25 years ago, I had never set foot on an airplane. A big one anyway. Never having traveled very far from where I grew up, my view of the world was very limited. Visiting places like Rome, Paris and more exotic locals, like Asia, just wasn’t something that you ever expected to do. Oh, maybe on that “once in a lifetime trip” that everyone seems to plan. But, people from my hometown just didn’t seem to travel extensively like that at the time.
Growing up, family vacations consisted of trips I took with my Girl Scout troop, a few family vacations to Texas, and a couple of trips to the Florida gulf coast with a friend and her family. Cosmopolitan was never a word that could be used when describing me.
After college, I was hired for a job which required me to move to Dallas. I was finally on my own, out of college and paying my own bills. It dawned on me one day, “Wow, I can jump in my car and drive to Austin or Oklahoma…or anywhere for that matter.” Jump in my car…the thought of an airplane never dawned on me. Airfare seemed much too expensive. And of course, I was a salaried employee and I worked very long hours. With only a couple of days off, here and there, there wasn’t much time to go off and see the world or even the next state for that matter.
When I was in college, I was offered the opportunity to go up in a four-seater airplane with a friend who had his pilot’s license. Although I grew up down the street from a local airport, I had never been in an airplane before. It was exciting and fun and not like anything I had ever experienced before…my mother’s wrath was unlike anything I had ever experienced before either! She was deathly afraid of flying and I heard all about it…”what if you had crashed? Did your friend actually know how to fly that plane? What if you died? What WERE you thinking?!!!”
After my move to Dallas, I realized that unlike college, my employer didn’t think I deserved a Christmas break. Because I worked in the retail industry, this was our busiest time of the year. Going back to spend Christmas with my family meant leaving Christmas Eve afternoon and returning to work the morning after Christmas. A six hour drive both ways for such a short trip was not safe, my mother said. Although, she was terrified of ALL people flying ALL planes, she realized that in order to have me home for the holiday, I would have to fly on an actual airplane. She purchased me a ticket on a regional carrier. It was my second time on an aircraft, and although the plane was a little larger than the first, it wasn’t all that massive. However, I enjoyed the short ride just as much as the first time…maybe even a little more so, knowing that even though she was afraid of flying, I had my mother’s blessing for this trip!
While living in Dallas, I made a few friends, one a flight attendant and another who was dating a flight attendant. I knew that these flight attendants traveled, but I really didn’t know much about their lifestyle. Compared to what I was doing at the time, it seemed a lot more compelling.
For most of my time in Dallas, I was exhausted and overworked. I always seemed to be sick. I was unhappy. My job was not what I thought it was going to be. I needed something more. My boyfriend and future husband gave me this advice, “Find something else that makes you happy…it doesn’t matter what it is…go dig ditches…paint walls…cook…just as long as it makes you happy.” A few days later, I came across an advertisement for a flight attendant position with a regional carrier based in Dallas.
As I stated before, I didn’t know much about the lifestyle or about any airlines, for that matter, I just thought, “Surely, I can do this”, and I applied. I heard back fairly quickly and planned to attend my interview. The day of my interview, my district manager informed me that he was coming for a visit and I was unable to sneak away, missing the opportunity.
A little research ensued and I decided to apply again, this time, to three of the larger, well-known carriers. Very soon, I heard back from all three and was invited to interviews. My first was in Los Angeles.
Transportation was provided to the interview from Dallas to Los Angeles. I had no idea what to do, where to go. I persuaded a friend to take me to the airport and when I finally walked onto the airplane, I was dumbfounded! It was huge! There were two aisles and lots of flight attendants, not just one! This was no regional jet! This would be one of the types of planes that I would be working on if I was hired!
My naivete obviously didn’t show, because out of the sixty or so candidates in my morning interview, only two of us were hired. We were immediately sent to our physicals and asked to report to training in two weeks.
Eight weeks later, I received my flight attendant wings and was sent to Orlando.
Class of May 1991, Last names D, E, F
Since I was planning to be married the following year, I decided to stay in Orlando for a little while. Having always been a beach and sun lover, I had invariably thought that living in Florida would be something I would like to try. This was my chance.
Flying out of Orlando was entertaining and thrilling. It was a new base and about 70 of my classmates had been sent there. The flying was enjoyable with mostly domestic routes. However, there were a few international opportunities. We flew quite often to Mexico City, but on two occasions, I was called to go to Frankfurt, Germany.
Getting to travel across the ocean was when the true travel bug crawled under my skin. My dad had been to Germany and had described it a bit to us, but I could never envision how much I would enjoy it. I loved the architecture. I loved the food. I loved the people. And I quickly discovered, that I loved walking around and capturing it all on my camera.
Time in the New Orleans base soon followed, but there was no international flying. We spent lots of time in Boise, Minneapolis, Atlanta…you name it…sometimes we were lucky and got long layovers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. We always made the best of it…line dancing in South Bend, wine tasting in Napa, taunting the ghost of the Seelbach hotel in Louisville. It was always an adventure; we all knew each other and we always had fun!
Shortly after I had been hired, the merger with Pan Am took place and we began hearing about all of the destinations that the New York base was flying to. Delta began doing base swaps; someone from one base could swap places for a month with someone from New York without making a long-term commitment. Some of my friends began to do these swaps and began going to all of these fabulous destinations in France, Italy, Germany and more. I so desperately wanted to do a base swap, but with my husband’s travel schedule, I didn’t think it was possible.
Soon before the birth of my first son, my husband was offered the opportunity to transfer to a territory in Virginia. I was terrified to move 18 hours away, however, we knew it was a necessity. There was no flight attendant base in Richmond, Virginia. Commuting by plane was now going to be my new way of getting to work. Since the closest base was New York, this was going to be my opportunity to experience the amazing flying available there.
After my maternity leave was over, I began commuting to New York from Washington, D.C. which required an hour and forty five minute drive, followed by an hour long flight, followed by a “usually very scary” cab ride from New York’s LaGuardia airport to John F. Kennedy airport. My first trip was a three day trip with a 24 hour layover in Warsaw, Poland. It was immediately followed by a three day trip to Munich, Germany. Recollections of how much I enjoyed the international flying came back to me. Being a night-owl, it worked for me to stay up all night all the way across the ocean. While on the layover, I loved having the time to wander the cities and absorb the culture. I began taking pictures again; trying to capture what I was seeing so that I could share the beauty with my husband, family and friends.
I had taken photography classes in college, but there was nothing like having the luxury of being in the vicinity of beautiful landscapes and architecture that I could capture. Everywhere I looked, I had new subjects. It dawned on me how fortunate I was to be there. Every week, there was a new adventure and new places to record on film.
I practiced over the years, taking thousands of pictures of my children, godchildren, nieces and nephews. I began taking pictures of local baseball and soccer teams, compiling videos for parents. I took pictures at professional sporting events; practicing my timing…I got quite good at catching things in motion. I took pictures of nature…trees, flowers and animals. And, I continued to take pictures on my layovers and vacations.
With the advent of Facebook, I finally had a place to show off my pictures. They weren’t just stored on a hard drive on my computer. I had a venue to share what I saw with the world. My pictures always meant something to me, now I had LIKES and lot of comments. My pictures now had meaning for others.
After twenty four and a half years of being a flight attendant, I can’t imagine a career more suited for me. I adore meeting new people every week, both crews and passengers. You never quite know what you’re going to get, but I assure you, it’s never boring. I still love going to new places and rediscovering the old.
We don’t spend lots of time on our layovers in the international cities that we layover in….usually 24 hours. Getting out and seeing the city usually requires forgoing some sleep. Taking a quick nap when we arrive and then going out is a must if you want to catch museums and landmarks still open. We learn to see these cities in small doses, picking and choosing which sites we will see on that trip and which ones we will hold off on until the next time. Sometimes, there isn’t a next time. Sometimes, however, we get lucky and get 48 or 60 hour layovers. This is like winning the lottery! We have time to catch up on our sleep and still see the city!
Over the years, I have seen my airline fly to certain destinations, only to discontinue service a short while later. A great example is Lyon, France. I never had the opportunity to layover in Lyon as I was on maternity leave and flying very low hours when I returned. I thought that I would get around to it later. Later, unfortunately, never happened. My airline pulled out of Lyon and we have yet to return. There have been many destinations to suffer the same fate…Amman, Cairo, Berlin, Edinburgh, Abuja…just to name a few.
When I encounter new-hires on my trips, I give them a valuable piece of advice. Treat each layover like it’s your last! Don’t lock yourself in your room. Get out…even if that means just taking a walk. Research each layover and challenge yourself to find new things to do, even if you’ve been to that city 50 times…I promise, with a little patience and good Googling skills, you can always find new things to do and see!
I always challenge myself to find that “one new thing” that I have not done in a city that I have been to before. I still always have a camera…or two…in tow while out on my excursions.
Now my challenge is not only to find that one new thing to do, but to capture the beauty of it! And I hope to share it all with you.