A blog about life, travel and the world as we know it through the eyes of a roaming helicopter pilot.
Henley and Partners have released their passport strength analysis and, being a travel fanatic and blogger, it made sense to post their link here.
Much to mu surprise the US passport is NOT the most powerful passport in the world (it’s still #1 in my heart) but comes in at a rank of #4.
Leading the charge at #1 is Germany. Check out the full list here, and then plan your trips!
So, admittedly there are some pretty awful things about not being home in the United States. My friends and family are all back there and I miss the hell out of them. However – that being said, there is too much amazingness in this world to NOT travel and live abroad. I’m going to start writing a bit about the perks of living abroad, to include tech and food and anything else that strikes my fancy. Continue reading “Perks of Living International – Tailors”
Tomorrow is January 29th, and once more I’ll be marking a birthday. To say that it is exciting to have made it this far would be an understatement – though a bit of a tired cliche as EVERYONE seems to think that they’ve “survived” the first 30 years of their lives. However, in all actuality, all things considered, the fact that I’m here now writing this, doing what I love for a living is a testament to some good luck, some good karma, and a whole lot of perseverance. In hindsight, after writing this, I should have broken it up into multiple posts. But I didn’t so you’ve got some reading ahead of you.
However you want to title it, this is a really cool post to be making. One of the things I vowed, resolved (whatever), to do this year was to run more. I’m not a huge fan of running, I hate it really – but the benefits to your health are black and white. So, last year I signed up to run the Dubai Marathon, well…ok just a portion of it. But none-the-less it was time again to lace up my sneakers (pun intended) and head out.
This trip was different from my past trips though, as I was meeting my parents on the other side. They’d flown into Dubai a couple days ahead of me (armed with my Dubai in a day guide) to see the city. Then they were going to come cheer me on for the race, and together we were headed back to my new home so I could show them around where I was living. I couldn’t have been more excited! Continue reading “The Dubai Marathon -or- Mom and Dad visit the Middle East”
Ok. Ok. Listen, I know, the title says one word, but really there are 4 words in the title, and of course I’m going to type up some stuff here too to kind of give you an idea of what is going on in this post. One word would be a hard limit to stick to on a blog.
I’d just made it back from Egypt and I had a sudden opportunity put in front of me. Two of the guys I work with, good friends, were going to stop over in Amsterdam on their way home, and they wanted me to come along too. UMM…let me think…YES! Then one of our American friends, Beth, decided to join too! This trip was going to be awesome. We had 4 days to really take in the city and have an awesome time and unwind.
This blog doesn’t need much set up – other than it was, like Egypt, rather spur of the moment and one of the things I love about living on this side of the planet. So much is just a short flight away!
Click through for the pictures and fun anecdotes. Continue reading “One word. AMSTERDAM! (Pics)”
I’m going to quickly develop a reputation as that one travel blogger who only stays in places for one day and then moves on. There is something to be said for that approach, jet lag isn’t a problem because you’re back home before you even acclimate a bit, you spend less money, and at the rate I’m going you see everything everyone else does.
So lets do Egypt? I mean, why not right? It’s a stones throw away from where I’m working right now on any number of regional airlines. When the new schedule was finished by our lead pilot I noticed I had a remarkable, rare, and to-be-coveted 4-days off. Not sure how it happened, or why it happened but I was excited. Continue reading “Egypt in a day? Sure, why not. (Pics)”
My leave in the United States seemed to end far quicker than it began and I quickly found myself boarding British Airways for a flight back to my real job – being a helicopter pilot. If I could be paid to just travel and write this blog, and I mean…that would be nice.
Anyways, I had a 10 hour layover in London before my connecting flight back to the Middle East, and there was no way I was going to sit on my hands in the BA terminal (it’s a nice terminal – in case anyone from BA is reading and wants to sponsor the blog); not when there was a beautiful, thriving, vibrant London just a quick shot down the tube waiting to be discovered!
That was meant to be a bit sarcastic given the usual grey, damp, backdrop to London that the rest of the world just assumes is the weather 100% of the time, however while I was there it was blue skies and only a little bit of rain. Continue reading “London in…maybe 7 hours”
I’ve been saying that I was going to catch up on my blog for some time now, but today I finally decided to at least knock out a few of the posts I’ve got waiting in the wings. For my, two…is it even two…followers. The thing with blogging is that unless you’re consistent (like I was during the Tuna Pilot days) your readership falls off faster than frat pledges on initiation night.
Speaking of college grade antics and shenanigans I recently (as in last year in October) spent a couple weeks in Cabo San Lucas. Which is now, by far, my favorite “close to home” tropical getaway. All the sun, sand, and fun you could possibly want, and it’s a short flight from home. Continue reading “Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Pics + VIDEO!!)”
Hello! I know it has been a very long time since my last post and I apologize for that. Let’s just say that all this silence over the last few months was triggered by an epic soap-opera level of drama that served as eye-opening for me as to the true nature of the aviation industry.
I digress! The Roaming Pilot is back online. If you’re a regular reader you’ll notice some pretty significant changes, mostly in that I won’t be writing about pilot stuff very much. However, you’re going to be very pleased to read on because I am now going to be “Roaming” even more! I’ve taken a job with a great company in a great location doing a great mission. It’s launched me, what I feel, is years ahead of my career track if I had pursued traditional paths.
For instance, I had the opportunity this past weekend to visit Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai has been on my bucket list of places to visit since they unveiled the Burj Khalifa and also because of two other influence. Click to read on –
Let me start first by qualifying myself to even make the following comments. I am a US Army Veteran, I served honorably in combat, and my honorable discharge reflects that. I carry a VA service connected disability rating of 20% (getting blown up and shot at a lot will do that to a guy – it’s mostly hearing related), and I am one of the many helicopter pilots currently working in the industry that earned not only my ratings as a pilot – but my degree – through the Post 9/11 GI Bill. On March 15th LA Times reporter Alan Zarembo published an article that sparked an online wildfire of judgments against Helicopter flight schools, vets, the VA, and what was mischaracterized as a “loophole” in the VA program – The Post 9/11 GI Bill. In the weeks, and months that have followed two schools have seen new enrollments stopped (albeit one was voluntarily), and now Congress is talking about pulling flight funding for the GI Bill, and all because one article, poorly researched, led people down a path of misinformation. With all due respect to Alan Zarembo and the LA Times, you’re messing with the wrong group – and your reporting on this issue was half-baked at best – though I appreciate you bringing light to the issue and hope that your reporting will help us solve this problem, I feel as though you set your sights on the wrong “big picture”. Allow me to not only fill in some holes for you, but also give you the solution to the problem. Vets represent some of the most capable and intelligent members of American society – this is a well known fact – we not only saw the problem coming, we know exactly how to solve it.
Continue reading “The GI Bill “Loophole” – A Veterans Response”
