Minor Detail #1

I want to be a flight attendant.

Whenever I tell people, it seems the automatic response is, A flight attendant? Why not a pilot? Uhm, I want to be a flight attendant not because I want to be a flight attendant. I view it as simply a means to an end, that end being the limitless opportunity to travel. Besides, what in heaven’s name (pun intended) do I know about aviation for me to want to be a pilot?

From those lines you might have gleaned two aspects about this person: 1) a tendency to be shallow; and 2) a lack of real ambition in life. As always, there are two sides to everything and I think I just prefer to see the other side: 1) that I’m pragmatic; and 2) that my plans in life are really simple.

Case in point: if you asked me what I truly wanted to do for the rest of my life, my answer would be simple: travel. Unfortunately, my current situation does not privilege me with the economic wherewithal to travel as extensively as I would want to. I get amazed when I see close friends and people from my childhood going to Spain, Canada, Costa Rica, etc. Often I wonder how sweet it would be if I could jet set to any destination of my choice, any time. That is why I want to work as a cabin crew member — of a five-star airline, but of course.

It’s funny because my younger self listed down “travel” under personal interests (y’know, in Friendster, Livejournal, etc.). I simply laugh at this now. Travel? What travel? Maybe what I really meant was, the idea of travel, not travel per se. After all, I hadn’t — still haven’t — explored much of the world, let alone Asia, let alone the Philippines. But this is something I want to change this year. I want to be like my friend who booked several bargain tickets for future trips. I want to see more of the world and take more pictures. I want to eat airline food. I want more stamps on my pathetic passport. I want to say a genuine hello and thank you in different languages, much to the locals’ amusement. If you think about it, travel isn’t necessarily a luxury — it could also be an investment.

Which reminds me of another friend, who’s buying a brand new car this month. He told me, the reason why he works so hard is that he wants to buy his dream car. I pondered on that statement, which is in the same philosophical vein as Nescafé’s “Para kanino ka bumabangon?” (For whom do you wake up?) advertisement message. Why should I work hard? The answer came rather fast: I want to travel! I want travel to be my investment. 

While I did make this one of my plans for 2011, I did not expect things to unfold so fast. In a week’s time, I went bananas and booked three tickets to three different destinations. And then, my mum told me that we’re flying to Jakarta one weekend next month. AND THEN, I suddenly found out that I’ll be sent for field work to two provinces in the Visayas. After the initial shock wore off, the excitement kicked in, mainly because I haven’t been to the Visayas. Going to these two provinces would mark a personal travel milestone: visiting all three island groups in the Philippines!

And just like that, I’m flying to six different destinations this first half of 2011. It’s almost as if the universe humorously responded to my wanderlust: You want to travel? Go travel.