The first month in Kelowna

Weekends away

Snowboarding

All the fitness

Dinners

Coffees

Tumeric cookies

Movies

Bowling

Axe throwing

Beers

Friends

The beginning……..

Our first month in Kelowna has been pretty good.

We started off impressed by our Air BNB room being bigger than we expected, joined the local Crossfit gym, then 3 days later were away for the weekend in Penticton with Jesse competing ( and coming 7th) in his first individual Crossfit competition, eating the best pizza of my life ( blackberry jam, pear and blue cheese) with a table full of lovely people.

We have enjoyed doing all the fitness, visiting different studio around the town. Including Spinco, Hot Yoga, 9 rounds and Barre. Pretty much living the dream of eat sleep train repeat.

We are one visit off officially “paying off” our Big White ski season pass. I have gone from having no idea what I’m doing, breaking my helmet, to being able to get down the mountain without falling over…. and even getting off the chair lift without falling over… major win!

I think our most popular thing to do has been sitting in a local coffee shop testing out all their bakery treats….. Jesse favourite being a Tumeric cookie…. mine? Not sure…. better keep testing them…..

We have also been lucky enough to get our very first Canadian apartment in the perfect location……. because after a few weeks of living in that Air BnB room it no longer seemed that big any more. I remember saying before we left how it could be cool just to live in Air BnB’s the whole time we were away so we had no commitment…… how wrong was I!! I missed having a home so much, I had cabin fever and would get so upset being “stuck” in one room every day. I need a home, I need my own space , I need a kitchen and having somewhere to call home has made me feel like I have more freedom than my idea of “no commitment” .

We have started learning more about each other…… the biggest thing being that we both actually really like tofu….

I love what we are doing, I’m so happy we decided to do this. Every day I wake up truely grateful for what we have and I’m not just saying that, I truely feel it every single morning I wake up. And just to keep it real, I had a day that I was so home sick I cried all morning but I didn’t message anyone in that moment because I knew it was just part of the process , it was just a feeling and eventually I would snap out of it. Of course I did…. it makes me appreciate everything I have here and everything I know I have in both New Zealand and Australia.

I guess that’s what traveling is all about…

Self discovery, saying yes to every opportunity, learning , mistakes and just seeing what happens…..

…… I guess the next chapter should be finding a job? I might just be getting a bit to used to this lifestyle.

Arriving in Vancouver

When we got to Canada, straight away the holiday got better. The airport looked so nice and clean in Vancouver. We spoke to the boarder control- they were friendly and seemed like they enjoyed their jobs.

The lady who issued our visa made it easy and made us feel very welcome.

When we got in the cab I still felt a bit on edge from being in New York and questioned the driver why the meter wasn’t on and he explained to me it was a set fare that was even cheaper than what I had thought. The Air BnB owner stayed up until 2am in the morning to meet us and could not have been more helpful. Our apartment was clean, big and homely. I was so excited to be here and loved the vibe already!

Our first day in Vancouver Jesse was still sick from being over in the USA, so he just wanted to stay inside all day. So I went to Safeway shopping as a solo activity, I find the supermarkets over here exciting haha I could spend hours just walking around looking at everything. I got some Starbucks and cooked us up some breakfast. I went for a run down near the water in West End Vancouver, it reminded me so much of Queenstown, New Zealand with the ducks and the boats.

The next few days Jesse was feeling better 🙂

We spent a lot of our time going to the local YMCA gym, it was good because we felt like we were getting some routine back after being on holiday for a few weeks.

We went to the Granville Island Markets for lunch and Doughnuts.

Spent hours in sports bars watching footy and darts.

Went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

And checked out the steam clock in Gas town.

Going from being on holiday to realising my whole life is now a holiday has been a bit hard for me this week. The whole time we were in Vancouver it rained and we were walking everywhere. We didn’t have a lot planned for when we were there, so I did get to do everything I wanted, including a Victoria Secret shopping spree!

But every time we were just at home watching Netflix I felt like I was wasting time…….

One of my goals for this trip: learn how to chill out a bit.

P.s

I’m just writing these blogs for fun but it has made me realise how much effort professional bloggers must spend on their blogs! I feel like this one is a bit rushed but I have just been so distracted with everything going on!!! There is a lot that I want to share in the moment when I’m doing things but in the end no one is ever going to know how it really felt like to be in each moment if they weren’t there. When traveling you see people posing for photos at each “landmark” to get the perfect photo for social media. It’s so cool to see everyone’s photos, I love looking at them…….

…. but to make sure that everything thing you do , do it because you enjoy it, take the photo and then put your phone away for the next few hours!

I like posting the photos and doing the blogs because I like the messages I get from everyone (especially the emails through the blog, it’s so cool) I miss you all!!!

Fly Eagles Fly- a few days in Philly

I guess I should write these blogs before I move on to the next destination because compared to New York I enjoyed Philadelphia so much more….. but compared to Vancouver…. well that’s for the next blog.

When we were planning on moving to Canada we were going to get a direct flight from Brisbane to Vancouver in the New Year. Jesse always spoke about going to see the Philadelphia Eagles play at some stage while we were living in Canada so I looked up when the season was and seen they had a game on New Years Eve and thought why not just make that the start of our holiday and that’s when the booking started and we ended up on the east coast.

It was so cold (around -10) watching the game but such an amazing experience. The stadium is massive and everyone is so into it. When we were walking in everyone was singing and pretty much everyone was wearing their teams gear. We had our Jerseys on that our awesome friends Chris and Sonja brought us but it was way to cold to show them off ( I guess we will just have to go watch them play again). Jesse wanted to buy a Eagles beanie in New York but I told him to wait because I thought it would be more special getting one on game day. Unfortunately they didn’t have the one he wanted at the game and I felt a little bit bad , we got our second choice beanies ready to watch the game……….my first stop to the bathroom and I looked in the mirror to see I still have the tags hanging off my head…… I think I made it pretty obvious I had never been to a game before and don’t even understand what’s going on.

The score on game day was 0-6 to the Cowboys, people start leaving well before the game was over but we had traveled to the other side of the world and was determined to face the elements and be there until the end.

After the game we got the subway into the city and pretty much just sat in a hotel lobby drinking Starbucks to stay out of the cold. We went to The Hard Rock Philadelphia for dinner before heading to The Sardine Bar for the New Years count down. People in Philadelphia didn’t really seem to celebrate New Years Eve because they have a big New Years Day parade called Mummers Parade , which is their big party day.

We had a fun quiet New Years Eve drinking local beers and Tequila cocktails, they gave us sparking wine at midnight and then we went home and partied to the YouTube music we wanted to listen to……….. ok we didn’t really party, we listened to a few songs and then fell asleep.

On January 1st we went to the “Rocky Steps” which was another thing on Jesses bucket list. I brought him a outfit that looked like the one from the Rocky movies so he could get the perfect photos and videos. It was so much fun and such a beautiful location with all the old buildings around.

The next day Jesse was sick so I went for a look around the city by myself to see the other things I had on my Pinterest board. I went to South Street, went down by the water, had a look at the Liberty Bell and got a Doughnut at the Reading Terminal Market. Philadelphia is a beautiful city with so much history, I liked it there and if you love museums would really enjoy this place.

I went back to our room and dragged Jesse out of bed so we could go get a Philadelphia Cheese Steak from Geno’s before our time was up in Philadelphia…..

We left the next morning and having a awesome time on the east coast I was hoping so much that Vancouver would be a bit less busy and cleaner, those cities were so different to anything I have ever seen and I’m just so grateful I was born in New Zealand.

Once we got to Canada we seen on the news a massive storm shut down the New York airport, just hours after we flew out and it got even colder! How lucky were we!!!!

Would I go back to New York?

17km

15.3km

Two days in New York and we did over 30km of walking around the city. Part of this was unintentional as we seemed to keep finding ourselves lost on the subway. Luckily at 11pm at night on day one it was Uber to the rescue as we ended up so far south of our accommodation in Brooklyn.

Day one in New York we went to a place that I had found on Instagram called The Butchers Daughter. It was so much smaller than it looked in photos, but super “hipster” and after a 20 minute wait we sat down to eat our $70AUD avocado and eggs on toast. Jesse thought I had “stitched him up” because I may have forgot to tell him that it was a vegetarian cafe….. oops #sorrynotsorry it was super tasty and our first proper meal since we left Australia.

It was then off to visit the 9/11 memorial, it was unreal to even imagine what had gone on in that location and grateful we will hopefully never really know.

After finding tips on Pinterest that there is a free ferry that goes past the Statue of Liberty, we jumped on the Staten Island ferry with the other few thousand people. Seeing everyone waiting for the boat, it looked like it would be over crowded but it’s a massive boat with plenty of room. It’s worth doing if you’re not worried about hearing the commentary about the Statue of Liberty, as it’s just a nice quiet boat ride across the water.

Then a much needed Starbucks stop for hot chocolates. The temperature was around -10 degrees.

So far everything had gone to plan on my to do list…..we didn’t end up going to Little Italy because we just wanted to get to the Empire State Building and decided to walk the whole way! It was so pretty up there and so so cold. It was amazing reading about the construction of the building and seeing some pretty cool views of the city.

We went to whole foods for dinner and then got the wrong subway home, getting lost, but I guess that’s all part of traveling….

Day two we woke up early to head to a local Crossfit gym. I felt so uncomfortable walking around the neighbourhood but once we got there the people were so nice and it was good to get a work out in after Christmas and 35 hours of travel.

We then went to Central Park and got a pretzel which was super special to me because on our first date Jesse told me he would buy me a pretzel in New York. He also brought me my Christmas present from Tiffany & Co…… I definitely enjoyed being up this end of the city more.

We went to Time Square, got a photo with the famous Christmas Tree at Rockefeller centre, got some half pound cookies from City Cakes, before having burgers for dinner and once again our day had gone completely to plan. Thinking we would get a early night we once again got lost on the subway but once again just remembering that it’s all part of travel…..

The next morning we woke up to snow, it made the neighbourhood look so much more beautiful and getting to see snow in New York felt like a dream come true.

Leaving New York I couldn’t be more excited though. Everything worked out how I planned it and I’m so happy we got to do most of the things I wanted….. but I just felt like it was so dirty and on edge there. No one smiles at you on the street, there is rubbish everywhere and sadly a lot of homeless people…. New York is not for me at first look, I’m curious to see if it could get better and strangely I would go back to have another look but I think next time I would treat myself to a fancy hotel that I didn’t have to catch the subway to get to……

In Transit

Travel is so exciting, the build up and planning of a holiday is so much fun.

As I got onto the flight, first stop Hong Kong!!!! I was so excited to find they had a tv series “The Handmades Tale” I had been keen to watch. The flight left Brisbane at 12.45am, the food was alright, the entertainment was good, 8hr 30min later we arrived in Hong Kong and I slept for all of maybe 30min….. still feeling somewhat good we head to explore the Ngong Ping 360 Cable cart…

It was beautiful, had the most amazing views, and I would say worth it if you got there on opening like us ,costing around $100 Australian dollars for the both of us to have a glass bottom cable cart

….. but when we left around mid day the line would of been a few hours long, no way we would of made our flight…..

Getting back to the airport with plenty of time before our flight to New York I thought I could find a nice spot at a gate to take a nap…. this wasn’t to be… as Jesse is looking super chilled as he is napping away ( he also slept most of the flight to Hong Kong) a man decides to sit across from me and have a conversation on his phone in another language….

I wake Jesse up demanding we go find our gate… which we haven’t been given yet cause it’s to early… pretty much I am walking around Hong Kong airport in tears because I am so tired and cannot even handle being awake right now. We find another spot with a bit more room and Jesse lets me pile all our jackets on top of him and use him as a pillow… I slept for 45min before our flight and was a whole new person…. so far 1hr 15min sleep in two days… but I’m back to feeling like I can smile.

Luckily I slept most of the 15hr 30min flight to New York after my grand plan of having two beers with dinner and being given a seat with all the leg room.

It was easy to find our Uber walking out of Newark airport, a hour later and $80 Australian dollars we were safely in our Air BnB in Brooklyn.

It’s 11pm, -8 degrees, we order Uber eats and we are done for the night.

Every time I spoke to Jesse in transit he was so excited. He was polite and chatty to everyone we spoke to even when it seemed like everyone was pushy and only out for them self.

He certainly did keep me happy and calm in transit.

Saying Goodbye

I love being a adult. I love the fact that I can do what I want when ever I want. I hear people saying that when you’re a adult you just have to work and pay bills etc. I really feel like every single day I get to do something fun that I want to do. If it be the gym, eating the food I want, watching YouTube, hanging out with friends, going on adventures or watching Arrow with Jesse. I’m grateful I have the opportunities to decided everyday what I want to do, because not everyone is that lucky and I don’t want to waste that……….

The past few weeks have been super fun. I have spent hours at the gym with my friends, gone on girly shopping date and lunches, got my nails, hair and makeup done, had our Crossfit Christmas party, climbed mountains, been to the beach, had our leaving drinks and a pretty awesome Christmas. It has gone so fast and I can’t believe after all this planning the day is really here…

The first lot of tears started the Monday before, I broke my skipping rope doing double unders at the gym and I couldn’t hold the tears back, I wasn’t even sad about the rope but there was sad music playing as we cooled down and I started thinking about the week ahead and it all just got to much……..

We have had so much support over the past few weeks and are super grateful for everyone we have here in Australia…

Right now as we are almost about to leave I feel totally overwhelmed, I really don’t know what to say and like it’s not real but it is and il keep you all updated with our adventures……..

Catchya Australia

That’s it…

When you first become a flight attendant you will do a ground school which will last about 6 weeks.

Have you seen the movie “View from the top”? Ok so it’s pretty much like that….. well maybe not but it is the perfect movie to watch during this 6 weeks because ground school has to be one of the most stressful times in a flight attendants career, that and the yearly exams! I will be happy to not have to do them again!!!

I remember being in my first ground school ( I have done 3 in the past 9 years! ) and never hearing the world lavatory before…… yep and I put my hand up in front of the other 15 people in the class and asked what it was….. hey they say no question is a dumb question…..

Now I thought I would do this blog over two separate days. Today is the 24th of November 2017.

I have just received my final ever roster! I have so much nervous energy!

What have I done?

What if this doesn’t work out?

I’m so excited for this to happen!

I can’t wait to try something new!

Have I done the right thing?

Yay for freedom!

I feel slightly emotional……… ok maybe more than slightly but that could also come down to the fact that I am sick with a throat infection ( worst pain ever the past two nights and hardly any sleep!!! ).

I currently have 7 days of flying left and two days on call.

My last trip will be 3 days away from home, the first night in Perth and the second night in Hobart. I am excited for this trip because one of my best friends and her little sister live in Perth, so I get to have one last catch up with them before I go! Also one of the flight attendants I’m working with on my last day used to work in the snow near Kelowna so I’m sure she will make it feel even more exciting!!

Can’t wait to see these girls!!! Il be back to finish this off after my last day…………

13 December 2017

I have woken up so nervous…..

The past two days of the trip have gone so fast. I have gone from Brisbane – Darwin – Perth – Melbourne – Hobart and today will got to Brisbane – Sydney – Brisbane ……. one final lap of the country.

I got to see Cazzie and Bibbi for dinner in Perth, which was super fun. I am so grateful I got to see them and they took the time to come see me one last time, it ended in both Cazzie and I in tears saying goodbye again….. it’s going to be a hard few weeks. It felt sad even saying goodbye to Perth, I did one last walk by the river followed by breakfast at one of my favourite spots. I took the opportunity to go into the flight deck after service as it will be a view I will no longer be privileged to see.

My morning in Hobart was beautiful, with breakfast with a super friendly girl from work before the day began…….

…… and it really was just like any other day, I had a few tears but other wise I was fine, and super happy for my next adventure!

That’s it….

The Last trip

Everyone thinks that traveling around the country or the world as a flight attendant you would get to see so much. A lot of the time we are in hotels on minimum rest (12 hours) but sometimes we do get to have a whole day somewhere to explore.

When I flew for a airline that chartered workers from the Australian outback, we stayed on the other side of the river from the airport and the accommodation that the workers stayed in. It had been a very rainy season and the bridge had been flooded overnight. To get the workers home to their families, the mine hired a helicopter to get us ( the pilots and cabin crew) across the river to the airport. I felt so lucky because this was my first time in a helicopter, this is one of my favourite memories from my working life.

I wanted this blog to be about my last trip to Bali! I was excited to make the most of it and had been on Instagram looking at places to eat and activities to do…….. but Mother Nature had other ideas. Unfortunately the volcano in Bali is giving the aviation industry some problems, the volcanos ash would ruin the engines on a aircraft and as soon as the wind changes direction to come near the airport or flight paths it means the planes can’t risk going there. Aircraft fly at around 40000ft and a pilot told me yesterday the ash cloud can go up to 100000ft….I thought that was amazing!!

We ended up Diverting to Darwin for the night. There were a lot of crew at the hotel that night, we all went out for dinner. In the morning I watched some YouTube , did a workout and went for a swim. It was still only 9.30am. Today Jesse was moving all our stuff up to his Mums and I was wishing I could be there to help. And then my phone rung……………

………. and now I’m in Bali.

I got to drink coconuts by the pool, eat nasi goreng, meet some beautiful new crew, look around the shops and go to SisterFields to have the best French Toast ever!! I even got a workout and some Netflix in!

Being adaptable is one of the most important skills you need to have in this industry. It is easy to get caught up in your own thoughts on why you think you are hard done by and get into a negative mind set. But I think anyone who is able to read this post from a mobile device has a more privileged life that most of the world. I am so happy I got to go to Bali for one last time.

I’m so excited to get home, see Jesse and finish moving out of our house!

Travel is a great eye opener on what really matters and I can’t wait for our adventure to start!

Only 5 more days of flying to go…….

Oh the glamour

I was 18 and beyond excited!

The first airline I worked for I was a Solo flight attendant on a Q300 aircraft. It was just going to be me, the pilots and 50 passengers flying around beautiful New Zealand.

I wanted to be a flight attendant since I was 11 and met my Mums friend Mandy. I don’t even know what made me want to do it……. maybe I just thought Mandy was the coolest person ever. Mandy is naturally beautiful, kind, glamorous, confident and super funny.

I drove to her house to proudly to show her my uniform on day one of what was the beginning of everything I have learnt in the past 9 years….

I have done it! I have officially put my 4 weeks notice in at work!

Over the past few months I have been making sure I have written lists of everything I could possibly think of that needs to be done…

Ring bank

Cancel power

Get insurance

ETC

……….. ok so there is currently 17 things on my list and I’m pretty sure I could add some more!!

I think when it came to the day of telling work I was leaving it was just another thing to tick off my list. They were excited to hear of my next adventure and I left the conversation feeling even more excited.

In the next few weeks I have a really nice roster. It’s going to be nice to be able to openly talk about my travel plans and try say good bye to as many of the nice crew I have met over the past few years. Holiday plans would be the most go to topic in the back galley and I always love hearing others tips and experiences.

We are also moving out of our house in the next 3 weeks so we can spend some time with Jesses family before we fly away. I am excited to move out and to feel like all of our belongings and bills are sorted!

We survived living together 2 and a half years without a dishwasher……. I think we can survive anything now…….

Photo above the day we moved in together, I had come off a redeye flight that morning. So sleepy!

…….. so what really happened that day I turned up at Mandy’s?

When I turned up she was so excited to see me dressed up in my brand new uniform. I was to fly with another lady for the first few days and then I was lucky enough that she had be assigned to do the rest of my training.

It was August in New Zealand ,the last month of Winter………

…….. but I was so nervous she had to get the hairdryer out and blow dry the under arms of my uniform……. I wish I had this on video………oh the glamour!!

Crossfit Gyms

November 2017

You may love it, like it , love hate it or not want anything to do with it.

Crossfit is my favourite way of keeping fit. I have made friends, met Jesse , travelled, partied, ate a lot and completely changed my lifestyle. Crossfit really did change my life and I think it’s great.

I also think that every other way of keeping fit and healthy is great too. I am happy to join in on any other fitness activities going on. In saying that though I am a bit shy when I first get to know people or try new things……… team sports scare me so much!!!! But hey it’s about getting comfortable being uncomfortable and I tried knee boarding for my first time yesterday and completely loved it….. even though I came off a lot!

Find something you love to do daily and your world will change.

I thought it would be fun to list some of the Crossfit gyms I got to on my travels and will continue to edit and add to this post.

Number one has to be my favourite gym in the world, where it all began……

Crossfit Desire

Location Brisbane, Australia

http://crossfitdesire.com.au/

Here are some of the other gyms I have been to on my travels

Mode Fitness

Location Adelaide, Australia

https://www.modefitness.com.au/

Crossfit Darwin

Location Darwin, Australia

http://www.crossfitdarwin.com/?m=1

Crossfit Waialua

Location Waialua, Northshore, Hawaii

https://crossfitwaialua.com/

Crossfit Kailua

Location Kailua, Hawaii

http://www.crossfitoahu.com/

Crossfit Recursive

Location Madison, Wisconsin

http://crossfitrecursive.com/