Today’s interview involves an ex commercial Flight Attendant from Down Under (again !) now converted to Corporate travel. Or in your own words, she operates doors on private jets and serves execs/minted people. her nickname his GirlOnTour and she owns a blog too. We have no idea where she lives or who she works for as she wants to keep this information confidential. The only thing we know is that she likes her mop as much as we like our dry store containers. She likes weird drinks and she lives on a compound somewhere in the desert. Please do add her blog to your faves ! No more rambling, here’s the fifth ITW of the series !
http://girlontour.blogspot.com/
Airboy : Hi GirlOnTour, that is your nickname on the world wide webz, we have not met you, we do not know your real name, we do not know who you work for. None the less, we indeed do know you work for an airline somewhere in the middle east, that you just turned into your 30s, that you have a blog, and that you live on a compound! Would you like to give our readers a little more insight of your persona ? We’d sure love to know a little more !
‘G’ to the ‘O’ to the ‘T’… G-O-T: Funny, never thought of using that acronym. It could work. I like interesting sounding web blog names, being relatively new to this whole concept, I am still amused by the different names out there and how they can or cannot grab your attention.
A : Nice, ok so… Have you wished Ramadan Kareem to anyone yet ?GOT : Hmmm interesting question, but unfortunately no I have not. I am a real newbie to this Ramadan thing and I am not quite sure what it means exactly, so I get a little bashful when I don’t completely understand something. I am actually just on my way to an Iftar though however so does that count as being involved in the whole Ramadan experience?
A : You just got wheels ! What is freedom like ?GOT : OMG it is amaaaazing! However, what you think freedom is and what I think it is are two completely different things. Women are still not allowed to drive in this country so if I venture off the compound, I have to get a cab or as I have so cleverly worked out very early on, I made friends with men who owned cars. Still scary however to get on the roads in the this country, I cannot believe how many drivers have death wishes. Quite fortunate on the compound however, dangerous driving is prohibited and penalties are enforced.
A : You just started your blog and after reading the whole, I have noticed something: you fly corporate. What does it involve, did you fly celebs ?
GOT : Corporate flying is a refreshing change from Commercial (I have almost 6 years commercial flying prior to this) however there are good and bad with both. Corporate flying is unrostered, unscheduled and unlimited destinations. I love it as on a whole I spend more time in my own bed,although I still get to go away for periods at a time. This year I have been on a 5 day trip to London, 7 days in Austria, a week in Montreal and 3 weeks in the US. Corporate involves more preparation than commercial where you as crew just turn up to the plane. We have to plan the menu, deal with catering, and clean the plane at the end of a sector so you see there is good and bad with both, but I do love it. As for celebs, I do not fly them right now, however in a previous incarnation, I was unfortunate to fly a certain well know Kiwi actor on an Australian low cost carrier, and he failed to secure his belongings when I had asked politely. He kept to his character and grunted and swore at me….probably not a good idea to repeat what I said to him, but it was along the lines of “you were a great actor is this film, now let me be a fantastic flight attendant and secure you items please!” Oops
A : What kind of aircraft do you operate ?
GOT : Hmmm it’s a secret, but let me just say it is sexy little jet…
A : What is life on a compound like ?
GOT : Very surreal, some days it feels like I am on the set of the Truman show, other times Big Brother and sometimes like Edward Scissorhands (you know the houses where everyone drove home from work at the same time every day and the homes all looked identical) However it is nice to have relatively laid back surrounds in a country that is very different from the one I grew up in. Now I have a scooter I can get around very easily in camp and there is a lot to do ie gym, pools, tennis, movies, etc
A : What triggered the decision of becoming a Cabin Crew ?
GOT : Well I actually just fell into it. A friend from banking days, followed her dream when a new airline started up in Oz, and at a moment, where I was between jobs, thinking of flunking out of Uni, and leaving a long term relationship, the offer came up. I have never looked back. Helped with the break up immediately!I took 12months off flying 3 years ago, vowing to never go back and almost a year to the day of leaving my first flying job I was back on a Jumbo. It gets in your blood.
A : What do you think of Dubai, what kind of misconceptions (because we all have misconceptions about Dub-Dub don’t we !??), have you ever been here ?
GOT :To be honest I have only ever transited in Dubai and infact I just wrote a post on it (no plug intended). This week I am coming to play in the land of the Burj for 3 days on my way to my next holiday destination….that’s a secret for now though. It does amaze me how many people come to Dubai for a holiday or their honeymoon…I only ever think of it as a gateway onto somewhere else, but I could be mistaken. I will be visiting friends who have lived their for sometime, so perhaps they will show me otherwise this weekend.
A : Coming from a Customer Service background, what do you find most irritating from the ones you serve ?
GOT : Hmmm, I have wonderful pax right now, but in the past I think the main grief I faced was from Business Class Pax as they are a little above Economy (and don’t they know it!) but not yet made it to First (where aren’t they usually just the best?!?). Usually I just get a bit annoyed with sub standard (even in restaurants and hotels as i have such a high standard of service for myself that I expect nothing less in return as you are the paying customer so I treat my passengers the same.
A : You live out of a suitcase like many of us Crew do. Did you ever unpack between two flights (I personally haven’t and will never do) and what are the essentials that will make it to your suitcase ??
GOT : As a commercial FA I never really unpacked and I always had two of everything as far as my toiletries go as there was no point only having one. Made my life a little simpler
A : Favourite layover and why ?
GOT : At the moment HK….I cannot understand why it came to be but I guess the amazing shopping, never stopping nightlife and great expat atmosphere helped. You could always pick the different crews here too, Virgin Atlantic would generally be the blondes sitting in a group at the Feather Boa, British Airways would be the party til you drop seeing in the morn at Dusk til Dawn and Emirates…well I never got to meet any of them, although they stayed in the same hotel as us.
A : Tell us about the worst flight you have ever operated, be kind, loose the names for confidential reasons… !
GOT :Well this is a hard one, but really the HK return leg to London was without fail always a nightmare! We had one less crew member than most commercial airlines, and the flight was a 12 hour flight through the day time. Pax get bored, crew get exhausted, tempers are frayed then at the end of it all, we have to deal with London Heathrow at the busiest time of day being sent off to a standoff bay and waiting upto 2 hours for the transfers buses as this is changeover time for the drivers….you can only imagine…oh yeah and I had to prepare a cabin for an emergency landing due to an oven fire, oh and a decompression too.
A : We – at Airboy – love animals, especially dogs, but we do not mind cats either. You recently met with Sam. How is the wrestling going on. As your BF made any more arm to the creature (the last drama scene was a wet cat out from an unexpected shower) ?GOT : Sam is a weird one let me tell you. He is now an outdoor cat, and comes in for some cuddles on the couch and some playful biting and scratching. I have been warned by friends who have lived in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, that desert cats really are different, I guess because they are all inbred and part feral, but it is all apart of the fun I guess. He is black too and that means good luck so I could do with some of that! As for the BF I think he is worried he is being replaced, but no such luck!
A : Your dream base ?
GOT : Hmmm my favourite place in the world right now is Hawaii, Oahu. I have been back twice in one year, and although really touristy, the North Shore has the BEST atmosphere and I guess I am just an island girl at heart. I have some friends who fly for Hawaiian Airlines however the industry is very temperamental over there…plus there is the problem of Green Card (can you tell I have already looked into it?)
A : We love talking music, who is your favourite artist ? What would you listen to before a flight and the most important question, do you own an iPod ?
GOT : Yes I own an Ipod, and I use it mainly for running at the gym or around the Golf Course when the weather cools down. At the moment I am really into Ting Tings, That’s Not My Name (private joke but I had not heard it and my best pal K tried to sing it to me in Ibiza in her cartoon voice, and when I finally heard it a month ago, it reminded me of her). I love soo many different styles but Mos Def, Kanya West, Veruca Salt, Billy Talent, Lady Soverign, M.I.A, Mark Ronson, NOFX, Beastie Boys, Prodigy, Silverchair, Unkle to name a few. I have been known to listen to Fast Life by Freestylers on repeat on the crew bus to pump me up for a long haul flight if I am tired, to the point where the crew accused me of assaulting their eardrums!
A : Anything you would die for near your home ? (for example, I could definately do with a french bakery at the bottom of the building instead of a Avis Rental Car boutique)…
GOT : I would love love love a Boost Juice (all the Aussie readers will know what I am talking about here) and a really decent Health Food store….oh and so I don’t appear too health conscious and boring I would definitely love a bottle shop (alcohol is not legal in this country either)
A : What was your occupation before becoming a crew ?
GOT : Well where do I begin??? I had to run through it all for my boyfriend last week and he feel asleep halfway through the list. Ok keep up with me here (I will simplify it a bit); I have been a Receptionist/Secretary, a TV Make-up Artist, Student Teacher (Art, English and Home Economics), Call Centre Consultant, Business Analyst (Banking), Waitress, Recruiter (Banking again) then Crew. There were more but they were whilst I was a poor student and probably irrelevant.
A : Lets imagine for a second you could pick celebrities to man the different doors on your aircraft who would they be and explain why !
GOT : Well we only have one FA onboard and only one door to man really, so I think I would have to pick Charlize Theron, purely because she is amazing and she would have to sit next to me (we only have one double jumpseat on board) so she would have no excuse not to talk to me (stalker alert??). However come to think of it, I don’t think she would fit on my plane. He head would hit the ceiling.
A : Burger King or Mcdonalds on a monday night ?
GOT : Hmmm I am sorry I am uber boring when it comes to this (in a previous life I would have picked Burger King but it is not my kind of food now) Love sushi and anything tasty and vegan (yawn!)
A : Pepsi or Coca-Cola ?
GOT : Neither but I would go a Green Smoothie (my addiction right now) Oranges, Apples, Kiwi, Pineapple, Watermelon, Spinach and Romaine Lettuce Blended together…DO NOT KNOCK IT TIL YOU TRY IT…delish and a better pick me up than a coffee!
A : We have potentially dangerous jobs up there at 35,000 feet, but on ground, have you ever feared for your life ?
GOT : Oooh yeah plenty of times, and most of them when I was living in London. I lived in a very big gang warfare area, but apparently unless I was involved in the fighting myself I was pretty safe. One day when I was living and working there, I walked out of my house to goto to the tube on my way to work and there had been a triple shooting at the end of my street. The following week there was a revenge shooting only 2 doors up from there. That week I had been fortunate enough to see 2 dead bodies in the street. It was around that time I started to think about moving elsewhere.
A : Have you ever been to Paris, my homeland, if yes, what were your highlights ?
GOT : Love love love Paris. On a recent post I wrote about going to Portugal as our first destination was sold out (flights I mean!) and this destination we missed out on was Pareeee. I first went to Paris in late 2006 and wow it just blew my mind. As per usual, food took a front seat in my mini break to Paris. My favourite place Relais Gascon in Montmartre and it was for the magnificent salad that was prior to my vegan days (bacon, potato, foie gras, yum!). Also loved how clean the streets were and that the homeless people at least had shelter by living in tents on the street. Very interesting.
A : Thanks ever so much for taking your week off to answer my questions, much appreciated. Speak to you soon and keep blogging !
GOT : Hey I really enjoyed it! Just sorry it took me so long to sit down and do it. I look forward to seeing the finished product and also continuing to follow your blog!
A : Speak to you soon ! Ciao !
READ THE PREVIOUS INTERVIEW, CLICK HERE !
Nice work! Though I think I can take a guess where she is though…
Yeah there’s only one place !
Chega!Cansei!Num do conta de jogar todos esses posts no meu tradutor.
Sem falar que ja cansei de ler e reler os posts em português.Recebi o email ual traduzi rapidão néh tipo vai qui o airboy estava me enviando um email tipo assim, não sabe ler vaza fora rsrsrsrsrs. Mas não era, penso ser um email automatico e tals. Mas da nada, lindo e viajado , obviamente mais o que fazer, do que mandar um email pra tão linda…. meiga… e bela.
Bom…
qndu for postar em portugues me manda um email rsrsrrsr (pode ser automatico)
Beijos
Meligagatoo
Brincadeirinha rsrsrsrsr
beijinhus
She is also the cutest little Flight attendant you’ve ever laid eyes on!
How do I know?? I am best friend K x
Great Blog Airboy x
Great web-site!!! You did an amazing job!!! I enjoyed watching the videos!!! You guys are great!
Talking about ideas, there\s this really good show, which I like a lot, and I\m sure you\ve heared about it. It\s called STOMP. What these guys do is so cool, I saw them live in NY. I\m sure you can do the same and even better. It really turns people on. Just an idea, hope it could be any helpful.
jugg world
paola perego con
camerette per ragazzi
prezzo orologio