Which means I'm just so, so, so, SO tired. Basically dead. But what can you do?
Yes gentle reader (I'm assuming it's just my mom following at this point, tbh), the rumors are true. I left my office job as a US government official at the end of March and have since entered training, graduated, and have now been flying for almost 2 1/2 months. The work is absolutely nothing like what I've been doing for the past decade, but it's definitely the change I was looking for. I get to talk to people on a daily basis, my schedule is never the same, and I get to be involved in an industry that I've been fascinated with for most of my life.
It's definitely not all glamour and fun though. My husband was offered a temporary duty assignment at his company's main office in the Bay Area from January through April, so we saw each other very little during that time. I left for training at the beginning of May and since that time have had at most 2 days at home back in Chicago at a time, often when he's on a business trip. It's been difficult adjusting to life where your schedule is in flux on an almost daily basis and you often feel quite lonely even when surrounded by hundreds of people. These are things I knew going in though and I like to think I'm adjusting well to this lifestyle. I couldn't be happier with my career change choice.
So what does this new life mean for my journey around the globe and this blog? I would love to say nothing will change at all but that would be a lie, and I try to be as honest and upfront as possible in life. I haven't taken a trip to anywhere new (let alone somewhere I've been before) since February when I was given a tentative offer of employment. In fact I received the offer to do my final interview with my airline while sitting on a beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica (country #67 for me), my very last leisure trip to date. Ask any new flight attendant and they will tell you that the schedules at the start of your career can be brutal at times, especially during the summer. I'm still getting my 'air legs' in order and learning to navigate the world of trip trading, schedule bidding, and commuting between my base and Chicago. I have had some great trips on my schedule though, allowing me to explore some new corners of the US and familiar cities overseas.
So for now travel for pleasure and general exploration is not on the agenda. I don't anticipate it will be for the remainder of 2019. Once 2020 rolls around though, I hope that I can start using my schedule flexibility and nonrev benefits to start jetting off to new destinations. I sadly had to cancel my planned trip through Iraq and Sudan in order to attend training and my goal (if it works out) is to pick back up with that trip at the beginning of the new year sometime. I've also been craving a return to South Asia lately so perhaps a jaunt to Pakistan or Bangladesh is in the cards sometime soon.
In the mean time I have (literally) hundreds of potential posts in my drafts queue that I need to work toward publishing. I've visited 67 of the world's 195 nation states and yet I have fewer than 25 countries with posts detailing my thoughts, tips, and photos. I will definitely have some down time in the next few months on layovers or between flights in a randon aiport to work on these, so I'm hoping to start churning out posts again starting in October. My inability to travel for fun shouldn't mean a lack of writing on the blog. As long as I can keep myself motiviated to write and not just nap every time I have a free moment, things should continue to appear here in the future. Pray for me!
In the mean time, I hope you're well and still thirsty to see everything this world has to offer. This job has a weird way of simultaneously telling you the world is a very big and also a very small place. If anything, my desire to explore is even greater than it was before.
See you soon....!
