Nick Bray inspects the legs of his bed frame as he packs the few possessions he has in his apartment on Treasure Island on Monday, June 1, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“When I was 19, I realized there was clutter. People have things in their closets they do not see until they move… and then it goes back in the closet until the next move,” said Bray. “I had a natural connection to lighten the load.”

Nick Bray calls for Buddy to get in the truck to start packing at his apartment in Treasure Island on Monday, June 1, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“He was always afraid to get in the car, but he looked so sad when I left. I forced him into the car once. He did not know how to surf the turns. The second time, I gave him the choice to get in the car, and he did it,” said Bray. “He has been my road dog ever since.”

Nick Bray drives through Treasure Island after getting a moving truck for his move-out day on Monday, June 1, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“Every time I got ready to hop on a plane, it was easier to trim the fat. There is a weightlessness to it. I love starting over. It is great. I could be a new person,” Bray recalled. “It becomes comfortable to be uncomfortable.”

Nick Bray, followed by Buddy, carries pet supplies and the crutches he used after surgery into his new apartment on Monday, June 1, 2026, in Brisbane, California.

“I came home on crutches because of the bone infection and could not walk for about six months. It was one of the worst times of my life. Being a soldier, not having civilian rights, and being injured, my treatment was delayed,” Bray notes. “I have as much PTSD from sitting in Fort Bliss, Texas, with a broken knee for three months as from going to Iraq. I felt like a POW in my own country.”

Nick Bray inspects the view from his room at his new apartment on Monday, June 1, 2026, in Brisbane, California.

“I moved to Florida, lived in a tent for six weeks at the biggest drop zone in Florida, jumped every day, and did my instructor courses. Eight months after I started, I was an instructor. Later, I joined a demonstration team in Ohio and jumped into three NASCAR races,” said Bray. “Skydiving fulfilled and enriched my life. People think skydivers are adrenaline junkies with a death wish, but there is another spiritual side to it. You get confidence doing extreme sports to tackle everything else in life.”

Bray overlooks the football field at Phillip & Sala Burton Academic High School, where he has been hired as a chemistry teacher on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Francisco, California.

“SFSU had me placed at Galileo on Russian Hill, but Galileo only had one chemistry teacher who could work with a student teacher, and he was not available in the mornings. Two weeks ago, SFSU lined me up with Burton High School,” said Bray.

Bray uses a towel to wipe sweat from his forehead after packing the moving truck on Monday, June 1, 2026, on Treasure Island in San Francisco, California.

“I do not pretend that I am made of glass,” Bray recalled. “My mom said as soon as I could crawl, she had to have a hand on me. If she turned around, I would be jumping off the china hutch.”

For Bray, life has never been about staying comfortable. Whether serving overseas, skydiving for a living, moving across continents, or going back to school at 40, he has always been willing to take a chance on what comes next.