Wanderlust

Collect memories, not things.

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This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Since I was a little girl, I started to develop a curiosity for meeting new places. I used to watch a lot of telenovelas from different countries, which awaken in me the desire to learn about new cultures and visiting different countries.  For me, materializing such desire was an unrealistic dream at that moment since I come from a poor family and we didn’t have the resources to go on vacation to other countries, or even to qualify for a tourist visa; However, I had hope that one day that dream was going to come true.  My mom was been claimed by my grandpa to come to live to the United States, and even though the process lasted 17 years, the time to travel for the first time finally arrived, yey!  When I was 18 years old, I had the chance to step on a plane and sight a different landscape beyond my beloved Dominican Republic for the first time in my life. Unfortunately, that was a bittersweet moment for me and my two brothers because we were leaving behind my beloved dad, who was very sad for our farewell and whom died of depression two years after (but that’s another story that I might be sharing later on). 

             In the wake of my limitations to travel, I developed a huge desire to become a flight attendant since it was the only realistic opportunity I had back in that time. I never tried to do it in D.R. because I thought it was more complex than what it really is. I know that as I did, a lot of people think that it is necessary to go to school to become a flight attendant or that it costs a lot of money to become one. That does not necessarily need to be like that. It is true that there are a lot of schools trying to fish unexperienced boys and girls dreaming of flying around the world for free, to spend their money in their schools, but the airline that hires you will train you on their planes and regulations. You will have to go to school and study a lot, but they will pay you for that.

I learned that, when a friend of mine that has been a flight attendant for many years hooked me up with an airline from Aruba that was hiring cabin crews to start operations in Miami. At that time, I was working as a store manager for a women’s store at the Dolphin Mall in Miami, and even though, I liked my job and the people I was working with, I couldn’t miss this opportunity. The bad part is that I couldn’t give my boss the two weeks’ notice. Reason why until today, I still feel bad for the way things happened. My ex-boss was a very comprehensive and good human being, and I know that I didn’t leave in a very good moment.

But anyways, my dream came true. I became a flight attendant and I had the opportunity to live in the amazing island of Aruba for a couple of months. While I was in training, I also had the opportunity to meet people from different places, such as Holland, Curaçao, Colombia, and obviously, Aruba. I visited different countries such as Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, etc. All beautiful and fascinating countries. 

             In Aruba I met the love of my life, I got married and today we have a beautiful and healthy almost three years old boy.  

Flight attendants have a say, “once a flight attendant, forever flight attendant.” And it is true that it is difficult to run away from that field… I mean, come on! Who wouldn’t enjoy getting paid to visit different countries?  But for me, family is first, I am very attached to my son, so after I had him, I decided to stop flying and dedicate myself to him. 

       It was a beautiful experience that let me with a lot of wonderful memories, so who knows if one day, after my child or children grow up, I go up in the sky again.