Confessions of an Ex-Flight Attendant: Why I Quit the “Perfect Job” and Moved to Samara, Costa Rica Part II/II
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Why are they still here, so long after the glitz of the jet age has faded? Well, you probably would be too!
You can’t really blame them. Once you have the best job in the world, why would you ever quit or retire ? Once you join the ranks of the uber-fortunate, the only way you are ever leaving this so-called “job” is “feet first”.
After I was hired, I too became institutionalized into the culture that is unique to flight attendants. From every source, it was impressed upon me that once on the “inside”, there would be no going back. Many a “jumpseat conference” was spent extolling the virtues of our occupation, praising its exclusive privileges, and savagely eviscerating the soul-less routine of the 9 to 5 cubicle life.
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Like prisoners, we knew that we would be incapable of surviving on the outside. We would have lost the ability to work without being pampered and to relate to those who did not see the world as their private playground.
“Feet First”, that’s what we would say to one another in solemn confidence when alone, and in knowing glances when in the company of “civilians”.
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It was perpetually reaffirmed that there was no way that I, or any of us, would ever leave this job by choice. We had plenty of days off each month, the power to fly anywhere we wanted, the right to skip long security lines at the flash of our I.D., and best of all, we could spill coffee on annoying passengers and blame it on a patch of rough clouds. (Sorry, to the guy in the yellow shirt on the Tampa-JFK flight. I was having a rough day).
As a group, we basked in the light of our self-importance everywhere we went. We bragged to each other about our holidays in a rented Mediterranean villa, the quick flight to San Francisco for lunch, or the warm nights spent strolling the river Seine in the heart of Paris.
All flight attendants are certain that they have reached the pinnacle of good fortune and are smugly aware that they are the envy of the working classes. The only people that we can admire are those that don’t work at all. Most jobs are beneath us, both literally and figuratively. We have “arrived” and it doesn’t get much better than this.
Or, does it?
If you have spent much time in the air, you may have noticed something else about flight attendants. With the rare exception of a few smiling faces (it’s probably the thin air) most of them are not particularly joyful in the exercise of their duties.
If everything we have said is true about this being the most wonderful form of gainful employment currently extant, then each F.A. should glow with an awe-inspiring aura of gratitude and genuine satisfaction. But, this is often not the case. What are we missing ?
The answer to this question is the reason why, after years of living at thirty thousand feet, I quit and landed in a Costa Rican beach village.
Perhaps it’s surprising, but most flight attendants eventually come to think of their job as just another way to pay the bills and to put food on the table. Granted, its a pretty exciting gig when viewed from the outside, but after the glare of the glamorous lifestyle has faded, there isn’t much left but a desire for something more fulfilling. When we put it like that, it starts to sound a lot like most other kinds of jobs.
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Though F.A.’s have plenty of time off, their free-days are scattered throughout the month and schedule swaps are tough. What ends up happening is that working gets in the way of personal time and free flights need to be squeezed into small windows of time between assignments.
Exhausted from long trips away from home, weather delays, bad food, and complaining customers, a F.A. is not going to have the desire to get on another plane for a 2 day vacation. They just want to go home. Eventually, the “buddy passes” pile up in the dresser drawer to gather dust.
But, quitting is still not so easy because those passes still hold their spell over us and we can still hear them calling our name from under all those socks and t-shirts. Giving up such a widely envied perk is the biggest trick of the airline industry. They give you free flight passes to lure you to stay, but not the time or energy to use them. Gotcha!
Finally, I realized that all of the free flights in the world could not fulfill my desire for a slower pace of life in a relaxed and beautiful country. We decided that it would be better to be in one place long enough to enjoy it, than dozens in a blur of frenzied border hopping.
We realized that living in a small village in Costa Rica sounded like a lot more fun than simply dreaming about it. I had a great job with free flight passes but no time or energy to use them.
Maybe your job and lifestyle have a lot of perks too, but maybe you are like me, and suspicious (to the point of paranoia) that there might be something better out there…
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What I discovered is that you won’t find fulfillment or freedom without swimming against the current, without risking something. Happiness doesn’t come packaged into even the best jobs and even those with the highest paychecks usually don’t guarantee a life of personal satisfaction.
Though your job probably doesn’t give you free flights, it might not be that different from mine. You might have the money, the cars, the homes, the golf-club membership, but still there might be something missing.
If it is hard for you to imagine quitting your job or changing your lifestyle to move towards a sunnier future, maybe you can get some inspiration from how hard it was for me to quit mine. Eventually, I decided that trying something new was better than doing the same thing and expecting different results.
Now that I am here, I could not be happier and since it turns out that my fear of getting hit in the head by a coconut is as likely as a free first class upgrade, I’m just going to shelve that worry along with my uniform and lapel wings. I have to go now, I have a date with a hammock and I don’t want to miss the surf class, it’s always good for a few laughs. I might even give it a try myself.
This is part II/II. You can see part I here.
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Written by Ryan Xavierr. who is a freelance travel writer, also known as “The Homeless Writer”. With no fixed address, he travels the world and writes about his experiences. More exciting travel stories, photos, videos, and tips can be found on his blog: www.Happy2bHomeless.com
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Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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