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brought down a few more notches when it dawns on me that I have emergency training and exams coming up soon. As crew, we are regularly tested and have to spend time in mock emergency situations. As much as passengers would like to think that we are available on aircrafts purely for the service, the reality is very different. Providing safety is an important part of our job – the most important – and therefore we are tested stringently, thoroughly and regularly. The exam and training processes can be very stressful and need to be taken seriously. Even though I have been flying for around twenty years, I cannot take these exams lightly. Emergency procedures change constantly. There are information about new aircrafts, different configurations, updated ways of doing things, and reams of paperwork to read and revise.
    My exams are after my Honolulu trip with Helen. I need to study on this trip, as I won’t be able to study on the trip with Helen. I also know my body and brain will be frazzled after this upcoming trip, so studying in Japan seems to be my only option.
    When I was at university I had no problems studying. Trying to study while living the flight attendant lifestyle is, however, a whole different ballgame. When I was an eighteen-year-old student I lacked maturity and discipline, but I did have a routine. The only routine I have these days is not having a routine.
    I often joke that I travel all the time because I hate having my life disrupted by a routine. There is a lot of truth in that joke, but when you can’t have something, it is sometimes the one thing you crave. Trying to find time to do important tasks like studying is not the problem here; the problem is finding the time to do important tasks when my brain is capable of functioning well. At the moment, the only book I would be capable of reading is a gossip magazine. Even then, my brain is so tired that it would probably only take in the pictures, rather than read any of the articles.
    I am not always this dysfunctional. I can spend weeks doing back-to-back trips where I just don’t get the chance to recover adequately, and then I may have a week or so off. That week or so becomes like a mini-holiday, and after three or four days I start feeling normal again. It’s almost funny that I spend inordinate amounts of energy to try and have a normal lifestyle when the rest of society is trying so hard to make their lifestyles different.
    I remember going to my high school reunion and meeting a girl who had been a complete bitch through the school years. Some people never change. She came up to me and said, ‘I heard you are an air hostess? I thought you would have become a professional or something. What do you do – pour tea and coffee all day?’
    When someone is being condescending and judgmental about your life decisions, human nature works in such a way that you argue and defend yourself and your choices. Most times people turn defence into attack and point the blowtorch toward the person being condescending – in this case the school bitch.
    I said this to her: ‘I’ve scaled the Great Wall of China, been to the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State building, explored the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, Niagara Falls, Iguassu Falls, Angel Falls, sailed around Sydney Harbour and the Greek islands, been skiing on four different continents, been whitewater rafting in nine different countries, been on safari in Africa more times than I can count, been diving on the Great Barrier Reef and around islands in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, cage diving with sharks in South Africa, swimming with dolphins in Mexico, watched whales in Hervey Bay (Australia) and Hawaii, been skydiving, bungee-jumping, hang-gliding, gliding, and aerobatic flying. I have been to American Football games, major ball baseball, basketball, and ice-hockey all through the States, soccer games at Wembley,