So many places, so little time...

I love to travel. I was a flight attendant for almost ten years and very much enjoyed it. Post 9/11, everything changed in the industry. 30% pay cuts and the trips got worse and worse. Where one used to have 20 hour layovers in a fun city, you now had 10 hours at an airport hotel. I don't miss the day to day job at all. It's a very difficult job in the sense that you're always having to apologize for something - why there's no food anymore, why the plane is delayed, why the airline smashes in as many seats as possible, why the passengers around you become more Jerry Springer with each passing day. On top of that, you are responsible for implementing policies such as no PDA use, electronic devices off for the first and last ten minutes of flight, etc. It's a boring and monotonous job in that respect. I do miss the friends that I worked with a great deal.

I have been in training with my current job for almost nine months and not allowed to take time off, so I'm feeling a bit caged. Especially since my previous job required me to travel all the time. I am looking into several trips and trying to narrow down where I want to go.

I haven't been to Italy before, so I plan to head over there this fall. Europe has become so pricey with the dollar/euro exchange rate that it was always a bit out of my league in my flight attendant days. I'm also looking at visiting Guadalajara, Mexico in the next few months. That's not too far away and I do like my Mexicanos. ;) I've been wanting to visit South America again too, so that's on the agenda. I miss Bangkok and Hong Kong... The shopping, the architecture. So that's another trip. I haven't ever made it to New Zealand either, so yet another trip. I miss Halifax, Nova Scotia too. I flew there many years ago when I worked for Northwest and always had such a blast there. I suppose I could drive from Maine into Canada for a couple of weeks one summer. That would be amazing, for sure. A friend of mine is getting married Vegas in June too. I hate Vegas, but I could probably catch up with friends for a couple of days while I'm there. I'm not a big gambler and the whole town feels like such a bad commercial for American grandiosity.

I worked all weekend and now have a bunch of stuff to do this week, so I'm just feeling a bit sick of work I suppose. On the plus side, I have 16 work days left until my training period is complete. Almost there, almost there. That's my mantra for now.

On a side note, my friend and her cat Silvestro has been feeling kind of frustrated lately as well. Hang in there Silvy.

Cuidate.