For those of you, who have been following my journey for the past year, would know that I have finally taken the plunge and decided to pursue my dream of becoming cabin crew for British Airways. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about since I was a teenager. Although, I’ve wanted to pursue a career in aviation from the early years of my adulthood, until the end of 2016, it hasn’t really been a possibility. It just happened that there was always something in the way. But at the end of 2016, it finally felt right to apply. The application process as well as the training was very grueling and required a lot of time and patience. I can honestly say that it was probably one of the hardest experiences I had to go through in life. Saying that however, I can definitely say that it was all truly worth it. Now looking back at that journey, I wouldn’t have changed any part of it, as it got me where I am right now – with my head up high in the clouds.

Prior to me getting the job, I have always been a lover of travel and found myself booking flights and trips on a whim a lot of the times. However, financially, I wasn’t able to do it as often as I would have liked. Being a student didn’t help either. But when I could I would always try to find the best deal. I would do day trips to places like Paris, Brussels and Oslo where I was able to find cheap flights for as little as £20 for a return ticket! (I am truly a bargain hunter!) But my thirst for travel was getting bigger and as much as I loved Europe I wanted to see more of the world. So now here I am, a year on since I’ve started flying and I can honestly say that it is the best thing I’ve ever decided to do for myself.

Since I’ve started flying I’ve been to countries, cities, regions which I never thought I’d ever visit. In a space of a year, I have visited Canada, USA, Australia, The Bahamas, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Iceland, Norway, Austria, Singapore, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, Luxembourg, China, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. And those are just from what I can think of from the top of my head. But I believe the total number of countries I’ve been able to visit up to now is 31! That’s right, 31 countries in just 1 year of flying! Destinations my job takes me to are absolutely unbelievable. I still have to pinch myself sometimes as I can’t believe that I get to visit all these amazing places for work. The Bahamas has been one of the destinations that absolutely blew me away. I just couldn’t believe I was there. I was even able to bring my best friend with me on that one, which is another fantastic perk of my job. I get to bring someone with me on my travels and not only does my ‘Cling on’ (a bit of cabin crew lingo) gets to come with me for a super cheap rate, they also get to stay in my hotel room with me for free! It’s so nice to have the option to be able to share what I love doing with someone. British Airways makes sure that we as cabin crew are well looked after down route, so we all get to stay in very nice hotels. For most of the time the location of where we stay is also very good, with great access to the local attractions and close to restaurants and shops. That sometimes is key to a great trip, having everything on your doorstep.

Another great thing about my job is the social aspect of it. Every time I report for duty I meet new people from all different walks of life. I was so surprised to see how so many people decide to pursue a career in aviation, having done something so much different prior, for most of their lives. I am a law graduate myself, but here I am now! I have met former police officers, vets, nurses, journalists, financial brokers, actors, I could go on! There is such a mixture of people in this industry, it is pretty amazing. It is great to go on trips with people who are just excited to go to a destination as you are.

As amazing as my job is and as much as I love it, there are some downfalls. I guess you get that with any job. The major downfall being cabin crew has to be the jet lag. I guess that comes with the job, but it can be utterly annoying, not being able to sleep at 4am UK time or when you are across the world and you need to rest before pick-up for the flight back home. I’ve been flying for a year and it just doesn’t get any better. It is a very tiring job. I sleep a lot! Another one of my struggles has also been trying to keep fit whilst flying. I find it extremely hard to motivate myself to work out on my days off. The irregular sleep pattern and working hours do not help at all. Also when you’re up in the air at 1am UK time and you’ve just worked for 4 hours straight you need to eat. My eating habits have been particularly bad. Mostly in terms of eating at random times of day and night. Sometimes you work so hard on a flight, you forget to eat and then end up eating after you land ,which could be in the middle of the night. Saying that, in the last month I have been able to get myself back on track with the gym, which has made me feel so much better. Even though it’s still early days I feel quite positive to getting my fitness back on track.

There are definitely a lot of things that I didn’t see coming before I started my career as cabin crew. I certainly didn’t expect to fall in love with my job as much as I did. I’ve met the most fantastic people on my flights and have made some lasting friendships. I have been able to explore the same cities/countries on multiple occasions, so if I’ve missed something on my previous visit I’d get an opportunity to see it on my next trip. I guess I just didn’t expect to be able to go to so many places with this job. Especially, ones that you’d never previously thought about visiting. This job has been full of surprises and totally keeps me on my toes, even a year on. You just never know where you might end up and that’s the kind of excitement and unpredictability I love.