Spontaneous Vacation and a Rookie Mistake

This weekend my mother and I decided to take a spontaneous little vacation and try out our flight benefits for the first time. My cousins were staying down in Florida and suggested that we come stay for the weekend. My mom was considering it since we hadn't had a vacation in a long time, even if it was just for 3 days. So I decided I wanted to impress her... why would we spend 5 hours in a car to drive down there, when we can just get a on 35 min flight and fly down there!? We could be there by the end of the night!

Done deal. My mom was home from work and packed within 15 minutes. Seriously, 15 minutes. We hopped in the car and drove to the airport where I had booked the next flight on standby. Well considering my seniority is well, nothing, at my airline I was super nervous about getting on the flight. But honestly, who flies to Panama City International Airport? Really?! No one does that, so I thought for sure we could get on.

I was secretly a nervous wreck checking the flight loads over and over making sure we would get on. I would be so disappointed if we were to get all excited for nothing. My mom kept asking me questions about the flight and if we were going to get on.. and I kept answering as confidently as I could, in reality I had no idea what I was talking about. It seemed like we sat there for ever waiting for that cleared standby list. There were 9 spots open on the flight... and my mom and I were numbers 8 and 9. We made it by the skins of our teeth!!

So there we were, on our way down to Destin for vacation. How impressive were we? We had made the trip down to Panama City/Destin a million times since I was a kid. It was the typical summer vacation for us. But now this time was different.... Now we weren''t just two girls from Powder Springs headed down to the beach... we were on a plane flying there last minute... just beacuse we could. La Te Dah!!! We had made it big time now. Check us out! Who cares if we were on the last row of an MD-88 with the engines blaring in our ears. By God we were flying to Panama City! By the way, the Panama City Airport is a brand new airport that may win the award for the smallest airport in the United States that is considered "international." Tinest. Airport. Ever.

The trip went great. We rented a car once we got down there and had a nice relaxing 3 days at the beach. But now it was time to go home, which meant booking another standby flight. No big deal, right? Cause remember... who honestly flies in and out of Panama City International Airport? Right? Wrong!! The flights were completely full!! Apparently people love flying to Atlanta from Panama City. There was no way we could get on those flights with my seniority, and it didn't help that they were regional jets leaving the airport. AKA Small ass planes. There were flights starting at 5:30am all the way until that night full of people trying to get into Atlanta. There were 10-15 people on the standby list for almost every flight with maybe 5 seats open and we were way down at the bottom. Impossible. By that time my boyfriend, who also works for the same airline, had joined us at the beach. All he could say was "I told you so!" He had been flying standby basically his entire life and knew that's what was going to happen. Rookie mistake.

So instead of just hopping back on a plane and beating my cousins home with our 35 minute flight home, while they sat miserable in their truck for 5 hours, we were headed back to the aiport to return our rental car, just to pick up another one-way rental to Atlanta. Now we would be sitting in a car that wasn't ours for 5 hours. On the way to the airport to pick up my car.  That's about the time my seniority slapped me in the face.

The Easiest Hard Job Ever

It's only been a month!? Geeze. I feel like I've been working for months already!! But I've only officially been a flight attendant for barely a month now. I must say... I love it. The hours are crazy... the days can be exhausting.. and there is the potential to have some pretty crazy stuff happen on a day to day basis. But let's be real... it's the easiest hard job ever.

There are some days where I'm waking up to catch the bus at 3am to go to work, while the bar next to my bus stop still has people up partying from the night before. That was me not to long ago enjoying my last few months in college. Now I get to play in big girl world.

There are times where I can go for nearly weeks before I'm home in my own bed, and days and days at a time before I get to see my friends, my family, and my boyfriend. But at the same time I have the freedom to manipulate my schedule anyway I please. Like now I'm off for 9 days straight. Plenty of time to catch up on all the things I've missed. And I can pick up trips to places I never would have gotten to experience. I'm going to Ireland at the end of this month and London at the beginning of the next! How amazing is that!?

My job can be pretty scary. There are news reports of pieces of airplanes falling apart while in the air, people trying to breach the flight deck and trying to open the door mid-flight, and bombs threats. Most the time the only trouble I have to deal with are rude passengers, crying babies, and flight delays.


The one thing I love about my job is that I never have to bring my work home with me. No matter how rude the passenger is... how long the delay... how rude the passenger... at the end of the flight, it's over. I get leave that airplane and it's done. There is a new flight waiting with an entire new group of passengers and a new chance to make a difference. I get to lay down every night knowing the next day has something completely different in store. Yeah, it may get a little routine popping cokes and serving meals on every single flight, but I get a chance to meet hundreds of people a day, thousands of people a month! No flight is ever the same and I love it!

There is definitely a lot to get used to and a lot to learn. Being a flight attendant is a lifestyle and I'm learning to love it more every day!

Carrie Bradshaw? More Like Carrie Underwood!

There are a few things I have learned very quickly in the short time I have been a flight attendant.

The first thing is how to pack. My previous entry was called "My Life In One 50lb Suitcase," little did I know that I would be a complete joke in flight attendant world. Your entire life should fit into one, maybe two if you're pushing it, carry-on size bag. I have learned how to pack for any occasion, any location, for any duration and make it fit into one little 23" bag. Okay, so I lied. I haven't quite perfected it, but I'm learning.

Another thing I have learned, invest in good luggage. We're required to have solid black luggage whenever we're in uniform. Right before I started flying my grandmother purchased me a 4 piece set of luggage that was on sale at JCPenny. I thought it was a great deal. It was exactly what I needed and I got a bargain at the same time. Score. Well tell that to my growing case of tendinitis in my right elbow from dragging my bag because of the broken wheels. Some deal. It's not very fun to lug a bag (an overly packed bag I might add, as I said I'm still learning this packing thing) down the street, down the stairs, onto the subway, up the stairs, on the bus, through the airport, into the crew lounge and then onto the airplane. Just as you think you've made it home free and you're done with the bag for a few hours... you have to lift it and stuff it into the overhead bin. Which of course is a task on it's own because it's packed to the brim.

This is why I have completely consolidated my belongings and invested into a more expensive and durable piece of luggage. I now look for things in travel-size quantities. Not only to fit into my bag, but also to fit my budget. Did I mention living in New York City is not cheap?

The most important things I have learned is there is no place like home. After spending weeks in a twin size bunk bed with a so-called mattress, with 13 roommates in a town that you are completely lost and feel so little in, you realize you miss home. There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed. It's a beautiful thing. This weekend was the first time I've been able to come home since base orientation. It feels like I've been gone forever. It was the first time I've been in a car, much less driven a car, in I don't know how long. I knew exactly where I was and I could go anywhere and get anything I wanted. Without waiting on a subway, looking at a map, or googling to find where the nearest location is.

There was a huge sense of freedom as I sat down in my own car. I was alone for the first time in weeks in a place where I was actually comfortable. I immediately rolled down the windows, opened my sunroof, blared the radio to the first country station I could find, and took off as fast as I could back home. Thats when I realized... I am way more Carrie Underwood than Carrie Bradshaw.

Survival of the Fittest

I've done it. I have survived my first week as a flight attendant in New York. Longest week of my life. I feel like I've already been here a month. It's quite an adjustment I must say. I'm used to waking up every morning and looking at a beautiful green passture with my horses casually grazing as I hop in my car and drive to work. Now the only bit of grass I see are the lifeless weeds that sprout between the cracks in the sidewalk as they are trampled on by busy New York pedistrians as I walk to the subway, praying I get on the right train.


That's another thing ive survived. Public transportation. Public transportation is almost unheard of in Powder Springs. We recently got our first bus stop to encouraging commuting to downtown Atlanta and that was a huge deal. Not because people wanted to take the bus... But because the parking lot for the bus stop was built on a prime "muddin" spot for four wheelers. Talk about some mad rednecks.

Needless to say my study abroad trip and my mastery of the Italian subway system, mixed with my roommates uncanny ability to fit in like a real New Yorker and figure out exactly where she is at all times has made this transition a little easier. Until today when I was forced to take the bus and subway by myself to get from LaGuardia back to my crash pad, thanks to a 5am airport standby. Thank God for the maps app on my iPhone cause of course I got lost. Not bad lost, but enough to freak me out. When I emerged from the dark subway staircase and was greeted by a tall building instead of the normal "Chicken House" restaurant next to the flower shop, I was a bit worried. Turns out I just exited on the wrong side of the tracks and was headed to Queens instead of flight attendant central where I live. Rookie mistake.

The next thing I have almost survived... Access days, or what we call A-days. In other words, being completely accessible to my airline 24 hours a day at their beckon call to send me anywhere their little heart desires. My first A-day I was sent to Kansas City for a 9 hour layover. No big deal, I actually enjoyed it. Today's A-day got a little worse... 5am checkin for airport standby, which means waking up at 3 to get a 4 o'clock shuttle to the airport. So from 5-9 I sit... And wait. And wait some more. Until scheduling decides to send me somewhere last minute. Last week a classmate scored a trip to Barcelona waiting standby... And another is in Africa for 6 days... And another in Paris. So where am I going to get to go on this spontaneous international adventure? Rome? Venice? London? Of course I went... no where but the crew lounge. Joy. Which led to my subway mixup on the way back home as I hurried home exhausted and disappointed. So what do my A-days consist of tomorrow. Something even worse. The one place everyone in my airline hates going. Jersey. So my southern little butt will be in Newark, New Jersey at 5am for an early morning flight. No fist pumping here.

At least my luck has been better than others. A classmate had an emergency evacuation due to a smoke filled cabin on his very first flight!! Intense. Crew members are having to go through counseling and everything. I'll take Jersey over that any day.

If a week has this much to offer I can only imagine what the next few months has to in store.