Voyager Spotlight: Christian
Christian, 22 CITIES, 2 CONTINENTS & COUNTING!
Christian happy to be on a plane again! 🙂
Meet Christian. 🙂 Christian is an up-and-coming Aeronautical Engineer with a major airline. He currently resides in Chicago.
Home Country: USA
Where I’ve Been: Winston Salem, NC; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Macon, GA; Nassau, Bahamas; West Lafayette, IN; Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Sacramento, CA; Seattle, WA; Northern NJ (too many small towns to list, lol); Allentown, PA; Orlando, FL; Miami, FL; Tung Chung, Hong Kong; Kowloon, Hong Kong; Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong; Indianapolis, IN; Gary, IN.
Unforgettable Travel Moment: My unforgettable travel moment would probably be my recent trip to Hong Kong. Flew there for work in Business Class which was a super elite experience that very few in my tax bracket get to experience — I come from humble beginnings in small town New Jersey. When I arrived I was amazed that everything was in both Cantonese and English. This made it super easy to navigate around the island and city. It should have come as no surprise that the signs were bilingual because the small autonomous nation was under British rule for decades. The city is filled with people from everywhere in the world and the architecture is amazing. There are a ton of stores and malls and high rises in the city. It was just amazing to see how they maximized the use of the little space they have. Also the food was very delicious, however, if I do not taste rice again it wouldn’t be too soon! 🙂
#1 Bucket List Destination: South Africa
My Travel Essentials: Clean under clothes (i.e. t-shirt, boxer briefs, socks), deodorant, passport, toothbrush w/ toothpaste; a map; phone; Goldbond Foot Powder (needed for humidity); walking/running shoes.
What I have learnt while travelling: Always check the weather a week in advance and bring enough under clothes in case you need to stay an extra day or two. Also, only pack enough to fit in a carry-on bag, because sometimes your luggage is lost.
The most difficult part of traveling is: Waiting for available seats on the airplanes and the weather. A lot of the travelling I do is for work, however, I do travel occasionally on standby which means I have to wait for seats to become available. This can make travelling difficult for me because if I don’t get on one flight then I have to go to the next gate and the next and watch while the standby list gets longer and longer. Sometimes this can cause me to have to try again the next day at the same airport or another airport in another city.
Another difficult part of travelling is dealing with the weather. In some cities, such as Houston, the weather can change at the drop of a dime. For example, I was trying to fly to Washington, D.C by connecting through Huntsville, AL from Houston, and a thunderstorm delayed my flight out of Houston which then caused me to miss my flight to D.C from Huntsville. I ended up having to spend my last $100 and spend the night at the airport Marriott in Huntsville. I still haven’t made it to D.C either lol.
Travel tips for other Voyagers interested in budget world travel: Get a job with an airline. I was fortunate enough to have a career in the airline industry because of my Aerospace Engineering degree and background. Airlines require thousands of flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, ramp agents (baggage handlers), gate agents, social media personnel , accountants, lawyers, and a ton of other careers to run a smooth and efficient operation! Airlines also offer miles with purchases using various credit cards. Also, sites like Expedia and Travelocity highlight budget offers and package deals daily.
To follow Christian’s travels, connect with him at @aerocoak3290 on Twitter. 🙂
