So to start from the beginning I think it is important for you to know why I came here. To do that I need to take you back to when I was 7 years old. It was the first time I have ever been overseas and the first time I have ever been flying. The exhilaration of the first take off makes me smile to this day (a good 17 years later!). On top of that every time I disembarked we were in a new country, meeting new people and experiencing a different culture! My eyes were finally opening! It was a big world for a small girl but everything seemed within reach. I could do, see and be anyone. The world was mine for the taking and I wanted to live my life exploring it.
Fast forward 8 years and I had forgotten about my childhood aspirations to become a worldwide explorer. Yet quickly it all came rushing back with all of the freshness and glee of my 7 year old self as I jet-setted to Europe again. The world was new again and I wanted to explore it all. It was then at the age of 14 that I decided I wanted to be a pilot.
My father bought me a trial flight when we returned to Australia to ensure it was not a whim. I still remember that flight! The little Cessna 152 registration TXO. She was a orange beauty and I spent many hours in that aircraft firstly as a student then as an instructor myself. That first flight was as memorable as that first flight in the jumbo. I was allowed to handle the controls and for the first time I could taste the reality of my dream. I could feel my future and I had found the direction I would later come to be extremely grateful for. As I clasped that control column I took control of the life I wanted.
I remember being initially nervous which was not helped by the extremely cute flight instructor! (although as a 14 year old most people of the opposite sex were appealing). Then once we got airborne... I finally found home! I belonged there and I knew that was how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to live filled with excitement, doing what I loved and being where I wanted to be! I dedicated my life to finding and sharing greatness. I wanted to be more, see more and do more than would ever be expected or asked of me.
Now fast forward again to 2009. I was a working pilot and I had accomplished a lot. Yet while I was in a highly paid position, with great responsibility and respect, I was not entirely happy. Working as the deputy chief pilot afforded me a lot of admiration and was an excellent experience. I will never regret it yet I came to a point in my life where I was managing more than flying. I missed my 'home' and the travelling bug was biting me hard!
A very good friend and work colleague of mine told me to follow my heart. Unfortunately I did not know what my heart wanted as my mind had let my mind be flooded with other peoples expectations of me. I had to remember the desire caused by that dedication I had made 10 years prior. I had to find where my heart was. I spent many days and nights contemplating and reminiscing over the charmed life I had had. I realised that no longer was flying fulfilling all my desires. While I had built a beautiful life in Perth I had not honoured my desires. My heart wanted me to explore the world and to also explore the person I could be. Suddenly I realised that aviation was not my home but a vehicle that would help find my true place in the world.
In November 2009 I made my decision to leave for Europe to convert my Australian pilots licence, realise my dream of living in Europe and to fulfil a aching desire to explore the world!
So that is how the decision was born. It was something that was always there. A desire to explore other cultures and places as well as my own burning individuality. I had to come here. I had to define the feeling in my stomach that there was more to my world. I had no choice because that 7 year old within me is was cheering me on with the exact enthusiasm of that first lift off. This is exactly what I wanted then and what I need to do now. I am so extremely blessed to be able to do this!
Fast forward 8 years and I had forgotten about my childhood aspirations to become a worldwide explorer. Yet quickly it all came rushing back with all of the freshness and glee of my 7 year old self as I jet-setted to Europe again. The world was new again and I wanted to explore it all. It was then at the age of 14 that I decided I wanted to be a pilot.
My father bought me a trial flight when we returned to Australia to ensure it was not a whim. I still remember that flight! The little Cessna 152 registration TXO. She was a orange beauty and I spent many hours in that aircraft firstly as a student then as an instructor myself. That first flight was as memorable as that first flight in the jumbo. I was allowed to handle the controls and for the first time I could taste the reality of my dream. I could feel my future and I had found the direction I would later come to be extremely grateful for. As I clasped that control column I took control of the life I wanted.
I remember being initially nervous which was not helped by the extremely cute flight instructor! (although as a 14 year old most people of the opposite sex were appealing). Then once we got airborne... I finally found home! I belonged there and I knew that was how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to live filled with excitement, doing what I loved and being where I wanted to be! I dedicated my life to finding and sharing greatness. I wanted to be more, see more and do more than would ever be expected or asked of me.
Now fast forward again to 2009. I was a working pilot and I had accomplished a lot. Yet while I was in a highly paid position, with great responsibility and respect, I was not entirely happy. Working as the deputy chief pilot afforded me a lot of admiration and was an excellent experience. I will never regret it yet I came to a point in my life where I was managing more than flying. I missed my 'home' and the travelling bug was biting me hard!
A very good friend and work colleague of mine told me to follow my heart. Unfortunately I did not know what my heart wanted as my mind had let my mind be flooded with other peoples expectations of me. I had to remember the desire caused by that dedication I had made 10 years prior. I had to find where my heart was. I spent many days and nights contemplating and reminiscing over the charmed life I had had. I realised that no longer was flying fulfilling all my desires. While I had built a beautiful life in Perth I had not honoured my desires. My heart wanted me to explore the world and to also explore the person I could be. Suddenly I realised that aviation was not my home but a vehicle that would help find my true place in the world.
In November 2009 I made my decision to leave for Europe to convert my Australian pilots licence, realise my dream of living in Europe and to fulfil a aching desire to explore the world!
So that is how the decision was born. It was something that was always there. A desire to explore other cultures and places as well as my own burning individuality. I had to come here. I had to define the feeling in my stomach that there was more to my world. I had no choice because that 7 year old within me is was cheering me on with the exact enthusiasm of that first lift off. This is exactly what I wanted then and what I need to do now. I am so extremely blessed to be able to do this!
