In Heather Poole’s insider memoir, Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet, she says, “Just goes to show anything can happen if you just take a chance!” Her story will inspire many to finally take that next step and make their dreams a reality. While her anecdotes are not all of the fairy tale variety, many of her moments along the path to dream come true are sticky in many unpleasant ways! But she does share her hopes, and her disappointments and she does get to live the life she imagined.

Having worked  myself on a cruise ship, many of her tales of life in the air have a familiar quality. Most people imagine being a flight attendant or assistant cruise director is one long party. Sadly, there are moments even when you have your dream job where it is just a job! “Once I watched an entire group of passengers traveling to Haiti put a voodoo curse on a coworker in the middle of beverage service. I’ve seen a woman try to store her baby inside an overhead bin. Not too long ago a drunken passenger grabbed a flight attendant’s butt—right in front of his wife.” It is hard to get this job but don’t give up on your dreams. “Ninety-six percent of people who apply to be flight attendants do not get a call-back!” Even with those numbers, Poole makes it and shares the literal and figurative ups and downs! “Who wouldn’t love working twelve days a month…I did appreciate the flexibility, the freedom, the camaraderie, and the excitement.”

Read the full book review at Wandering Educators.

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About Lisa Niver Rajna

Lisa Niver Rajna, M.A. Ed. is an accomplished travel agent, blogger, speaker, science teacher and member of the Traveler’s Century Club, a unique travel club limited to travelers who have visited one hundred or more countries. Lisa Niver Rajna was recently on National Television as a science teacher on the show Career Day. She is a 2012 nominee for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. She traveled across six continents with Club Med, Princess Cruises, Renaissance Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. Look for her underwater as a PADI divemaster, in the science lab, or on the road traveling to an exotic location. She writes for National Geographic, the Huffingon Post, Jewish Journal and Technorati. In 2008-2009, Lisa and George Rajna spent eleven months wandering Southeast Asia from Indonesia to Mongolia where they fell in love, got engaged, and now as a married couple are writing a book about their journey. On July 1, 2012, the couple left for Indonesia for another year sabbatical in Asia. Read about the first seven months in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and India on “Our Trip!”