This last "trip" really got my feet wet for life on the road! We started off in LA and flew some friends of the company to Las Vegas. Pretty nice way to get to Vegas! We picked up another couple (the president of one of the casinos and his wife) and flew them to to the East Coast. Over the next few days we had a chance to hang out in Chicago and we had a blast! We went to a cool part of the city where we had some dinner and drinks and met up with friends of one of our crewmembers.
After a couple of days in Chicago, we flew another couple to their summer home in Zurich, Switzerland. It is so beautiful there! The lakes, the mountains, the little towns - I wish we could have spent more time there. From Switzerland, we went to London where we stayed a few days.
The place we stay in England is like our home away from home. A lot of corporate jets fly out of the Luton airport so we spend a lot of time there. I'm getting to know the town better and there is a nice mall next to where we stay and I have discovered some good shopping which is a little dangerous! It's weird to go back every few weeks and see the same people. One of the best things about staying at the hotel I have to admit is the coffee bar that they have downstairs. They make a great mochachino - much better than Starbucks! So after a couple of days in England, we repositioned the plane to Paris for a trip out the next evening. It was fun to just be able to pack up our things at the hotel, get into a car to take us to our plane at the Harrod's FBO and get on the private jet bound for Paris. While the pilots flew the one hour trip to Paris, I got to hang out in back listening to Frank Sinatra, taking in the views of the city of London at night and finally seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up. It was quite a sight to see. We went to check into our hotel at night and the little town that we stayed in looked like something out of an old WWII movie. The streets were narrow, there were old stone walls and boulangarie's on every corner it seemed. I knew exactly where I was going to grab my chocolate croissant and coffee the next morning! I also realized I need to brush up on my French, it was very difficult to communicate with anyone there, although I think half of the time they pretended not to understand us.
The next evening, I received my catering and got the plane all set and comfortable for our passengers. We were flying our passengers (Greek shipping billionaires) to Hawaii, but we were only going as far as Vancouver (to change crews). Our catering out of Le Bouget airport was actually very good. We had Filet Mingnon's, mashed potatoes, French green beans, beautiful fruit trays and the most amazing looking chocolate desserts! We left Paris around 10pm and went to Iceland then got to Vancouver around 2am (with all of the crazy time changes). We woke up the next morning in Vancouver with a flight ready to go to Tokyo. Our hotel rooms in Vancouver were amazing with great views of the snow capped mountains (one side of my hotel room was all windows). Around Noon the next day, we boarded our plane to Tokyo.
We arrived at the airport in Tokyo and actually ended up staying in Narita, which is right near the airport. It was really cool to be in a place like Japan. Everything was very different from home - we had a handler who helped us by giving us a rented cell phone (since ours don't work in Japan) and got a car for us to take us to the hotel. Our hotel was cool, big rooms, flat screen TV's and I was surirpsed that I didn't even need an electrical adapter - I could use my hairdryer!!!! We had a great dinner and it seemed so healthy. Green tea, little fresh dumplings and spring rolls, chili chicken, beef and clear broth soup that I cannot pronounce. I learned how to say, hello, thank you, and yes in Japanese. (The photos below are from Eric's trip to Osaka earlier in the week, just because I didn't take photos like I should have).
Catering for our passengers the next day consisted of a very ornate sushi box with different rolls and fresh fish and edamame and miso soup. We found out we were flying a band who was doing a show for Live Earth in Tokyo to Maui. WHOO HOOO!! HAWAII!!!!!!!!
I was really excited to be going to Hawaii from Japan. I had never been to Hawaii and I could easily imagine sitting on the beach for a day or two, soaking up the sun. What was even better was that I found out Eric and I were meeting up there! Our passengers were tired from their concert so they slept the whole 7.5 hours to Hawaii. I sat up front with the pilots and read a book, listened to my iPod and chatted. We saw the sun come up on Saturday for the second time (passing over the international date line) and felt like we were in Maui in no time. Maui was BEAUTIFUL!
After our passengers got off of the plane, we shuttled the plane over to Honolulu flying only a few thousand feet over the islands. It was great because I knew that I was done working for the next few weeks and was thinking of Mai Thai's on the beach.
Hawaii was definitely everything I had imagined, except the water was even nicer than I thought it would be. The weather was perfect, the waves were perfect and I even had an ocean view from my room. I will let the photos below do all of the talking!
Even though I have been traveling to some pretty amazing places, I think that one of the best aspects about this job is meeting the interesting people that board the plane for each new trip. The stories I've heard from them and what I've learned so far reminds me to take advantage of my experiences. Whether its trying a new food in a different country, learning a few words in a different lanugage or the understanding the customs in the various places, I can't imagine a better way to see and experience the world.
After dinner, there was a little bit of dancing, a few drinks at the open bar and then back to our hotel, The Beverly Hilton. The hotel was beautiful and we even had a flat screen TV in the bathroom. 
I was able to relax in the back for the 4.5 hour flight. 
The flight into Maui was gorgeous. Mountains on either side made it look majestic as we came in to land. We ended up staying in Maui that night and were able to check out a little bit of the Island before our flight out the next day. 
It was a bit rainy so we headed over to an area of the island that was much more sunny. We ate at Mama's Fish House, a restaurant on the beach in a little town callied Pa'ia. We ate the absolute best seared ahi sashimi that I've ever tasted, shrimp wontons with macadamia nut dipping sauce. For an entree I got the grilled wild ahi and nueske's smoked bacon sandwich with Molokai sweet potato fries and for dessert, we shared a creme brulee and coconut cheesecake! Yikes! 
