This morning, I woke up to find myself mentioned in Arab News! When asked about holiday hacks last week, I thought I was offering some insight from my travels on the subject. I didn’t expect my thoughts to become published, never mind receive a full page feature in the newspaper. Such a pleasant surprise!
“Success isn’t about what you accomplish in your life, it’s about what you inspire others to do”
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a “feel good” story, so I thought I’d share with you something special that happened on the way to my flight back to Dubai today!
As I was leaving the hotel in Mauritius, a mother and her two young boys (above) approached me and asked if I operated the Emirates Airbus A380. When I responded yes, they requested that we take a photo together. She said that her eldest son wanted to be a pilot one day and that it would mean a lot to him.
After hearing this, I spoke to the FO and requested her permission to use her hat. We snapped a few pictures, then I gave them each a colouring sheet of the A380 that I keep in my cabin bag. The FO came over to say hello too, and that’s when we discovered both her and the family were from Brazil; small world!
The children asked her to autograph the colouring pages as keepsake. As she did this, she told them to be on the beach of the resort at 4:30pm. We fly over the area around this time and she said she’d wave to them from the flight deck. Sure enough, as we were ascending into the sky, the FO looked down over the area to see two people jumping up and down on the beach. We pass over this region at a pretty low altitude. With the airport right near the resort and our flight path in its direction, we’d like to think that it really was them waving at us!
Our job as crew can be difficult, but these are the moments that make it all worthwhile. I hope this story leaves a smile on your face like it does mine and inspires you to chase your dreams too!
Those few words mean more to me than I think anyone will ever know. This short clip was from my Emirates graduation ceremony (April 2016), where I officially became Cabin Crew after having completed my probationary period.
Today, Canada, the country that I am proud to call my home, is celebrating its 150th anniversary. Although I can’t be there to take in the festivities, I’m honoured to be carrying this flag around the world with me on behalf of the “True North strong and free”.
We have so much to be thankful for. I’m hoping my fellow Canucks will keep this in mind while enjoying the holiday!
With each destination that I visit, I am given the chance to view the world from a new perspective. It’s one thing to see pictures and hear stories about a place, but it’s another to be able to experience it for yourself.
This month, I had the pleasure of operating a multi-sector that took me from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Conakry, Guinea and Dakar, Senegal. I have been to a few places in Africa before, but these new destinations were quite different and I would love to return again soon.
Touring Conakry, Guinea with the crew in particular reminded me of how fortunate we are. Guinea is listed as one of the top ten poorest countries in the world and on average, about 55% of the Guinean population live below the poverty line. Approximately 1.9 million people (17.5%) are food insecure too, which is also quite sad given that the country is rich in resources (diamonds, gold, iron ores, etc.).
As per usual, my time spent here quickly turned into an epic adventure when one of the vehicles we were taking up to “Les Cascades de la Soumba” broke down in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, our driver was able to get us to an auto repair shop and within a half an hour we were up and running again! (Well, sort of… We opted to take a cab instead of waiting around for the car to get fixed up). While we were waiting though, we got to speak to some of the locals. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m glad I got to make some new friends!
It took us just over two hours to get to falls after our little mishap, but the winding roads and scenic views made for a pleasant ride. When we arrived at the falls, we were helped into the fresh waters and served lunch along with some cold beverages and the local brew.
Naturally, while sitting comfortably in the water by the falls, I was nipped in the butt by a small fish. When it came time to change out of my swimsuit, I opened the curtain to the outdoor change room to be greeted by a giant lizard! To say it startled me would be an understatement.
This is my life, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing!
Hello July! This month, I’ll be visiting two new countries and four new destinations:
Perth, Australia *
Toronto, Canada
Mauritius * Shanghai, China 🇨🇳 *
Dhaka, Bangladesh *
Manchester, United Kingdom
* = New destinations
Canada will also be celebrating its 150th anniversary! Although I will be in Dubai for that, I’m still looking forward to it.
Roster changes:This month, I was originally rostered to operate a flight to Bangkok, Thailand but a colleague of mine offered me Shanghai, China in exchange for it. I haven’t been to PVG yet, so I had to accept! Looking forward to adding an additional new destination to the list. 🙂
