TELL ME A STORY…

Tell me a story.

I get this question A LOT from guests that I fly, people that I meet once they learn what I do, and of course from our SKYacademy students.

It’s fun to tell stories of the adventures I have been on and the things I have seen and experienced as a SkyAngel. Sometimes, like many corporate flight crew, I take it for granted and other times, most times, I am thrilled that I make a living from traveling the world on private jets, tending to the needs of the über elite. It’s a career like none other and it’s fun!

The last 11 years have been filled with so many stories and adventures that one bleeds into the next and it’s hard to remember the details, the location, or when exactly in the course of the past 11 years it took place. Regardless, the important details, the memories, and the moments last a lifetime. As a SkyAngel, everything becomes one big exciting blur and all I really know is that I have enjoyed every minute of it. Even when the trip seems daunting with multiple stops in multiple locations in one day, sometimes barely getting the opportunity to step off the private jet, and barely knowing where you just landed “Welcome, we’ve just landed where you need to be.” and then there are the OTHER times when I have jetted off to Rome where I had the opportunity to enjoy the sights with my pilots for three weeks while my clients enjoyed their private mega-yacht eventually meeting up with us again in France.

I have enjoyed Thanksgiving dinners at my client’s home, where we sat around the table and enjoyed a delicious meal together while we all took a moment to share what we were grateful for and then wrapping up the evening with a swim. Of course, always letting my inner child play I took the opportunity to slide down each one of the three rock slides into the pool as the snow fell down and piled up around us. However, let’s not forget the time spent in Bora Bora where I stayed in one of those wonderful rooms above the ocean for two weeks spending my days swimming, diving, eating, reading, catching some rays, riding a bike, exploring the island, and just being.

Just this past summer I spent four weeks traveling around Europe. We flew to Rapallo Italy, Paris France, and Norway; Alesund, Bergen, and Svalbard. Never before have I had the opportunity to fly to these locations. This was my life! I wanted to jump for joy and sometimes I did. I loved wandering the streets of Rapallo selecting the best meat, cheese, and bread from the local shops to serve to my guests while also taking the opportunity to enjoy amazing cuisine while overlooking the harbor, the moon casting its light across the bay. INCREDIBLE.

Next stop Paris. What’s not to love? My favorite thing to do is lace up my running shoes and get lost in a city. For me, I find it is the best way to engulf myself in the culture and dive right into my new “home”.

We wrapped up the trip-hopping around Norway. What a beautiful place. Each location was so different from the next, but it was not hard to quickly get lost in nature. The rain poured so I laced up my running shoes and charged the mountain, exploring some of the most incredible running trails. I absolutely love running in the rain and this rain had me wet from head to toe while every curve in the trail opened up to a majestical view of the forest and enticed me to push forward.

We ended our trip on the Islands of Svalbard. Here I was fortunate to experience the true rawness of nature, its beauty, isolation, and it’s allure. One of my greatest adventures here took place when I convinced my pilots to hop on an "open" boat for eight hours in freezing temperatures and rain falling down on us. Luckily for me, or my pilots may have left me on the islands, as we were leaving the harbor in search of Polar Bears we spotted a pod of Beluga Whales, hundreds of them and we all just sat there in awe. I patted myself on my back as I watched the smiles spread across the faces of my pilots.

Sometimes it feels so surreal that this is my life, but THIS is my life and I feel like the luckiest girl alive. So when people say, “Tell me a story” I have to pause, not because I don’t have one to tell, but because I don’t know where to start or which one to tell...Cabo, Italy, Spain, Chili, Argentina, Alaska, Japan, New York, California and everywhere in between, or maybe I should tell a story from one of my many trips to Hawaii, or my adventures in Tahoe wakeboarding on the crystal blue waters, or hiking Maroon Bells in Aspen, or surfing in Costa Rica and exploring the islands of Panama, and of course I can always tell stories about traveling to The Congo and coming face to face with a Silverback, but perhaps you'd like to hear about me exploring Angkor Wat in Cambodia or braving street vendor Pad Thai in Bangkok...where do I start?  Sometimes it's just easier to jump for joy!