Boise, ID – April 23, 2026

I was a poli sci major at UConn for my undergraduate degree and spent time working as a legislative aide at the State Capitol in Hartford, in additional to running two political campaigns. I eventually went to law school and spent the majority of my career working in local government. I’m understandably a bit of a government nerd, so it should come as no surprise that I decided one of the many fun things I could do with this job was to tour all 50 State Capitols. Previously I had toured the Capitols in Hartford, Connecticut (obviously) and Annapolis, Maryland (also obviously). Only 48 to go!

Number three was Boise, Idaho where I had a 15 hour layover. We arrived at the hotel around 3:00 which gave me just enough time to walk over and check it out. They weren’t offering guided tours, but there was an interesting exhibit in the lower level about the history of Idaho and it’s Capitol, and I was able to walk around on the different floors. Unfortunately, the legislative chambers were locked up, but I’m sure I’ll have another layover there in the future and I can try again.

Construction began on the Capitol in 1905, fifteen years after Idaho became a state, and it was completed in 1920.

As you can tell, it was a beautiful day. My dad would have called it “Chamber of Commerce weather.”

Four types of marble were used in the construction: red from Georgia, gray from Alaska, green from Vermont, and black from Italy.

This statue of Washington, covered in gold leaf, was carved in 1869 out of white pine, Idaho’s state tree. The artist, Charles Ostner, spent four years carving it by candlelight after working during the day as a miner.

Obligatory dome pictures:

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My first flight – March 19, 2026.

I was really nervous leading into my first flight. I had a day off between orientation and what had been scheduled as my first flight – a 3 day trip with a classmate as of one of my fellow crew members – so I decided to rip off the bandaid and I picked up a turn to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic on my day off.

A turn is when you fly out to a destination, the passengers leave, new passengers get on, and you fly back to your base. No time to sightsee, but turns have their advantages. For example, if you just want to pick up some extra money on your day off, or if you live in your base so you can be home each night like a traditional job.

I couldn’t have asked for a better trip for my first flight. My fellow crew members were AWESOME. Of course I told them it was my very first flight and they were SO enthusiastic. They showed me the ropes, gave me great advice, and the pilot took a group photo of us at the end. We even had a bit of extra time when we landed in Punta Cana, so one of my fellow flight attendants took me to the duty free shop where I bought some Bombay Sapphire for Jeff. Between the duty free discount and the crew discount, it was quite a deal!

Sunset somewhere between Punta Cana and New York City.

By the time I got back to my crash pad I was tired, but I had done it! My first flight was under my belt, and with my first three-day trip the next day, I knew I’d sleep better for having worked the turn vs. tossing and turning with nerves in anticipation of what was supposed to be my first flight. One trip down, hopefully many years of trips to go!

How I went from the slowest mode of transportation to the fastest.

I needed a full-time job with benefits, but I couldn’t go back to being a lawyer. After traveling since 2018 on our Bristol 29.9 up and down the U.S. East Coast and the Bahamas, the idea of sitting behind a desk again was NOT appealing. We had finally settled down in Baltimore, MD and I was eligible for admission to the Maryland Bar without having to take an exam, but my application sat on an open tab on my laptop for a few months. I clearly didn’t want to do it.

Casting about, trying to think of careers that were more appealing than the law, I was scrolling on Reddit when a suggested sub-Reddit came up: Cabin Crew Careers. I clicked on it and saw that it was about being a flight attendant. A flight attendant? Hmm. My dad had suggested it when I dropped out of college almost 40 years ago, but I hadn’t pursued it for reasons that I can’t remember.

So I researched it for a few hours and discovered that the U.S. mainline carriers were taking applications. Although I hadn’t applied for a “real” job since 2005, I knew that corporations now used AI to sift through resumes, so I fiddled with mine a bit to add a few keywords that I thought would be appropriate, and I hit “send.”

I had no idea that a U.S. mainline carrier gets 100,000 applications for 1,500 jobs. I was clueless about the fact that if my resume made it past the AI filter, I would then have to take an on-line skills/personality assessment that would need to pass muster with AI, then record myself answering situational questions that would need to – yes, get past the AI. Only then would I be able to have a live, face-to-face interview before finding out if I could get the job. Ignorance can be bliss.

All I knew was that the more I researched it, the more it sounded like the perfect job for me at this point in my life. Approximately a month later, my resume had made it through, I passed the assessment and the pre-recorded interview, I was flown out for the face-to-face interview with around 50 other candidates for that morning alone, and I landed the job.

To say I was surprised was an understatement. And to say I was excited about it was a REAL understatement. When I got the email offering me the job, I literally ran around the table repeatedly, all the while yelling, “WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!”

But there was a long way to go before I earned my wings and could start flying. Seven weeks of training, six days a week, 10-12 hours a day. It was like drinking from a firehose. Weekly tests. CPR and first aid. Door day. Ditching day.

It was a lot. There were some tears and there was a lack of confidence at times, but I made it through. And here I am! Still traveling, but on an airplane instead of a boat.

There is a saying among sailors: “Nothing goes to windward like a 747.” I figured it would be the perfect name for this blog. Unlike my last blog, this one will focus primarily on travels – layover fun, non-revving fun, both on my own and with Jeff.

I want to have a diary with pictures to look through to remember my adventures once I’ve finally settled down. I may throw in a flight attendant info post here and there if anyone cares – assuming anyone is reading this besides my family and friends (unlikely given the scope, but that’s fine.)

So let’s see what happens. To quote Ellie in the movie “Up”, adventure is out there!