When I started flying in the mid-nineties, flight attendants at my airline had to serve six months probation before obtaining flight privileges. In other words, our travel passes. This meant that unless I purchased a ticket like a regular person, or another flight attendant was kind enough to donate one their buddy passes, the only time I spent on an airplane was when I walked on board to work a flight. I won't lie. It wasn't easy being far away from home and working a job that's unlike any other, but I struggled through the difficult time and six months later, armed with my passes, life changed for the better.

Before flight attendant training starts, the airline will send you a packet containing information regarding everything you'll need to know from what to pack for training to how much money you'll need to bring with you to your new base. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on the closet floor looking up at my clothes trying to figure out how I could get everything I needed for seven and a half weeks of training inside two suitcases that could not weigh more eighty pounds, two suitcases that would then go directly to my new crew base. Good luck!

Photo courtesy of JFithian