Wanderlust

Rio de Janeiro, Marbella, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires and Dubai don’t seem to have anything to do with each other, but they do have one thing in common, to me at least, I have called all of those places home.

Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro Brazil

I grew up all over and my family is scattered around the world, so naturally when I applied for a job as cabin crew with Emirates in 2012 nobody was surprised.

I was bitten by the travelbug in my early years and the wanderlust inside me isstill very much alive and I love to travel, to explore. I like going to new places but also revisiting places I have already been to.

A snowy Nyhavn in Copenhagen

I traveled a lot as a kid with my parents and moving around countries and continents, when I started earning my own money I would go on trips with my friends and then I figured why not find a job where I could get paid to travel?

So eventually I did and it’s working out pretty well, first with Emirates and now in a private company.

I started out working part-time at the airport in Copenhagen, while doing my bachelor’s degree. Working at the airport was a great experience. I love the atmosphere at airports, it’s a mixture of so many different feelings, good ones and bad ones, but always vibrant.

The beautiful La Concha mountain behind Puerto Banus port in Marbella

People are coming and going from all corners of the world. Some are excited about going on vacation, seeing new places, or they are travelling to visit relatives and they are happy and look forward to seeing them. Others are sad to be going back from vacation or going on a business trip and already miss their families.

There are also many of the wandering souls venturing out in to this big and wonderful world to find themselves. That’s probably the category I fall in to, even after setting foot on all continents (except Antarctic) I am still trying to figure out where I belong… but for now I belong in the skies.

El Obelisco in Buenos Aires

As mentioned I applied for the position of cabin crew with Emirates in February 2012 and I was successful, so in August I moved to Dubai and after 7 weeks of intense training I could proudly wear the iconic red hat and welcome passengers on board the gigantic Airbus380, that holds 517 passengers and 30 crew members.

Emirates flies to more than 145 destinations and the passengers on board are as diverse as the crew. At the time one part of the welcome PA (passenger announcement) was to mention all the different nationalities of the crew onboard, we would often be up to 18 different nationalities, from Brazilian to Japanese and many in between. This was one of my favorite things about the job, that every time I went to work I would meet 15-30 new people with amazing stories to tell and interesting points-of-views about the world, new cultures, old traditions and religion. I have learned so many things in my 2 years with Emirates, from the technical specifics of flight and the safety and security drills, I learned about traditions and culture from different countries, how to say “Hello” and “thank you” in a few languages and general codes of conduct for certain countries. But it’s not all fun and games, it’s a tough job, the crazy hours, the jet-lag, the culture clashes and the cranky passenger are daily challenges any cabin crew will experience, but on the other hand it is one of the most amazing jobs and experiences I have had and I recommend anyone who has the slightest desire to be crew to just do it, even if just for a few years.

Dubai Marina skyline

I just recently got a new job as a Cabin Attendant on a private aircraft. I haven’t started work just yet, so I am excited to see what this new job is all about. I expect it to be something like the premium cabins in Emirates, but on the other hand it will probably be completely different. Either way I am eager to find out.