A New Adventure: Where we come from...

Published: June 14, 2016

Since leaving the Delta world earlier this year, many of you may have been wondering what I am up to these days. Several of you have asked, "Do you miss the travel?" Others have asked, "What are you doing for work now?" Some of you may not have realized until now that I had departed from the airline job I held.

Since leaving my job at the airport, I have not actively been seeking a job. I have, however, been preparing for a big change in my life. For nearly the past three months, I've been packing my belongings, researching new cities, and even doing a little studying. Soon I will be moving temporarily to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where I will undergo approximately two months of training for my new job as an Air Traffic Controller.

As I've discussed before, the aviation industry has always fascinated me. I've previously written about how I got started in the industry, and spent several years of my life working as a member of the Delta family. If you haven't checked it out, or the rest of my travel website, I would highly recommend it (and while you're at it, make your way over to the LTPC-London Tube Photo Challenge site as well).

I've spent the past three months staying quite busy, all things considered. Maintaining all my websites and putting the finishing touches on them, while constantly updating other parts is always an ongoing process.

Fortunately, after getting this post up, my focus will completely shift on preparing for my move and starting a new life, somewhere. I've also been doing quite a bit of packing. Since there is virtually no chance I'll be returning to my hometown area, most of what I own will either come with me or go into storage.

Of course, when you're packing nearly twenty years worth of stuff, you're bound to stumble upon some old memories. It's really incredible what we as humans accumulate over the years. I've found everything from old boarding passes from flights only a few years old, to clothes I haven't worn in nearly six or more years. I found uniforms from when I used to work at the YMCA, and I've found old homework assignments and sports uniforms from enough years ago that I don't care to count. I've even found old pictures of my friends from middle school and their old borrowed DVDs and books that were never returned (PS- you know who you are, drop me and line and I'll send them back ASAP). It's been nearly fifteen years since my first airplane ride, who would have guessed it would spark such an interest in this wonderful industry.

The first twenty some years of my life have flown by so fast, it's actually kind of scary. Last December, I lost my precious puppy dog and best friend at the age of 12. It seemed like just yesterday she was smaller than a football running around the yard with not a care in the world.

It's been over five years since I've worked as a lifeguard at a pool, and it's been longer than that since I've swam in the pool in the backyard of my current house. I've been out of high school for over five years, and nearly four years since I started my simple baggage handler job at the airport near the college I attended. It all feels like yesterday.

With all those things in mind, I will embark on a new journey in my life very soon. With all these past memories to remember, there will also be many new memories made, wherever I wind up relocating to. I embrace the journey, and hope it will all be a positive, meaningful, and safe experience.

For now, that's all. I'll be posting here on the blog website every day while I'm at the academy learning how to direct and guide airplanes through the sky.