Home Sweet Home Away from Home

I am sometimes painfully aware that I spend many nights away from home.  Many of us have jobs that keep us away from home occasionally, but my job keeps me away from home most nights.  I jokingly refer to my home as a $900/month, climate controlled, storage shed.  Sometimes there is a heavy price to pay for all this time away from home, and sometimes can be very rewarding.

Many airlines utilize two different hotels for every city. One is for the shorter layover, and is usually located close to the airports.  For the times when you have a 9 or 10 hour layover, you don't want to wander to far from the airport.  Could you imagine arriving in Chicago during rush hour only to get stuck in rush hour traffic on the way to a downtown hotel?  That would leave you with about 6 hours in your room.  That's definitely not much time left for sleep.  Therefore, the airlines put us up close to the airport.

For the times when we have a layover of greater then 19 hours, my company puts us up in a downtown hotel.  Traffic isn't much of an issue, because we have more time at the hotel.  The biggest added benefit for the crew is the availability of things to do and places to eat at a downtown location.  When I was doing mostly international flying, my layovers were always more than 24 hours. We would arrive very early in the morning and immediately nap for a few hours.  If you had a good crew, you would arrange a time to meet in the lobby and venture out to do some sightseeing.

If you're really lucky, there may be festivals or big events going on.  One of the cities I've been pretty lucky with is Paris. On one Paris trip, I arrived on the first public day of the Paris Air Show, one of the most prestigious shows in the world. 

The leading aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus sell more airplanes during this show than any other.  Besides commercial aircraft manufacturers, many military and corporate plane makers show up and display their wares.  Since I was a little boy, I had dreamed of going to the Paris Air Show, so it was nice to make that happen and to get paid to go there. Among the highlights for me, was getting to see airplanes fly that I had only seen on tv or in magazines, like the Russian Mig-29 or the Dassault Mirage fighter jets.  The largest commercial airliner ever produce, the double-decker Airbus A380 also flew an exciting display.

Another trip to Paris had me arriving on the morning of Bastille Day.  This is the French version of our July 4th Independence Day.  It is a wonderful celebration and one that should not be missed.  The French have had many hundreds of years to perfect this party, and boy have they ever!  Our hotel is located in a prime location, only a block from the Eiffel Tower.  The entire mall around the tower was packed with people. If I had to guess, it was in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even close to a million. My crew and I grabbed some blankets off our beds and proceeded to find a patch of grass on the mall to park ourselves for the afternoon and evening.  On the way, we stopped at a local grocery store and picked up some wine, cheese, french bread, crackers and sausage.    If the French could do it right, so could we.  On the lighter side, we did have one run-in with the French Police.  They spotted us with our wine bottles and told us we couldn't take them in with us. Understandably, they did not want the glass bottles breaking and becoming a hazard for other spectators. Thankfully, I had gone to the crew lounge in the hotel, and gotten some coffee cups with lids.  I asked the officer if we could open the bottles right there, transfer the wine to the cups, and then take it in.  He said that was acceptable, and after pouring the wine into the cups, we were on our way.  That was some good French coffee...I mean wine. The evening was amazing!  After a concert by Jason Mraz, the fireworks began.  They were coordinated to music and one of the best displays I have ever seen.  It was like a 45-minute grand finale.  From our spot, we looked through the Eiffel Tower with the fireworks in the background. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Probably the most special trip I've done was a trip to Rome.  I wasn't originally scheduled to go to Rome, but instead, kind of lucked into it.  I think I was supposed to go to somewhere in the United Kingdom. We have a system at my company that will send us text messages when a trip suddenly becomes available.  If I would like to fly that trip instead, all I have to do is call my schedulers, and if nobody else beat me to it, they change out my old trip for the new one.  Rome trips do not pop into open time very often, as they usually go to the most senior people.  When they do become availiable, everyone and their mothers try to pick it up. Even with such stiff competition, I somehow beat them all to the punch and was able to pick up this trip...
It wasn't until the next day, that I realized I would be arriving in Rome on Easter Sunday morning.  Having been raised Catholic, imagine my luck when I was able to see the Pope celebrate Easter mass in St. Peters Square. Three of my Flight Attendants came with, even though two of them aren't Catholic.  This is one of those opportunities you just don't pass up.  That was about where my luck ended. A massive rain storm with thunder and lightning, bathed us for the entire mass.  When the lightning started to get heavy, I was beginning to think it might be smart to get out of this huge open piece of land where everyone was holding a lightning rod (umbrella).  Even though it rained of biblical proportions, all pun intended, it was a wonderful experience that I will look forward to someday telling my grandchildren.

Overall, I can't complain too much about the time I spend away from home.  It can be plain or boring, or it can be amazing and life-changing.  I have difficulty sometimes explaining to family, friends, or even outsiders, what my life is like, but one thing I can say is that I am always excited to see what adventures my career still has in store for me.

As we approach our destination, please make sure your seat belts are fastened, your tray tables are stowed, and your seat backs are in the full, upright position.  I hope to see you again soon, but for now, Flight Attendants, please prepare the cabin for landing.