The Next Chapter

My new journey begins now. Last week, I drove more than 2,000 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada to my new home for at least the next two years, Sanford, Florida. My work experience so far includes seven years in the hotel industry with a very-well known luxury hotel chain and one year as the director of guest services for the Zero Gravity Corporation. After Space Adventures recently bought the sinking ZG and reorganized, I was out of a job. So how did I go from what was my dream job of floating in an aircraft like an astronaut in training to where I am now? Well, let me back up for a minute. Ever since I was 3 months old, I've been traveling the world. To date I have been to about 50 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. Being on the road is what keeps my spirit alive. Experiencing new cultures, food, music and people are the staples to my sanity. Being with ZG for a year, I was exposed to a life of traveling within the U.S. as well as the world of aviation. I want to keep traveling, and I believe the better part of Americans have no idea what it is to travel and to be completely out of their comfort zone in unfamiliar places. My goal with this blog is to change the reaction I get when I tell people about where I went for vacation from "Why would you go there?" to "Wow, I want to do that." But traveling these days can be expensive. Of course there are ways to do it. However, you still need a job with some sort of income to be able to. So for now, I have decided to go back to school. I've spoken with a few of my friends within the aviation industry, and I've chosen to get my wings. This Thursday, Aug. 7, I will be starting my classes at the Delta Connections Academy to train to be a commercial airline pilot. When I announced to my parents I wanted to do this, my father replied with, "This is our fault, this is grandpa and grandma's fault, this is your grandpere and grandmere's fault." In case you wondered, here's a bit of background on my family. My mother was born in Normandy, France. My grandpere was a pilot during WWII. During the occupation of France, he was able to escape to the U.K. where the Royal Air Force put him in an English speaking squadron. My father was born in Long Beach, California. My grandparents would look at what the next school year would bring, and they would drive my father and uncle across the country to experience the history they were about to learn in text books. This is where the travel bug became infectious with my family. If it's not an addiction, the love of travel is a gene. A bit later in my grandparents' lives, they set out and became world travelers. They traveled to about 150 countries in their lifetimes. And even though my parents have not reached 100, they are well on their way and very close to joining the Travelers Century Club as my grandparents had. So as you can see, travel and flying are in my blood. So first things first. This blog will follow me through my schooling at the DCA, and who knows where after? Maybe I will get to see more of the world, or maybe my dreams and ideas are bigger than I realize and this isn't the path to get there. Either way, there's only one way to find out how to become a modern day nomad...