Early on

I guess the place to start is with some background information. I'll try to keep it short!
I started out life as an expat, surrounded by a country that called out to all it's inhabitants to live life to the full and try everything once. Children stayed innocent and had outstanding manners, well, most of them! I moved to the UK in 1996 and in 2003, at the age of 17, decided I wanted to be a pilot. It seems that this is a less than normal career choice for a school girl and my so-called career advisor had the audacity to laugh in my face when I told him. As it turns out, this would become a rather regular occurrence over the next few months and it is just as well I have some kind of patience or I would be writing a very different blog!
My school, having realised I had no intention of going to university, decided I was not worth the effort as I would no longer be contributing to their league tables. In a boarding school that has roll-calls throughout the day, I had disappeared from their view.

Despite this I left school with the grades I needed to fulfil my dream. Full of hope, I applied to a well known academy in England and bought my first suit. I failed the initial entry tests and in the "debrief" afterwards was told that I would "under no circumstances ever be able to be a pilot as I simply did not have the mental capacity or coordination". That's a pretty hard pill to swallow and luckily for me I am as stubborn as a mule and would not swallow it! I dipped a toe into the self pity pond and decided it wasn't for me. After months of studying and preparation I flew to Spain to try again with a different academy and this time, my hard work paid off.
It was here, during the 18 month course that I met the man who will soon become my husband.

I have now been a pilot for nearly 6 years and have been with S for 5. I have been made redundant from one company, flown 2 types of commercial aircraft and taken thousands of passengers safely on their holidays. I now work in a Scandinavian country and feel like my brain cells are slowing down in the freezing temperatures.

S still lives and works in England but our lives are about to change. We are moving to the Middle East in August and getting married the following June. Simply put, that is what this blog is about: A bit of flying, marriage and sand storms all rolled into one!