The Dubai Diaries
My life as a flight attendant in the Middle East!

May Roster

Once again roster day has come round so quickly, I can’t quite believe we’re over halfway through April already! Summer is slowly starting to arrive in Dubai and it’s heating up, so I’ll be glad to get out of the country once it gets even hotter.

Next month I’ll be heading off to:

  • NBO – Nairobi, Kenya
  • ORD – Chicago, USA
  • ALG – Algiers, Algeria
  • SEZ – Mahé, Seychelles
  • KRT – Khartoum, Sudan
  • MAD – Madrid, Spain
  • DFW – Dallas, USA

As you can see – quite a varied roster next month!

First up is a trip to Nairobi, which I’m hoping to swap as I have a family event in the UK that I would love to attend, so stay updated for that one.

After that is Chicago (which I first thought was Orlando, despite having just been there and knowing that the airport code is MCO – oops!) and it’s been a few years since I last visited. We used to stay right in the city but I think the hotel has changed to an airport one now, so I’m not sure what I’ll get up to on my layover there.

Next is a flight to Algiers, which is right at the beginning of Ramadan. I’m not sure how strict they are there, but if it’s similar to Dubai I might try and swap that as I’m guessing there won’t be too much to do if everything is closed for Ramadan.

Then I have another trip to the Seychelles – after bidding for this flight for years it’s finally taken me 5,5 years to get it in April, and now they’ve rostered me a second one in May! No complaints here, as I’m sure it will be beautiful.

My only turnaround (unless I can swap my Nairobi) in May is to Khartoum, a flight I haven’t done before. It’s long – around 4 hours each way, so hopefully I won’t be too tired afterwards!

After that is a layover in Madrid. It’s been a while since I’ve visited, and hopefully my sister Lizzie, who lives in Valencia, will be able to come and stay so we can go out and explore.

Lastly is a trip to Dallas, a new destination for me. I’ll have to do some research about what there is to do there – maybe a Texan rodeo?!

Stay tuned on here as always to see what I get up to next month on all of my trips.

P.s. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

Cruising the Backwaters in Cochin, India

For my first trip to India I was rostered a layover in Cochin, Kerala. It’s a short flight from Dubai at around 3 hours, but due to the departure time in the middle of the night we were lucky enough to get a layover.

We arrived in the hotel early morning, and a few of us who’d never explored Cochin before decided to hire a driver to take us to the Kerala Backwaters for a boat ride.

The network of backwaters includes 5 large lakes, which are connected by canals, rivers and inlets, and make up more than 900km of waterways.

It was around a 2 hour drive from our hotel near the airport, and despite the crazy drivers and near-death experiences on the Indian roads, all of us soon fell asleep in the car, having been awake all night!

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Snapshots from Orlando, Florida

It was my first time visiting Orlando, Florida, and after a long 15 hour flight we finally touched down around lunchtime.

The weather was gorgeous and sunny, and knowing that my sleep pattern would be completely messed up if I went to bed straight away, a few of us opted to share an uber to the nearby outlet mall once we’d checked in and freshened up.

We agreed on a time to meet later for dinner, and split up to hit the shops.

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April Roster

It’s that time of the month again! Are you ready for my April roster? March was my top bid, and although I was happy to receive most of the flights I asked for, I actually have another great month ahead!

I have two new destinations (that I didn’t even bid for!) and some other great flights that I did ask for. In April I’ll be flying to:

  • JED – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
  • COK – Cochin, India
  • ATH – Athens, Greece
  • BKK – Bangkok, Thailand
  • MEL – Melbourne, Australia
  • HKG – Hong Kong
  • SEZ – Mahé, Seychelles

Only one turnaround, a fairly quick one to Jeddah and back. After that it’ll be my first time to India! I have done plenty of turnarounds to India and back, but this is the first time I’ve actually been rostered to stay there. If anyone has any tips of what to do or what to see in Cochin, please let me know!

Then it’s off to Athens – the last time I was there was winter last year so I’m hoping that Spring will have sprung and it’ll be beautiful and sunny.

Next up is a flight to Bangkok, which was one of my bids. Recently almost all of our Bangkok flights have been operating without a first class, which means I haven’t been there in ages. I’ve been craving some delicious Thai food and of course a wonderful Thai massage, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing once I’m there!

After that I’ve got a layover in Melbourne – if you’ve read my blog for a while you may remember that my cousin Sarah lives there, and as it’s over a Friday and Saturday we should be able to get a good catch up in.

Then it’s a trip to Hong Kong, which was also one of my bids, to see my friends Kirsty and Dan and their baby Theo. I can’t wait!

My last trip of the month is a short but sweet layover in the Seychelles – another new destination to tick off the list! It’ll only be an afternoon and evening there, but I’m fully intending to make the most of my short time there. Let’s hope the weather is nice!

So there we have it, another exciting month to look forward to. Thanks as always for reading!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

Cherry Blossoms in Narita, Japan

This month I was lucky enough to be rostered two trips to Narita, Japan. Having previously visited Tokyo on a family holiday a few years ago, I decided not to make the journey into the city (which can take around 1,5 hrs), and instead to explore the small town of Narita.

It’s a funny place – while it is very obviously Japanese, the majority of visitors are foreign cabin crew and pilots, so it feels like a mini air crew village!

After arriving at our crew hotel, our first port of call was to get some tasty Japanese food, and I had a recommendation for a place called Ramen Bayashi, serving up delicious hot ramen soup.

We headed inside to the cozy restaurant, which is decked out with model aircraft and even a few crew uniform items.

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