In the comments section of that post a woman named Melissa from “PACKiT” left a comment saying:

You have to check out these new lunch bags from a company called PackIt. The lunch bags are lined with gel. They fold up compactly and you store them in the freezer. when they are frozen you can pack them with anything Yogurt, fresh foods, even sushi!! because they keep food cold for up to 10 hours! The perfect bag for flying!!

The perfect bag for flying? Who better than a flight attendant to put the PACKit cooler to the test?

I contacted Melissa and she graciously sent me a PACKiT. I’ll cut to the chase and say, I’m never flying without it. Period.

Skeptical, I traveled my last four day trip with both my eBag and my PACKiT. In the PACKiT I placed frozen Chicken Tortilla Soup, string cheese, Turkey Chili and a small container of salad. I commuted from Phoenix to San Francisco and ate the salad when I arrived there. Shockingly, the soup was still frozen solid. I flew from San Francisco to New York went to sleep, and the next day on the way to Los Angeles I decided to make the soup. I took it out of the PACKiT and it was STILL partially frozen. This is the first time, in a very long time, that anything frozen I’ve traveled with has stayed frozen for so long!

Needless to say, when I offered my crew some of the soup they were shocked at how well it kept in the PACKiT. Hell, even the trip I’m on right now, one of the Flight Attendants, Savannah, is amazed at how well it works.

For those Flight Attendant’s who currently have an eBag, the PACKiT is agreat companion. I packed my PACKiT with all of my cold/frozen food, and then placed it inside the eBag. I then put my room temperature snacks and food along side of it. It works perfectly. The PACKiT keeps your frozen food frozen and because you’re putting it in the eBag you still have room for additional food and supplies.

For Flight Attendant’s that don’t currently have a cooler and are looking to get one, the PACKiT is great for 2-3 day trips. It’s big enough to fit yogurt, veggies, fruit, and small containers of salad and food and not so large that you feel like you’re lugging an extra bag around with you.

In the end, if you can’t tell, I love it! And no, I’m not being paid to say that! I won’t work another 4 day without it.

For more information you can visit: PACKiT.com

Sorry for the lack of an update in the past week. I’ve been working quite a lot and though I haven’t been updating the blog I have been writing some blogs that will start showing up this afternoon. I’ve some pretty interesting stories for you. I promise. I think my streak of ‘strange passengers’ is back!

In the meantime, I received an email from LuLu.com (the publisher of my book) that apparently they slipped up and my book was delayed hitting various search engines. Because of that they put my book on sale for the duration of the summer. So, if you were holding out to get a copy of my book — now’s the time! You can head over to LuLu.com and purchase a copy of the book for 15% off until August 15, 2010 by entering the coupon code BEACHREAD305 at check out. You can click here to get a copy! (And accept my thanks!)

Additionally, for you other traveler bloggers out there.. here’s some news. As a lot of you know I was very lucky and privileged to be hired by Flightster.com as a travel blogger. Well, they’re looking to hire another blogger and created a contest to do so. Quick details: they pay writers $75-$100 per post, they are aiming to create a top notch travel blog, writing for Flightster will offer you great exposure. For all of the details on how to enter (and you will want to enter) click here.

Okay then. Its 2:12am California time as I put this post together and I’m actually awake getting ready to fly from Boston to Los Angeles. My friends are headed to bed and I’m headed to work! Like I said, stay tuned this afternoon for a real update on here.. and check out Flightster every Tuesday for my updates over there.

Have a great day everyone!

June 17: On the night of June 17th, I commuted to Los Angeles to be in position to work my trip departing the next morning. It was a trip I was looking forward to because I was working with one of my best friends Aimee, and a good friend Billy.

My routing for the 4 days was: LAX-DC 15hr layover | DC-San Francisco, sit at the airport for 2 hours then deadhead (fly as a passenger) to Las Vegas 16 hour layover | Las Vegas-SF-DC 10 hour layover | Then, DC back to LA. In 4 days that was 10,612miles worth of flying, or 23 hours and 27 minutes.

You can still see the tags! ha!

June 18: I went out on my layover in DC to Macy*s and bought some clothes for the Travel Blog Exchange. Something I didn’t want to do but the deals were too great! I spent $50 and walked out of the store with $200 worth of clothes. My receipt said I had $150 in savings. Crazy! From there we went out to Red Robin for burgers. Aimee ordered an “Endless Root Beer Float” but  the way the server acted, she ordered a pot of gold. The server had no idea what she was trying to order even though it was clearly displayed in the menu. Finally, they bring her a float in a beer mug, half full. In one sip it was empty. She asked for a refill and got another float in a smaller glass. Again, in one sip – it was gone. Now Aimee had asked the server to bring the ice cream and the root beer in different glasses so she could make it herself since they were clearly lost on how to make the beverage. This time, they brought her a vanilla shake. It was crazy how many times they tried to make this drink, which is on their menu, but couldn’t.

June 19: As if I hadn’t spent enough money already of course we were going to go out in Las Vegas. We decided to go see Carrot Top and it was a great choice! He’s hilarious and if you’re in Vegas you need to check him out. Spent another $45 on the tickets, plus dinner and drinks and of course, a bit of gambling.

June 20: Finally back in DC.. went to sleep.

June 21: Had an early morning flying back to base in Los Angeles.. done around 10am. After I arrived, I went to my friend Sue’s house for the night because though this trip was over.. I started a two day trip the next morning.

Trip details: LA-San Fran-San Diego-San Fran 16 hour layover | Deadhead from San Fran to Toronto then work back to Los Angeles.

June 22: I arrived at work at 7am for an 8am flight, did the turns to San Diego and retired to my hotel room in San Francisco. I was so worn out, run down and broke. There was no energy for anything.

June 23: Deadheading was nice. I got to relax, write a little bit and take a short nap. Working back to LA was a piece of cake. Small scare though, we arrived in Los Angeles late and I thought I missed my last flight to Phoenix. I was in luck! Southwest was delayed too.. sat in the LAX airport for 3 hours waiting for my flight after working a 12hr day. Flew home to Phoenix

June 24: Got to sleep in my own bed for the first time in six days. Amazing. Unpacked my luggage, did laundry and repacked my luggage. Off to NYC tomorrow morning for TBEX.

June 25: A 4am wake up call comes extremely early. Luckily I wasn’t flying standby thanks to Mike and had confirmed seats to Dallas, then onward to Newark to meet up with Sara. Board my flight at 5:30am, sit next to crazy lady who won’t stop talking about her ex-husband and how they used to travel. Pretending to fall asleep to make her stop — doesn’t work. You can hear/read more about her, here. Finally land in New York to the smiling face of Sara Keagle. For the first time we meet in person! We then head into the city to meet up with Mike and whisk off to record a live taping The Crew Lounge, later we attend the first night of TBEX.

June 26: I slept on a pull out couch the night before, needless to say didn’t sleep that well. But, chipper for TBEX we head to the event. Got to meet Gailen David, Paul Thompson, Grace, Sarah,  and Heather on day one. After the conference broke, we headed to the TripAdvisor Happy Hour (thanks for the notebooks!) There, I got to meet Jeff, and Jennifer. Jennifer and I talked for a while about Punta Gorda, Florida (who knew!?), my book and blog. She told me about what she does in travel PR, freelancing PR and about her blog. Great conversation. Head back to the hotel for a wardrobe change before the party that night, depressed because I didn’t win an iPad. After a one hour quick change, we head back downtown to the EuroCheapo.com / BootsNAll.com After Party. There I got to meet a TON of people thanks to Mike and his bright idea to enter me into the best dressed contest. People I never met before and won’t see again.. have pictures of me on their cell phones. It’s OK to delete them! Got the word out about The Crew Lounge and hung out with Beth, Tom, Sarah, Grace and Colleen most of the night. Met Amy Kemp discussed blogging ideas that I never thought of before. Also met Christine and joined the gay mafia. After late night Japanese food and a long walk back to the hotel (and Sara placing The Crew Lounge business cards on every car along the way while asking people to listen to us)… bed.

June 27: Super tired, we decide to skip TBEX day two. Won’t happen next year. Sara & I also had to fly back home today, so we’d have to leave the conference early anyway.  Mike comes over with breakfast, we do a photo shoot for promo pictures and discuss what we’re going to work on next. Then we head out to Penn Station. Sara gets on a train to Newark, and I head to JFK. That was an ordeal.. read about that here. Finally get home to Phoenix. Unpack, repack. Back to work tomorrow.

June 28: In shock that I have to go to work tonight, I put in a drop request for my trip. Denied. Tired to the point that I can’t keep my eyes open.. I try again. Denied. 4pm I head to the airport. One flight, one leg — I can do it. I fly from Los Angeles to Toronto on the redeye with a great crew. Land early in the morning on the 29th.

June 29th: Head right to bed. Sleep, finally, 8 hours. I wake up at 4:30pm and call the crew to get dinner. We eat, then drink. We drink a lot to pre-game for company party we were invited to. After an ordeal over whose really driving us there.. I pay for a cab. I walked a redcarpet and had my photo taken.. first time for everything. We party. Dance. Mingle. And get tired. 11:30pm we head back to the hotel. This time, Sue paid.

June 30th: Wake up at 5am. I can’t believe I’m up at 5am after only sleeping four and a half hours. Head to airport to work back to San Francisco then onto Los Angeles before heading home. Have a minor medical emergency and issues with nonrevs, meet David and Dan. Nice guys. Head home. Friend reminds me I agreed to help him move. Damn! Head to his house to help him move…can’t back out.. he helps me a lot. Move done. Head to bed at 10pm. 18 hours after I woke up.

After all of that, on July 1st, I wake up to a fever, chills and a sore throat and I’m still nursing back to heath. It all caught up with me after 13 days of travel. However, I had an awesome time meeting everyone at TBEX and those that I met while working and getting to New York. A big thanks goes out to Mike at UPGRD, who also produces The Crew Lounge for Sara and I, if it wasn’t for him getting us the hotel and my tickets to/from New York I wouldn’t have been able to attend. Thank you Mike.

I bought my ticket for TBEX’11.. did you? Oh yeah — and I’m bidding vacation for it next year — this schedule isn’t happening again. In 13 days I flew 25,547 miles.

Now, you might be asking, why is it something you love? The answer is simple, people watching. There is no better way to pass time in an airport then to observe your surroundings. Once you’ve passed through security you quickly witness passengers who haven’t flown in at least ten years, those that are confused over why they just had to pay to check a bag and those who decided that flying in their pajamas was fashionable.

[Click here to keep Reading]

My Mother was supposed to fly from New York to Las Vegas to meet me this morning. We were going to spend a night in Vegas before flying down here to Phoenix where she’d visit for a few days before flying back home to New York. Mom is no stranger to non-revving. She’s been coming to Phoenix to visit me since the day I moved out here and had she became eligible on my flight benefits. She’s sat standby for full flights, connecting flights, and empty flights — but she’s made it on all of them.

In the days leading up to her trip which checked in this morning.. every time I talked to her about it she kept saying “I’ve always been lucky, I’ve always made it. I’m sure the day is coming when I won’t.” Well, she jinxed it.

She didn’t make it this morning. The irony? The flight left with 19 open seats. You see when she checked-in she was told by the ticket agent to remain seated in the boarding area and they would call her up to the gate when they cleared the standbys about 20 minutes prior to departure. This is pretty routine, so she thought nothing of it.

Once at the gate area she took her seat and waited. Boarding began for her flight, but she didn’t get antsy. It’s normal for boarding to begin without standbys having a seat or a boarding position yet. Just when they announced a “final boarding call” 10 minutes prior, she went up to the gate to question obtaining a seat. The agents were confused and shocked there was a standby listed for the flight because “our supervisor didn’t tell us anyone was on standby.” Okay, not a valid excuse as the computer tells you that you have a standby checked-in and waiting but after the agents kept passing the blame they finally told my Mom that it was to late to issue her a boarding pass. The flight left without her.

Now, right when this happened, I jumped out of bed from a dead sleep, here in Phoenix at 6:30am. Called her and heard this story. The first thought I had while she was retelling her experience was that she jinxed it. We both jinxed it. There’s no other explanation for her not getting on a flight with 19 open seats other then to say we messed with karma.

So, take this as a lesson. If you’re flying non-rev 1) make sure the gate agents know you’re there. Even if you’re told to sit and wait in the boarding area to be called and 2) don’t talk about the luck you’ve had in the past non-revving.. it’ll come back to bite you in the seat.. you didn’t get.

I want the “blook” to be informative, entertaining, humorous and also resourceful. I’m trying to tell the story of how I get started as a flight attendant, how I ended up where I am now, the crazy things that happen on a daily basis (some of which you’ve read here if you’ve followed me for the past year) and how, you too, can become a Flight Attendant.

Because it has been taking up a lot of my time in the past few weeks I’ve been slacking on updates here.. so, why not show you what I’m working on?

Below is the first half of the first chapter. It’ll give you little background on how I got started, but hopefully, have you coming back to see what happens next!

Excerpt:

Everyone always says that you have to chase your dreams and never settle. I don’t know if “they” meant that literally, but I took that advice to heart after graduating college. I packed my bags and moved from New York to Los Angeles for the possibility of a job.

You see, the entertainment industry, like all of them nowadays, is all “who you know.” Well, at least “who anyone you know might know.” The woman who lived across the street from my Grandmother knew someone.. someone big. Her sister was the Vice President of Production at a huge movie studio in Hollywood. After a few calls were made I jumped on a flight for an interview to see if she could do anything for me. Long story short, she told me she could probably get me a position and ended the conversation with “how quickly can you move to Los Angeles?” Needless to say, I was there five days.

I moved in with a distant cousin whom I didn’t know much about. But, what I did know, was that she was gracious enough to let me live her with until I was able to get on my feet. I moved into her spare bedroom and hit the pavement hard once I arrived. Unfortunately, not much happened.

In the days and weeks following my arrival I called Ms. Vice President’s office many times trying to let her know that I was now a California resident and ready to work. Her annoying-Fran Dresher-sounding assistant always told me that she would relay the message and ensured she would call me back, but after four weeks, she never did. The moment finally came where I had to make a decision: do I try to find a job in Los Angeles on my own and make a life for myself, or, do I move back home to New York?

I decided to stay. In the short time that I was there I fell in love with the west coast and I loved the laid back mentality. Not to mention the palm trees (I don’t know what it is about them, but palm trees make me feel at home).

On the hunt for a job, I had some strange interviews. I interviewed at an up-and-coming production company that didn’t even have a name yet, to very popular radio station in the Los Angeles area and even interviewed for a job that stated there was no salary, you were just working for the credit and the experience. I didn’t get hired at any of them.

So, whats a guy to do when he’s in Los Angeles, jobless, and has a ton of free time? Party.

I definitely became a regular at quite a few bars. I was the scary type of regular too, the kind where the bartender knew exactly who I was and didn’t care if I paid for my drinks or not because they knew I would be back. Though it was a low time in my life and I’m not proud of how much of my savings I blew on alcohol, I wouldn’t change my decisions or my actions. I made some of the best friends I could have, and one of which, Jay, changed my life. Though now, I wish I never met him.

I only bring him up because he changed my life by introducing me to his friend Jessica. He did nothing but create drama and angst between the rest of our circle of friends, but his friend Jessica wasn’t like him at all.

Jessica was a flight attendant for a small regional airline based out of Salisbury, Maryland. She was coming out to Los Angeles to visit her boyfriends family, but also took the time to visit with Jay. He and I drove out to Los Angeles International Airport to pick her up and she and I clicked from the start. It was funny, it was obvious to both of us that we had the same opinion of Jay but were just playing nice.

After introducing myself to her and eventually telling her my story about how I ended up in Los Angeles, she blurted out the words: “Did you ever think of becoming a Flight Attendant?” I thought she was crazy. A Flight Attendant? Me? No.

But, the truth was, I had thought about it before but just never acted on it. We’ve all seen them in movies and on television living their “glamorous lives” hopping from city to city, who wouldn’t want to be a flight attendant?

I had done some research online and joined the message boards on FlightAttendants.org to find out what it takes to become a Flight Attendant and what the different kinds of airlines were. But, I never applied or acted on it.

Following a little persuasion and my interrogating Jessica for information, the next day I applied to any airline that had more than one Flight Attendant on board their aircraft and that didn’t fly propellers. I always was scared of those planes, and I still am. You have to be picky, right? I figured that being a Flight Attendant would be a great job to pass the time while I search for a position within the entertainment industry.

But, as one of my co-workers put it the other day “so, you’re on the market.” Yes, in fact I am. I’ve done my time reflecting on what I’ve learned from my last relationship and I’m ready to move on to find someone who is more compatible with me than the last. And, as any blogger would do; you’re coming along for the ride as well.

I’m going to warn you, the selection in Phoenix is slim. Very slim. And guys who accept the job of a Flight Attendant, further narrows the selection.

My first date back on the market was with a guy named Jeff. Jeff works as an IT analyst for a financial firm in Phoenix. We met on a dating website and emailed back and forth for a few days. Jeff was the first to communicate between us. He seemed overjoyed with the fact that he “found a quality guy” after only joining the dating website two days earlier. He seemed really nice.. until his text messages got a bit.. weird. You see, he just moved into this new house, which apparently is a lot larger than his previous home, and is having a hard time decorating it. He said he didn’t have the gay gene that could do it. He then asked me, the day before our scheduled date, if I could help decorate his home.. after dinner.

Okay, what? Was he’s going to put a ring on it too? So, let’s get this straight: You just asked someone you’ve never met before out on a date, for dinner. You then asked this someone to come over to your home and decorate it for you. If that doesn’t scream “get out now” I don’t know what does.

I hope it didn’t come as a shock to him that I “had to work” all of a sudden because I mistakenly answered a call from crew scheduling. I’m sure he didn’t understand that concept, but a long, long text message describing how that works kind of let him down easy.

A week later, I got a text message from him asking me if he’d ever get to meet me, because I’m someone he’d really like to get to know (either that or his house was still bare). And a few days later, I replied that I just got based in Los Angeles and the company was paying my relocation. I had only a week to move. He bought it.

I just got back from working two 2day trips, back to back. I put them together so that it would make commuting to Los Angeles worth it. Putting my schedule together is almost impossible, usually. I like to “buddy bid” with my friend Aimee, but we don’t have a “buddy bid” feature when it comes to bidding for our schedules so it all comes down to the luck of the draw when the schedules are awarded. Aimee is very senior in Los Angeles, and relatively speaking I’m quite junior. I usually put Aimee’s first bid preference in as my first one as well so at least we’ll get SOMETHING together. Anyway, her and I flew my first 2 day together.. then she backed up a 4 day to it when I went on my second two day. Luckily, she was flying with our mutual friend Sue on her 4 day. Sue just happens to be the nicest woman you’ll ever meet. She lives in Santa Monica and lets Aimee and I stay at her home anytime we’re stuck in Los Angeles for commuting reasons (without allowing us to pay her or anything, all she wants in wine!). So, Aimee & I both overnighted ourselves at Sue’s in between our trips, as she and Aimee went to work the next morning together and I took the bus a few hours later.

My first two day though was to DC. You can never go wrong with DC. Comparatively, the people are usually nicer, the boarding and deplaning process is quick, our hotel is nice.. and the agents in DC are amazing. One in particular is truly amazing and noteworthy, my friend Kat. Hi Kat. Kat has been in DC for as long as I can remember flying there (or at least from when I was senior enough to hold DC) and she’s always been someone I look forward to seeing. She’s one of those gate agents that you hope is working your flight. If there’s a delay and scheduling doesn’t want to tell you, she will. If she can make the last row of the plane free for “crew rest,” she will. She’ll never rush you to board, or pester you to board early — which in my opinion, makes us WANT to board early just because of how nice she is about it. She’s truly amazing and the highlight of going to DC. This past trip she was there on the day we were leaving DC and made mention that she actually reads this blog and saw my article on AOL (when she mentioned it she said “you made the big time!) but I never talk about her — well, hopefully I made up for it and did her the justice she deserves.  My flights in and out of DC went perfectly and were uneventful. Weird, for me, right?

My second two day was to Boston. Boston is another one of those cities that the “senior” flight attendants at my airline love to fly to. The passengers are just like DC and its usually low-drama. And it was! The drama I did encounter actually started on our decent into Boston when a passenger told us that she was watching CNN and saw news of a water pipeline break in Boston making all of the water undrinkable. It was all making sense now, because before leaving Los Angeles the company provided each crewmember with 2 liters of bottled water. They don’t usually do this, they usually consider us taking water for our overnights as “stealing” (which of course leaves us to putting the bottled water in our own water bottles). But this time, they gave us water specifically for our layover. Our hotel also gave us bottled water at check in and upon request. I was even leary of showering there because they kept saying it was “contaminated and not drinkable” but it was okay to shower in. I did, anyway, I took the risk and showered in it and I’m still alive. Needless to say, it wasn’t passenger related– no harm done — and I still had a great two day.

I’m writing this post on my Southwest Airlines commute flight home to Phoenix and am just reflecting on the last four days. I’ve come to realize how much of a difference the people you work with makes your experience with your job and company. I love being Los Angeles based. Sure I have commuting issues and have to go to LA the night before (sometimes), but thanks to Sue that’s not a problem. The crews out of LAX are amazing. Everyone knows, likes, supports and helps one another and that just makes going to work less stressful. Additionally, the destinations we fly to from our base like DC and Boston have some of the best employees working there, such as Kat.

Just wanted to say a big “thank you” to all of my fellow FAs based in LAX and to Kat in DC and Katy in Boston. You all are amazing and are the only reason why I’m still working where I am today. You make going to work fun, cheerful and stressless.

I live in Phoenix, but I’m based in Los Angeles. My airline doesn’t fly here though, so I’m left with using Southwest Airlines and US Airways to get to and from work. I’ve been commuting for 2.5 years and have yet to have a big issue.. until today. I have to work Monday morning at 530am (I don’t know what I was thinking when I bid this) but I can’t get on a plane. All the flights are full, and there’s no hope of getting anywhere near California.

Luckily, I’m flying with my friend Aimee who also lives in Phoenix. So, we’re going to pack our bags, and pack my car — and drive to Los Angeles. So, in an effort to show you the real reality of being a “flight attendant” as opposed to “Fly Girls” (I wish I had a $1.5M crash pad right now) you get to come along for the ride the next few days.

On the top of the right hand column you’ll see “UPtv LIVE,” that window will display my most recent uploaded video from my cell phone. Additionally, should you happen to be lucky enough to be on this website while I’m recording a video, it’ll show you what I’m doing live and allow you to text chat with me on my phone. Pretty cool huh?

I hope you come along for the ride (literally) and stay tuned across the next few days, I’ll upload some videos from work, my real ‘crash pad,’ and some on my layovers as well.

Six hours later, we arrived in Phoenix. I’ve been here ever since. I moved to Phoenix from Washington DC to work for US Airways. In DC I was working for Republic Airlines and a friend of mine told me that US Airways was hiring for their Phoenix base and I should consider it. Bigger planes, more destinations and a lot more fun.

I flew to Phoenix for the first time on March 15, 2006 with an open mind. I was expecting a city of catcus and sand.. but ended up loving the city. I went to the info session for US Airways and was impressed with what I saw, so impressed, I was almost hoping they’d be doing same day interviews. They were. Except, there was only time for 4 interviews and my friend who came down for the interview with me, Vicki, who also worked at Republic, got one of them. I wasn’t able to come back on any of the dates they were offering so I put the job at US Airways aside and started to head home. At that point Vicki offered her interview spot to me. She didn’t need to get back to DC anytime soon and could stay with her parents in Houston until her interview date.

Three hours later, I was sitting in a room with a table and two chairs. No windows, no pictures, just the table and chairs. A recruiter came in the room, introduced himself and the interview was underway. He asked me one question. “Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond for a customer, what happened and what was the outcome.” I still remember how I answered the question, but it’s not important. He stood up and said “I’ll be right back.”

Fifteen minutes later he came back with a manilla envelope. Reached out his hand and said: “I’d like to offer you a job at US Airways.” I couldn’t believe it. Not to mention, I was in the first class of the “new” US Airways.

I bring this up because the opportunity that US Airways afforded me and the move to Phoenix changed my life. At US Airways I moved up the ranks from Flight Attendant, to Coordinator in Human Resources, to Executive Assistant to the Managing Director of Human Resources and finally Analyst in InFlight Policies & Procedures.  While at US Airways though, I met the best friends anyone could ever ask for. Of which three have become really close best friends. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. From USAir, I quit and helped to start up the airline I currently work for.. and thankfully those three best friends, along with some of the great people I met, have made the move with me. Everything happens for a reason.

Anyway, as I start another year here in Phoenix I can only wonder where I’ll be next year at this time. I’m trying to decide if I want to stay in Phoenix, buy a place, or consider moving to Los Angeles to live where I’m based. It should be an interesting next 8 months as I try to figure all of this out.