Episode #20 – Flying Secrets of Cabin Crew

In this episode of the Solo Female Travelers Podcast, Mar is joined by Gaby Orozco, a former cabin crew member who spent five years working in aviation and now works with the Solo Female Travelers team. Together, they go behind the scenes of life as a flight attendant and explore what passengers rarely see once they step onto a plane.

Gaby shares the reality of working at 35,000 feet, from crew rest areas and what really happens to leftover food and drinks, to passenger upgrades, gift bags, emergency situations, onboard medical issues, and the unexpected ways cabin crew support solo travelers. She also explains what she learned about managing difficult situations, setting boundaries, working under pressure, and quickly building trust with new teams.

For solo female travelers, the conversation offers practical flying tips as well as reassurance about traveling alone, including why it’s worth asking a friendly crew member for help and why preparation and curiosity can make a new destination feel much less intimidating. Anyone who flies regularly—especially women traveling solo—will come away with a better understanding of cabin crew life and plenty of useful insights for their next flight.

Transcript:

Mar: Hello and welcome back to the Solo Female Travelers podcast. I am Mar Pages and today’s episode is one that I’ve been looking forward to for a while because I get to interview someone I actually worked alongside for the last three years right here at Solo Female Travelers. Before joining our team, our guest has spent five years working as cabin crew, which means that she has seen the travel industry from inside and from a side that most of us never get to see, which is the jump seat. 

We talk about this job as if it’s glamorous and sure there is a version of it that it is. New cities, free flights, a uniform that makes you stand a little taller. But there is also a version that most passengers never get to think about. The 4am wake up calls, the passengers who forget they are not the only person on the plane. And yes, the flights that come with rather unusual cargo, which we will talk about today. In this episode, we’re talking about what cabin crew life really is like. The training, the myths, the funniest and strangest things that happen on board, Falcons included. More on that story later, and the things that passengers do that cruise secretly side-eye and what five years in the air taught her about traveling and living well. 

Before we get into all of that, hi Gaby, how are you doing?

Gaby: Hi, I’m doing fine, Mar. It’s great to see you. well I’m doing great and I’m eager for this interview today and tell you all about the secrets from on board.

Mar: This is unfiltered conversation. I had all the questions and Gaby didn’t remove any, so that’s good. And can we start with introducing yourself and telling us a little bit how you ended up as a cabin crew.

Gaby: My name is Gabriela, but everyone calls me Gaby. I’m from El Salvador. I’ve been working with Solo Female Travelers for the past three years. I cannot believe how fast time has passed. but yeah, like Mar said, I was a cabin crew prior to working with them for five years. 

And it’s actually kind of funny how I ended up there. So I have two little brothers. One of them asked me to come with him. The airline was recruiting in El Salvador for the first time in years. Like I’ve heard about the airline before because I had another friend that was already working there, but it had been years since they have come back to recruit people. And he had studied something more hospitality related, so it made sense for him. And I’ve always had this thing for airlines growing up. I remember watching the crew at the airport as a kid. And you know, like when I was a kid, they would have like this old Pan Am style elegance and like I remember that I was so impressed. 

So as a kid, I think that I admired them and I wanted to be one someday. But by the time that I was older, I didn’t picture myself as a cabin crew exactly. Like I thought more admin behind the scenes. Like I always wanted to work with an airline, but behind the scenes, like admin. Anyway, we went with my brother. Long story short, he didn’t get selected and I did. and even then I hesitated. Like it took me over a year and a half to actually join because I kept delaying it. I was finishing my master’s degree at that time. And I was like, no, I need to finish this first. No, I want to stay working within my career. And I kept delaying it. but they say like when it’s for you, it’s for you. Like two weeks after I graduated, I got the email saying that I was selected and that I needed to join next month. 

And even then I hesitated because of my career plans. But after some thinking, some praying, some family conversations about taking the risk for just it for me was only going to be a few years, I just went for it.

Mar: That’s awesome. It was definitely meant to be. Did your brother try again to get selected or once they say no once you cannot try again?

Gaby: No, you can, but after like I think after six months you can try again. He did try, not for the same airline, but he tried with another one. And it would be so weird because he has the type like I’m tall, but he’s way taller than me. And I think like he has all the profile, but for some reason, like right at the end, he wouldn’t get it. But then he started working with cruise ships. So it was like yeah, he became a crew, but on cruise ships and then he got to be manager and like now he’s working in something completely after 2020, after everything changed in the industry, he shifted to something completely different and he’s striving in life. But yeah, at that time that I remember back then I would feel so bad because I’m like, this is what he wanted and I got it. But yeah, like I said, it was meant to be because when I tell the story on how I kept delaying it, like I wouldn’t answer their emails for months. And then I would get one that said like if you don’t answer in 48 hours, then you’re out. And I would answer, and then I would hear stories over there like how hard it was to get in. Like when I got my first ticket that they would say like okay you’re in this is your ticket you have to come next week. I’m like I’m not coming next week. Like I’m gonna come when I want to come and I told them that and I thought, yeah, they’re gonna say this girl, no, let’s remove her. And then they sent me another one for the next month and I’m like, wow, they really want me there. So yeah, it was fate. In the end it was fate.

Mar: And so they selected you and then they flew you to the training place and what did the training actually cover? You know, people assume that it’s like, you know, the straight smile and like the customer service and all of that. But what else did you learn and was there anything that surprised you?

Gaby: Well, honestly, I thought training would mostly be about service, but it was actually really hard. Like, first it was long. It was a month and a half. Back then, I’m not sure if things have changed now. But the first part is entirely safety and security. So I even met people who didn’t pass that part and they were sent home, because for the airline that’s non-negotiable. You have to pass safety and security. So it’s not about service first, it’s safety and security first.

Mar: And that’s learning the rules and what you need to do in case of an emergency.

Gaby: Yeah. Everything. Yes. and like you wouldn’t imagine how it’s so much stuff. The exams were like genuinely they were hard and you had to really study. Like and after like you would learn all the equipment, all the locations in the aircraft. What would you do in certain situations and like profiling the passengers, like a special code that you had for the captain in case of a hijack, like stuff like that. And after that came first aid, and we were trained for that too. And only at the end we got into service. So for me it was surprising how thoroughly they train you on everything, not just the parts that the passengers actually see. 

Mar: That’s interesting. Yeah, I also expected that service pass would be more because like Middle Eastern airlines are known for their service levels. And, you know, I’ve traveled most Middle Eastern and Asian airlines for many, many years. And like, you know, the service is always top notch, always homogeneous, always very standardized, and knows exactly how all the cabin crew will treat you and how they will behave. Even the different levels of experience in the cabin crew will be like what they do and how they do it. Like I pay a lot of attention to this and I always noticed that it was, you know, very standardized and very procedural. So I was expecting that would take a lot of time and surely they already hire people that have a tendency to be good at service, right?

Gaby: Yeah, and service is important. I mean I am not saying that it’s not and they’re super meticulous with that. It’s like we would need to learn the brands of every single product that we would offer, like where did they come from, like what type of wine, type of grape, everything like we had to be very meticulous with that because of that. Because passengers, especially in the Middle East, expect service to be like that. So if you asked me about something that we were offering, I needed to know. They also train you in that part. But at the beginning, that was very surprising for me that I thought that it was more service, but no, they’re like the same way they’re with service, they’re 10 times more with Safety and security. and I mean you can say the economy for me in the Middle East is top. They treat you like you’re in business class as well, and business class and first class is another thing. So service is very important as well, but so is safety and security.

Mar: And when you started to do the job, was there anything that you thought, I wish I knew that before? Was there any expectation that was a mismatch for you?

Gaby: it’s less something that I wish that I knew and more that I just said. I just didn’t realize how much it would ask of you. I really thought that it would be easier than it was. It’s not something that I wish that I knew because if I knew I was not gonna do it, I would have done it anyway. But it’s just that I didn’t realize how much it would change me. Like as a person, like you learn so much, and also how demanding for your mind and for your body it is because I was only there five years, but it took its toll on my body.

Mar: And you were very young, right? Because you had just graduated, so you were in your 20s.

Gaby: Yeah, I was in my 20s and I know of people that are still there, like over 10 years, that are already reaching their 40s or over 40 already, and have been there since they were 20. So I’m like, wow, because your body gets tired and I remember that I would hear that for some women it’s like being like on air and like radiation, like I don’t know, but like it can affect if you wanna become a mom and also it affects your brain cells and like after if you’ve done it for more than fifteen years or so. So like it takes its toll on your body. And in my case, like I had I developed some back problems after five years. I developed some back problems that I still have. and psychologically, it was so strict at that time that it was also like, wow, like I’ve never been in a job where you had so many rules at that time. I think that now it’s changed. It was something that I didn’t know before I started, not that I wish I knew, but I didn’t realize.

Mar: You’re telling me about, you know, the hardship, like the hard part on the body, and you know, we all know that there are effects of flying so often. I know because I fly so often and I remember that when I was traveling every week for work, I was flying more often than the cabin crew because cabin crew have limitations on how much they can fly whereas I was flying every week long, all right. But what was the favorite part of the job?

Gaby: Favorite hands down, the destinations and the hotel life getting to discover countries that I didn’t even know existed. That was my favorite thing. I remember this one time I was supposed to go, it was like a five hour flight. And I think Sri Lanka or something like that. And then at the last minute they change because that could happen. Like last minute if another crew was pulled out of a flight because of hours or because they got offloaded because of grooming, then they would change crew. You could even be inside of the aircraft already and they would change you. Like that could happen. And I remember that they changed me and they sent me to another flight and I got there and I remember sitting in the jump seat And I had no idea where I was going.

They just changed me from one aircraft to the other. And I asked the crew in front of me, like, where are we going and how long is this flight? and she told me like it’s 10 hours. I’m like, What? And where are we going? She’s like, Namibia. And I’m like, and I had no I mean, I knew of Namibia, but I’ve never been there. And I remember I got there and I’m like, wow, this was the best change of flight ever because we got to see a tribe. We went to see animals like in a safari but like open you would see them just roaming around. I’m like, my god this is like the Lion King. Yeah I don’t know. I was so excited. It was like my first two months flying I think. so that was by far my favorite part of the job. 

Just like getting to discover these countries. Because for me, like right now it would be easy for me to tell you, yeah, I’m going to Europe on vacation or South America or I don’t know, Asia, but Africa, like normally people don’t see at least here they don’t it’s not as common as going to Europe or the United States or South America. So it’s like these countries that you would never imagine. Like even if I say Africa, you would say, I don’t know, South Africa, but you would never say Namibia. And then I’m like, Yeah, I already went to Namibia or I got to meet crew that were like, I’m from Lesotho. I’ve never heard of that country before. At first I felt so ignorant and then in the end I’m like, Yeah, I’m learning stuff and I’m getting to visit all of these countries. So that was my favorite part. 

And my least favorite is just dealing with some passengers. Not all of them, but certain profiles were genuinely hard to manage. So I think that was my least favorite. And being so far away from my family. I think that after 2020, after COVID and everything that happened, that was the first time I’m like, maybe I should go back because we had so much uncertainty at that time. We didn’t know what was going to happen. And I’m like, I’m so far away from my family. It’s not like a two-hour flight. It’s like 16 hours or even 20 hours to get home. And so I think that was also one of my least favorite parts of the job.

Mar: How many countries did you visit in the five years that you were there?

Gaby: Over seventy. Over no, like over sixty five. Sixty to seventy. Yeah, something like that.

Mar: And you mentioned like when you were just talking right now, there are two things that I want to unpack. You said that Cabin Crew could be swapped. I love how the balloons come up when I do this. Sorry, for those who are listening, if I make like a two, like a victory sign, the recording makes like little balloons flying. So anyway, sidetracking for a second. You said that Cabin Crew could be swapped because of grooming. You mean because the appearance was not up to par?

Gaby: To standards, yes. you would get grooming checks and they were super particular with this. We had a grooming guideline. So we could only use and okay what I’m telling you right now might have changed. So anyone listening works within the same airline and now it’s different. Well when I was there it was like this we only had certain shades for the lipstick, for the nails we only could use like burgundy or pink, but not like hot pink, like only certain shades like red and for the nails as well. Your nails needed to be matching your lips, or if you didn’t wanna use nail polish, you had to at least use a clear one, but your nails had to look really tidy. You must wear foundation, which is my secret. Maybe not so much right now, but at that time I had such blessed skin and I’ve never used a lot of makeup in my life. I don’t even know how to put on makeup. In the five years I have never ever used foundation.

Mar: And it was mandatory?

Gaby: It was mandatory. But my skin was I still had like that baby face at that time

Mar: So it looked like you were wearing it.

Gaby: It looked like I was wearing. And what I would do is that I would maybe put a little bit of concealer underneath my eyes and then put the blush. At that time I wouldn’t get any breakouts or anything. So I didn’t need to use it, but it was mandatory. So mandatory was foundation, blush, and the lipstick. and What’s the name? for the eyelashes. 

Mar: Yeah, yeah, like eyelashes.

Gaby: That was mandatory.

Mar: There’s also a hairstyle, right? The hair part is very strict.

Gaby: Bun and like not a single hair, like a hair bun, or you could use a French braid. If you had a pimple that was like popping up, that was a no, you couldn’t. I only had a grooming issue once, I will tell you about it. But yeah, it was like that. So before the flight, they would come and they would check you,

Mar: On every flight.

Gaby: On every flight, yeah, before boarding. Everyone we would have met the crew that we were flying with and we would do a small briefing. They would ask you security questions about the aircraft so that the supervisor would know that we knew what we were doing. And then they would come and do the grooming check and you would go like this and turn around. And because also your uniform had to look tidy. And if it looked too tight, if you gained weight and your pants or your skirt was too tight. You had to go change or offload it. 

So they were super strict with everything. So you had to hand your stockings, but the thing is that it was an issue if you would come to the flight knowing that you had a grooming issue and you would still go because if it was an issue for them to offload someone from a flight because then they would need to look for someone.

Mar: That’s a logistics nightmare.

Gaby: Exactly. So If you knew from before, like I don’t know, a day before, two days before, like I don’t know, I got a pimple and I couldn’t get rid of it, or I don’t know, I got a sunburn that was so bad, then I would need to go to the grooming office before my flight, way, way before my flight, a day before or hours before. It had a limit. I don’t remember right now. But you would need to tell them, I had this issue, so check me, tell me if I’m good to go or not. And then they would tell you, you can cover that with concealer. Or no, you cannot fly. So in my case, I had a burn in my hand. and I couldn’t fly for almost a month until it was completely healed.

Mar: Wow, and they withhold pay when you cannot fly because of a grooming issue?

Gaby: No grooming issues, it was not paid. I mean, you would get the basics, but you wouldn’t get because you’re offloaded, so you’re not flying. They would only pay if it was sick. leave, but for grooming, no. Because it was on you.

You had to take care of your skin so that you wouldn’t get pimples. You had to take care of yourself if you went to the beach so that you wouldn’t get a sunburn.

Mar: But this is quite difficult, right? Because you’re flying so much, the air, it’s very hard to maintain your skin in good shape when you’re flying so much and the jet lag and the hours and everything. I know this from first hand experience, it’s quite hard. Like it’s not you not doing your job or not taking care of yourself. It’s like some things are beyond your control.

Gaby: Yeah, like I said in my case, I was very blessed with my skin at that time. Because I think that some people had a hard time with breakouts and everything. I had some friends that would look completely different because they would put on so many layers of makeup thankfully I didn’t need to. And I was very basic. It was my blush, my eyelashes, my lipstick, and that was it. But yeah, you had to look really neat

Mar: Impeccable.

Gaby: Impeccable. Yeah. We had to.

Mar: And so you visited between 60 and 70 countries and you have a passport from El Salvador, which is not a very strong passport. How does the visa work? Because like you have loaded from Sri Lanka that maybe you have a visa, but suddenly you’re in Namibia, which maybe needs a different visa. How do they manage this for an airline? Or do you just go on the first day and get them all?

Gaby: No, the only one that was mandatory for us was the US. That one you required a proper crew visa and you had to have a specific day that they would take you to the embassy for you to get it.

Mar: Yeah, in fact, when I got mine in Singapore, the people in front of me were all the new cabin crew from Malaysia Airlines getting their visa for the US.

Gaby: Yeah, but that was the only one that was mandatory. Everywhere else we just traveled with our cabin crew ID and went straight through the crew lines at immigration. No visa needed.

Mar: No visa required, but I guess it’s limited to the stay that you are in the country for because of the flight that you’re taking, right? So like two, three days, and then you have to come back and that’s it.

Gaby: Yeah, that’s it. And for a lot of crew that was awesome because some crew couldn’t get the tourist visa to certain countries on their normal passport. So they would actually bid for those specific routes, like because flying there as a crew was the only way maybe that they could visit. But yeah, for us we didn’t need any visa. In some countries they had limitations on nationalities that they could receive. So we knew that some specific nationalities wouldn’t get specific flights, because the countries didn’t allow those specific nationalities. But in my case, I could travel everywhere and the only visa that I had to get was the US special crew visa. That was it. But for everywhere else we were free to go everywhere. 

Mar: So that was pretty good for you as well, right? Because El Salvador is not a very strong passport, so you would have needed visas for a few places.

Gaby: Yeah, for Thailand, for example, I need a visa for Thailand. I think you need a visa for Japan. a lot of countries in Asia need visas. UK as well. So I was able to go

Mar: Australia, I suppose.

Gaby: Australia, yes, and Australian one is so hard. Canada as well. and I got to go and I didn’t have to have the visa. 

Mar: This is great. So tell me what the typical day looks like from the moment you show up at the airport to the moment you get to the hotel. We know that there’s like a grooming check. How does the work of an airline crew work basically?

Gaby: So it starts with we lived at specific cabin crew accommodations, right? so it starts with them picking us up from our accommodation. We don’t go straight to the airport. We go to a crew hub first, which is next to the airport, but it’s separate. And that’s where the pilots and the cabin crew meet, and then we go over the flight details, passenger profiling, the grooming check that I told you about, and then we head to the aircraft and do our safety and security checks. And get the service side ready. We go through the flight and then we go through a separate crew line at the airport and then it’s straight to the hotel. 

And once we’re at the hotel, we’re free. But at least in the airline that I work with there’s something called minimum rest. So when I was flying, I think that has changed now, but when I was flying it was 12 hours. So for example if you had a 24 hour layover only twelve of those hours were actually yours to go out and explore because the other twelve, it was mandatory rest. They were not standing over you checking if you had but if it came out that you were out during your rest hours, that was a real issue. But outside of that mandatory window, the destination was yours to enjoy. Twenty four hours was the shortest time, but in some destinations we would have one day off, two days off, three days off. Once I had one with five days off. So that was great, but once you’re in the hotel, you’re free to do whatever you want.

Mar: Right. Because it depends on how often you fly and how far you fly, how much the rest is going to be.

And so this is why the crew from most Middle Eastern airlines always come together to the airport. Like if you’re in Europe, you see crew people from, I don’t know, any of the European airlines, you see them all individually. Right. But Middle Eastern airlines always walk in the airport together.

Gaby: Yes. And we always need to stick like that. That’s another thing it’s mandatory for us to be in the group all the time. Because for them it’s standard and the way they look at you. For them image, service and all of this is like you always have to be. So seeing the group all together is like, wow. like what I was saying when I was little and I would look at Pan Am. It’s like, wow, it’s like they look so pretty. So it’s part of the image of the airline.

Mar: The image. Yes, absolutely. And you mentioned something a couple of times already that I wanted to ask you about. You said, called passenger profiling. What does that mean?

Gaby: Yes. From boarding, you need to look at the passengers that you get. So profiling is very important because you then know, for example, if you see someone and they’re acting weird, you can already profile them and say, some destinations they would come drunk already, or they were like switching from one aircraft to the other. Especially from the main hub they would like I don’t know come from their country and then they would land in where we were based and then they would go to the US for example so maybe they drank a lot on the previous flight so once they get to the to their original flight to their destination they already wasted so you would need to check on them or someone that’s sick. 

So they teach us to do profiling to just to check on the type of passengers, like look at them, see anything suspicious, or like if you see someone that looks down, like maybe they’re sick, or maybe they will be a pain in the ass in the whole flight because they’re coming and they’re already shouting, or if you see a mother with a baby and they’re struggling, so it’s like profiling each passenger to see how they’re going to be during the flight.

Mar: So like noticing small things.

Gaby: Yeah, exactly. Like being very detailed about what you see just in case something suspicious happens on the flight. So you already know. 

Mar: Okay. And tell me something because you were quite young and of course when you’re young, your body can put up with quite a lot of things, but I’m sure that you learned some secrets from cabin crew for staying fresh and for looking good after a long flight. There is one thing that I learned from the cabin crew in Emirates when I lived in Dubai. And they are the ones who told me that the best way to go to sleep and deal with jet lag was panadol night. So it’s just basically paracetamol, but it’s like the paracetamol that they make for when you have toothache. Which for me, like 15 years later, I still take it and I can only buy it when I am in transit in the Middle East because they only sell it there. It’s like your typical cold and flu medication for sleeping better. And it’s enough to put me to sleep when I have jet lag and I cannot fall asleep. This is the one secret that I learned from the cabin crew from evidence. Do you have other secrets for staying fresh or for looking good? What are all the other cabin crew secrets?

Gaby: Well, a few real ones from me. compression socks were a lifesaver, especially long haul.

When you’re a passenger, you have to get up on long haul flights. You have to get up and move around whenever you can because that helps your circulation. So walking around and using compression socks, it really helps you. And another thing, I always kept Micellar water and face wipes in my bag. So right before landing, I would freshen up and do like a light makeup touch rather than just starting from scratch. Staying hydrated. You have to keep drinking water the whole flight. Just stay hydrated. And as a passenger, if you’re on a long haul, I would skip alcohol or too much coffee on the flight. It makes a real difference. Like if you skip it. And for us as a crew, instead of just a full outfit change, I would always keep like a fresh top or redo my bun or keep dry shampoo saved me more times than I can count. But yeah, for me it was that like and you know for sleeping nothing really worked for me. You know a funny thing for me, the one thing that allowed me to sleep like a baby, was turbulence, because we would have like cabin crew bunks so I would sleep horizontally.

Mar: Where are these bunks? Tell me where are these bunks because I’ve never seen them and I’ve flown like a million times so where are they?

Gaby: It’s an area above the passenger seats. So it’s all there. It depends on the aircraft. Every aircraft. 

Mar: Above, but how do you get there?

Gaby: Different in the galley, there’s like a door. It depends on the aircraft, but I’m telling you from at least on the Boeings and the Airbus that I used to travel in. It’s like a door that’s in front of the lavatory in the aft.

Mar: My God, I am absolutely going to look at it like the day after tomorrow when I fly on an A380, I mean, I’m taking so many long fall flights.

Gaby: No, you can see it because it has a code. It has like a code and then the crew enters. It has stairs and then it’s like bunks. It’s a lot of bunks. But it’s like the same layout as the passengers, but bunks. And it’s all above the passengers.

Mar: Cannot believe that in the, I don’t know, probably 2000 flights I have taken, I have never seen a cabin crew enter or come out of this door. Like I need to look, when do they go to sleep? Like let’s say a long flight, I’m taking a very long Barcelona to Singapore flight and then Singapore to Brisbane. So this is 13, 14 hours, right? So they will go to sleep and I’m flying Singapore Airlines. So at what point will they go to sleep?

Gaby: Okay, so we get scheduled rest blocks because we would divide. And in my airline it would be once a flight passed five hours. After five or six hours, I think I remember. We would get scheduled rest blocks. So they would divide the groups, like group A, group B. and it would be anywhere from one to two hours, depending on the flight length. On the longest flight, I remember LA flight, it was 16 hours, we would get up to five hours of sleep. But that also depended on whether the flight was full or it was light load. Because if it was full, then you only get to rest after you finish the first service. 

But that means serving the food, doing the clearance, and like it can be like two rounds, no more, like three to four rounds. So after you finish with the first service, make sure that everyone has eaten. Then the first group goes to sleep. But if the flight was full, then that would take longer. So we would have less rest. But if it was a light load, then you would finish like this and it’s super quick and then you would get more hours. For specific routes the supervisor knew that you had to have at least a mandatory one hour and a half sleep. like mandatory because of airline regulation. But she could give us more if she wanted, if we had more time because it was a light load in the flight. and yeah, we had the crew rest compartments built into the aircraft.

Mar: I have to look for this time. Do you think that if I ask the crew, they will show me? Like have you, I guess you’ve been asked at some point by passengers to see.

Gaby: I think they ask they never asked me personally. Never. But for sure. I think if it’s a light load and you have a really friendly crew they can show you around. But if it’s like a full flight, we’re not allowed. like if we see someone’s coming we cannot go in because then they go like, what’s what’s there? What’s going on?

Mar: This is why I’ve never seen it, right? Because they always like to look before opening the door like quick, is anybody coming? No, quick get inside, close the door.

Gaby: Yeah. Now I remember there’s one, I think it was an Airbus. It’s a compartment. So you might think that it’s a compartment that’s part of the galley, but it’s actually you slide it

And then you get the stairs and then you get up to where the bunks are. 

Mar: I totally have to look at it this time. I’m going to look for it. And this is an economy in the galley between economy and business,

Gaby: No in every aircraft that I flew, everything the entrance is in the back. At the back of the economy, at the back of the galley in economy.

Mar: Okay. So everybody listening next time, go and look for the entrance. And if you find it, tell us in the comments. If you’ve ever seen anybody getting into this, tell me in the comments, because I cannot believe that I’ve flown literally more than 2000 times and I’ve never seen it. But it’s true that I don’t usually sit at the back. I always sit at the front.

Gaby: But I remember one time a passenger came in thinking it was the lavatory. How he got in, I don’t know, We have a code. So there’s no way that you could enter just like, what’s this? And enter. No, we have a code. But I don’t know, maybe someone left it like it was not properly closed. And a passenger came in, he’s like, and I remember the crew was like, it was changing. And she was like, what’s going on? He’s like so sorry so sorry and he went out. I remember one time that happened.

Mar: This was my next question. You sleep in your pajamas, you don’t sleep in your uniform.

Gaby: No, we have to change. Yeah. We put on pajamas. I mean there’s some crew that don’t change because it’s more practical for them, but we have a requirement of wearing proper pajamas so that we can change.

Mar: Otherwise it gets all creased, right.

Gaby: You come down, like in five hours you might get the urge to go to the bathroom. So when we come down, if you’re in your uniform, most likely someone will ask you for something and you’re like I cannot, I’m resting. You cannot say that. So if you’re in your pajamas, you might get a passenger and they won’t ask you for anything. So that’s another reason why you should change because you’re in your rest time and you’re supposed to be resting. 

Mar: So now we know where the crew sleeps. What about where the crew eats and what do they eat? What kind of meals were the crew eating? Do you get the same as the passengers?

Gaby: Most times, yes. We eat in the galley once service is finished. So after we’ve surveyed the passengers and we’re done with the clearance and we finish the round checks, we eat in the galley. So the aircraft is loaded with different meal carts, one for passengers, one for the passengers and one for the crew. We have a separate one with crew meals. Sometimes it’s the same meal.

Mar: Right, why complicate things, right?

Gaby: Sometimes it’s something different, but it’s small, like maybe different fruit or small extras. And if there were spares from business class or first class, we would often get those two. Like someone from the business class group would come with the trainer this is extra, you can have it and we would eat it. Occasionally we would eat things like salmon but I never had a best meal on board.

Mar: Yeah, food on board is not particularly amazing.

Gaby: Like nothing that stands out. but I remember when I just started, I wanted to try everything on the menu. So everything was new because here in Latin America, the airlines are crappy. So when I got there even having a menu was like, wow, this airline has menus on the economy. And I wanted to try everything, but then eventually I got tired of it and stopped feeling special. And also you can bring your own food. We had limitations on what to bring, like some crew had their diets and everything, so they would bring their own food, but they would tell us not to bring things that needed to be heated, for example, because we didn’t have permission to heat on the ovens because of safety So they would prepare their own food sometimes. 

So you could do that, but we also had limitations on what you could bring into the aircraft. and then some destinations had their catering loaded out of the station, the food quality was so good. I remember having certain destinations where I was like, Yeah, I want them to cater here because the food was really nice. Some airports just did it better than others. But yeah, sometimes we had different meals than the passengers, but most of the time it was the same thing. 

Mar: That’s nice. That’s nice. And so you get the, you know, the meals that are not eaten in business with sometimes it could be lobster or things like that, right? A bit more exciting. Great. So we know where they eat. You know what you eat. Let’s talk about the funny and more unexpected part of the job.

Mar: Tell me, what is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you on board?

Gaby: My god. Strangest. I think I’ve told you about this story. I had a passenger flying with a life-size doll. It was Chucky. You know Chucky, but you know Chucky,

Mar: A life-size doll. Chucky!

Gaby: Chucky, the one from the movies, the scary movies, the red haired doll. 

Mar: Yeah, like the scary one.

Gaby: The life size Chucky doll.

Mar: And the doll had its own seat? my god!

Gaby: She had actually purchased the doll its own seat. So during meal service, well, we sometimes run out of certain options, you know. Like by the time I reached her row, we were out of the vegetarian meal. And some passengers understand, others make a real scene. So she had not pre-ordered vegetarian, which you can do in advance. If you know you’re vegetarian, you can pre-order it.

Mar: Yes, yes, it’s better to order all your special requirements because there are so many special meal options.

Gaby: Yes, exactly. So she didn’t. And if you don’t pre-order it, we have a vegetarian option, but it’s very limited. So by the time I reached her row, I was out of it. And she was expecting it just to be there. So when I told her that I didn’t have it, she started screaming at me. And then she grabbed the doll and she started shaking it while she was shouting at me. I didn’t know what to think. I was half wondering, is she cursing me with this doll right now? I don’t know. Like she was like, I liked in the end I managed to track down a vegetarian meal for her. But honestly, at that point I almost didn’t want to give it to her anymore. I was like, this lady just cursed me with the Chucky doll right now.

Mar: But the Chucky doll had its own seat, that’s quite crazy. I mean, I guess you cannot fly with it otherwise, right? Because, I mean, where are you going to put it?

Gaby: Yeah, because it was like life size. Like it was huge. But yeah, I think that’s the strangest thing that ever happened to me on board.

Mar: It is pretty strange. Oh my god. I don’t remember if you told me that story, but it’s hilarious. But the next question is also quite hilarious for people who may not be aware of this. Because I lived in Dubai, I know that you can fly with Falcons in the Middle East. So what happens with the Falcons and how do you manage them? We’re not talking about one Falcon. We’re talking about entire teams of Falcon because they’re competing on contests,

Gaby: So this is very common in the Middle East, for passengers to travel with them. And sometimes it’s not just for competitions, like sometimes they travel with them because it’s their pets. So it’s both funny and kind of sweet because the falcons wear hoods that cover their eyes so that they can stay calm which is how the owners can carry them around so easily. It was so funny to me because we had an entire safety procedure just for the falcons. In an emergency, you’re supposed to stow them in the cart, inside the carts, like take out the trays and put the falcon in case of an emergency so that they’re secure too. They’re important too and they’re so expensive. I had no idea.

Mar: And they are dangerous, right? They could kill someone if they are not kept away from the passengers.

Gaby: It was so surprising to me because our safety manuals actually had their own chapter dedicated to falcons.

At least on the Middle East routes, because it comes up that often, we had safety procedures for Falcon. So whenever they came on board, for me it was so adorable because they had their eyes shut so they wouldn’t hurt me. The crew would sometimes take photos with them. I have photos with Falcon like if the owner allowed you to and they always had their own row. It was not a seat, like its own row reserved, like a whole row just for the falcon and its owners. So you would see the falcon on the seat sitting like this all the time. Like it was so funny. I flew with only one falcon, but one time it was like five rows of falcons. So they were like one, two, three, four, like one in each row like this. And they would just stay calm the whole flight. It was so funny. That was one of the most wow things that I got to experience because I’ve never seen falcons flying in the aircraft like a passenger. Like it was so funny. But it was adorable at the same time.

Mar: Interesting. there’s always like and are they like emotional support animals or how are they flying? Like a dog, I suppose.

Gaby: Yeah, dogs. well sometimes they were pets, like some Middle East guy had them as pets and they would fly with them and sometimes for competitions, like you said. But the most common emotional support animals were dogs and the ones I saw a cat. But most of the time we just get like normal, like dogs, really big dogs sometimes. Yeah. A row. You would say yeah.

Mar: Really big dogs so that means they have their own seat as well, like if they are a big dog and it’s an emotional support animal.

Gaby: Most of the time they would do the whole row because they were so big, like Labradors or Golden Retrievers. Once I saw this, I’m not sure what breed, so they would take the entire row. And for me, I’m such an animal person. It was so hard because they would tell us, you cannot pet them. You cannot go and ask them for a picture. You cannot do this, do this. That was like one of the hardest things for me as a crew to like, I need to control myself and not pet this dog. Because there you have service dogs and then you have emotional support dogs. So service dogs you couldn’t pet them. But the emotional support sometimes the passenger was like, No, it’s okay. He likes to be petted and like we could we could take pictures with the dogs and everything. Like dogs were our favorite type of passengers. They were so cute. 

Mar: Any other funny story besides the falcons and the Chucky doll?

Gaby: I don’t have one standout funny request but one thing that always made me smile was when couples traveled together and like the guy wanted to keep drinking and the wife or the girlfriend didn’t approve. So they would come and they were like, just give me a paper cup so that I could say that it’s something else and they would disguise the drink from the girlfriend or the wife, like and this happens more often than you would think. All the time they would just come to the galley and they would just stand there and keep talking with the crew and then the girlfriend would come like, What are you doing? no, just talking with the crew. And since they had a paper cup, like, I’m just having my coffee and it would be a drink. 

Mar: It’s water or something. Oh my God.

Gaby: Yeah. Those requests were funny. Yeah.

Mar: Let’s talk about something also quite funny. And I want to know this. I’ve never seen it, but let’s talk about the mile high. Is it legal to have sex in the bathroom of an airplane? I’m guessing the answer is no. But have you seen it? I’m sure you have seen it.

Gaby: Okay, I’m not sure if it’s explicitly illegal. I think it’s more the fact that airlines can act on it under general conduct policies.

Mar: And then you’re banned for life or something.

Gaby: Yeah. And it depends on the country that you’re in as well. But I’ve seen it happen.

Once in economy, I watch a couple go into the lavatory together. Which surprises me logistically.

Mar: Yes, because they’re super small, like how do you even fit?

Gaby: Yeah, the lavatories in the economy aren’t exactly spacious. So I was like how they do it, but I was new at the time. So I actually went in and told my supervisor, like what was going on, the girl went in first and then the guy and I was fully expecting her to intervene and she just said like don’t worry, let them be. I’ll just go and congratulate them later on joining the club. So I’m still not sure if that was like just her being relaxed about it or if we were not supposed to do anything. I genuinely don’t know. 

Afterwards they came out, said they went back to their seat and then they just pulled the blankets over themselves. I just made sure that I just walked past like I didn’t see anything because it just felt so awkward. In business class, this is very often. It was far more common.

Mar: Wow, really?

Gaby: Especially in the Q suites, you know, like those close up. 

Mar: Of course, but that’s not in the lavatory, you go inside the room.

Gaby: Yeah. And so like in the private little suites, like the seats convert into beds. So couples or family would just join two together and close the doors. And you know, with the lights off and everything still shut, like it happened more often than people would probably imagine. Like you would hear things.

Mar: Of course, because they don’t go all the way to the top, right? Like there’s like an opening at the top so you can hear everything. And I mean, it’s not that thick.

Gaby: Yeah. I remember I would just hear things, but I would just pass by. I wouldn’t even look. It wasn’t really your business what was going on there. But yeah, it happens more often than you would think. 

Mar: Yes, in the Q suites, remember even for Singapore Airlines on the suites, suites, have a big, big room, right? And then the two beds, the two suites next to each other, you can remove the wall in the middle and you can make the bed double. And there’s some mention somewhere of, remember that this doesn’t go all the way to the top and everybody can hear you. I am sure this happens all of the time, right?

Gaby: So yeah, that’s more common. But the one in economy, in the lavatory, I was like, Wow, how? And also seeing people seeing couples put their blankets over them and you don’t know what’s going on there and you don’t wanna know what’s going on there. But yeah, it really surprised me that my supervisor was so chill about it and she told me like, yeah, there’s nothing much that we can do no, nothing about that. No.

Mar: But there was nothing in the manuals or the training that, you know, there was nothing, no mention of it. Okay, good. 

Now let’s talk about emergencies. Did you ever have an emergency on board? I mean, I know that people die on planes relatively often and when they die, what happens when somebody dies on the plane?

Gaby: Well I did have emergencies. Thank God no one ever died on one of my flights, but I did have people collapse. I remember one specifically on a flight to Narita, to Japan, it was a really long aircraft. So it had three galleys. And I was working on the aft one, the last one. And a really elderly passenger came back to me and she collapsed in front of me, but like foreheadly, no, collapsed. So for a second, I honestly thought. Oh my God, I thought she died. Because of the way that she fell, it was so frightening. I immediately called the other galley for backup. We had an emergency procedure. One crew member grabs the oxygen, the other one stays with the passenger, reassuring them, like lifting their legs if they have fainted. We had the full protocol for calling a doctor on board if one was available. That was my biggest emergency I dealt with. Beyond that, just smaller things like people needing oxygen because they fainted or they fell unwell or they got sick or like puke on board are pretty common parts of the job. But that Narita flight was like one real emergency. Like she ended up being okay, but the medical crew met her after the plane landed and they took her off for care. So I never had a death on board. But I have friends who have. Well, first of all, we had something called medlink, which is that you call medics on the ground and you are handling the emergency by yourself because asking for someone on board, it that’s like the last resort. We don’t wanna involve any passengers unless the medical on ground cannot do anything or we cannot do anything anymore, then we ask for someone on board. But that’s like the last resort, at least in that airline. 

So we try our best to keep the customer alive, but if the worst thing happens, then we have a procedure for it. You have to clear a whole row, like one of the last rows, and then you put the body there, you put a blanket over it and just travel with that person for the rest of the flight. The bad thing is if it’s a full flight, then that passenger goes back to its own seat and puts a blanket over it. And too bad for the people traveling next to I don’t know. I never experienced that and thank God I never did because I couldn’t imagine traveling with I did cargo flights where I knew we had human remains on board, but that’s different because you’re not seeing them. 

Mar: Yeah, they’re not next to you.

Gaby: But actually having the person there or having the person like I have friends that had the person die in their arms. And I think that’s traumatizing. So thankfully I never had to deal with any of that, but we are trained for that. But the thing is that I think you’re never ready for it or delivery on board as well. That’s another thing that happens. People delivering their babies on board. That’s another thing that I’m thankful that never happened to me. I was trained for it. But one thing is being trained for it and one the other is like actually performing it. It’s like it’s made.

You’re delivering a baby and so in those kinds of situations we are trained for it. but thankfully it’s not something that happens very often. So for me it never happened. Thank God. 

Mar: I have more happy questions going forward. I have some questions that I know I’ve asked you before because I, you know, I fly a lot, so I pay a lot of attention to these things.

But you know, like when you’re flying long haul, the lights are always turned off after meal service, even if it’s like 2 p.m. I know that I will fly now to Singapore, the flight departs at 1130, they’ll service lines and at like 2 p.m. after lines, they’ll turn off the lights. And I’m like, why are you turning off the lights? It’s 2 p.m. Why do they always turn off the lights?

Gaby: Well it’s mostly about circadian rhythm. It’s not just to be tidy. It’s just like even if it’s daytime where you departed, the goal is to get passengers’ bodies adjusted to what time it will be when they land. So after the meal, this is always after the meal, they dim the cabin just to encourage people to sleep on the schedule of their destination. So we don’t adjust you to the time of the one destination you left behind, but the one that you’re arriving at. 

So it helps with the jet lag on arrival. So it’s kind of like us preparing you for the time that it will be once you land. and we would joke around also. The crew is like, yeah, we do it so because we want you to go to sleep, because we don’t want the passengers asking for this and this and this. But it has a purpose. We encourage the passengers to sleep after they eat. Yeah, that’s why.

Mar: And there’s always this myth, right? That if you’re nice to the cabin crew, it pays off. Can crew bring free drinks, business class meals, or some goodies to passengers? I know that this has happened to me. Like when I was flying Emirates every week, I would get entire boxes of unopened chocolates when we were departing the plane. You know, like the ones that they were giving in business class.

The whole box, if it’s unopened, even bottles of champagne and like alcohol and like, you know, things from the duty free. So does it actually pay off?

Gaby: Well, yes and no. I mean, in the airline that I was working with, we couldn’t do upgrades. So that’s something that the crew could never offer. Like it had to go through ground stuff. Like maybe you could treat ground stuff to upgrade you. But in once you’re inside the aircraft, no way we can upgrade. so that’s a myth that we can upgrade you on board. That’s a myth, at least in that airline. 

But being nice does get you a little extra attention. Like it depends on the crew member as well. Like some crew would bring snacks or drinks from business class to a nice passenger in the economy I did it. like families if the kids were nice, or if I saw a lady like with a lot of little kids and if the kids were nice, because most of them they were like not terrible, but like I would bring them small Godiva chocolates from business class or they would also bring you some snacks in like a paper cup or something. We could because we couldn’t give it to you in a way that was obvious to the other passengers, like all for other passengers to see. So in a paper cup or something, just like a small kindness. 

So I wouldn’t call it standard or guaranteed that if you’re nice with the crew, they will be nice with you because it depends on the crew. And it depends on the supervisors as well, because sometimes some supervisors were so strict and are like, don’t give out anything extra to the passengers because then the other one will see and they will ask for it as well. Some of them were very chill. So it depends on the crew. At least in my airline it was like that. But it does pay off. The exception if there was a genuine meal shortage and not giving a passenger what they wanted would turn into a real complaint. In that case, we might dip into like business class meals. Because sometimes they were not hugely different anyways. So we would just like to just plate them differently, but no actual upgrades. That was never on the table. But like extra little things, yeah, it does pay awesome.

Mar: And what happens with the unopened or with the half-opened bottles of alcohol? You just pour them down the drain, right?

Gaby: Yeah. Wine and champagne that has already been opened gets thrown away at the end of the flight. So sad. It’s honestly a bit sad sometimes because someone would ask for a glass of wine near the end of the flight and we would already be finished and we would have to open a fresh bottle just for that one small glass of wine. So the rest gets wasted. with spirits is different. Spirits whiskey vodka. Bailey’s gin, that kind of thing, those get resealed and just reused on future flights because they don’t spoil the same way. But wines and champagne that gets thrown away. Yeah. All the time.

Mar: And talking about being nice, right? Like some people, sometimes in the group, people ask about bringing gift bags for the crew. Is that appreciated? And if they did, what would they be giving you that would be useful?

Gaby: Yeah, it’s it yeah, it is appreciated, like in my case, I didn’t get many, but when I did it meant something. Like we appreciate them. Technically we were not allowed to accept tips directly. Like if someone tried to hand me cash, I had to decline. But if it went through the supervisor first, like she would share it among the crew. Twice I received money that way. 

Or they would tuck it inside a gift bag rather than just hand it out directly. So the most common gifts were like chocolates, cookies, like small, thoughtful things. I have a friend that in business class, she received perfume. That was lovely. That was nice. Overall, it’s never extra weight. Or a burden. So it’s a nice gesture. Like it does register with the crew. Sometimes they wouldn’t give one crew specifically a gift, like they would bring chocolates for everyone or pastries from a specific destination to everyone. So that was always like very like well received and some supervisors that were like super nice. They like, who gave it? And they would go to the passenger and like, thank you so much. And then they would bring extra something from business class to them. So yeah, it’s nice.

Mar: Good. I have a few sort of semi rapid fire questions. Can you ask for seconds if you’re still hungry?

Gaby: Yes, yes, you can. absolutely. If we have extra food, you can ask for seconds, thirds, however much is available. And same with drinks. You can ask as many as you like, as long as you’re not overdoing it to the point that you become drunk. but we do carry some extras. it’s not unlimited, so it depends on the flight. But a lot of passengers don’t realize this and they just don’t ask. But you can.

Mar: I actually never asked for it and I actually never thought that it was right to ask because I always assumed that there was food exactly for the number of people. But I know that there’s plenty of passengers that will not eat their meal.

Gaby: Yeah. No, and we do get extras. And like you said, some people don’t eat so or they bring their own food. So we always have extra food. It was very rare to have a flight where we had shortages. And if we did have shortage, it was because everyone wanted the beef and then we were just left with chicken and then nobody wanted the chicken. But it’s not that we didn’t have the food, it’s just that we didn’t have the food option. So maybe we won’t have the same food option that you want, but for sure we will have the food. So if you want to ask for a second, third, or how yeah, you can. and it gets wasted. I mean, if by the end of the flight somebody eats that, it gets thrown away. They’re not gonna charge you extra or anything. You definitely can ask for seconds. 

Mar: Good. And we also know that we can ask for as much water as we want because being hydrated on the plane is super hard. So just go back to the galley and ask for some more. 

What do you think is the best to sit on a plane? In economy, let’s say.

Gaby: Well, I personally love the window seat, but that’s me. But if you’re someone who likes to move around or use the bathroom often, then the aisle is the way to go. And emergency exit rows are great for leg room, but not everyone qualifies to sit there. You have to be an able bodied passenger. So elderly passengers’ children are not permitted there. But for me, those are the best ones. And I always like to be close also to the entrance so that I can leave the aircraft rapidly. But that’s me. 

Mar: Yeah, I like to be at the front as well. So you spend five years in a very customer service focused environment and job, right? Like dealing with people at 35,000 feet sometimes is quite difficult, right? It can be quite hard. What have you learned in customer service and working in such stressful situations that is useful in any other profession for you?

Gaby: Well the cabin crew work teaches you to do several things at once, and you’re under time constraints. So you had to do several things at once under time constraints while staying warm and approachable. Which is like a strange combination to build. Like you’re running a full meal and drink service in a tight window because we have timings. You need to watch for anyone who might be unwell, you have to manage someone who’s upset about a meal option, you have to stay alert for anything safety related, all at the same time and all while smiling. So that kind of multitasking under pressure is just something that I now can bring, I think that I now can bring into every job. It also taught me how to de-escalate, how to be firm without being cold. I once had a passenger trying to open the door before landing. 

So I had to be very assertive and very firm about it, or passengers who felt entitled to things that we simply didn’t have. So you have to learn to hold a boundary calmly instead of matching someone’s energy. Because sometimes people take it personally. If you’re a crew, you cannot take things personally. These people don’t know you. They just see you for a few hours.

Mar: Yeah, it’s never about you.

Gaby: Exactly. So you need to learn how to hold boundaries and just working with a rotating crew every flight. Like often people I just met that day, they taught me how to build trust and coordinate quickly with new teams. So you don’t get the luxury of a slow ramp up. You have to sync fast because lives can depend on it. So I learned how to hold a boundary with a smile on my face. and if I’m honest, that’s the whole job in one sentence.

Mar: Yeah, and that’s something that has been very useful while you have been managing our online Facebook group.

Gaby: Yeah. It’s true. That’s true.

Mar: So I have only one last question for you for any solo female traveler who is nervous about flying alone from somebody who has spent so many years off the other side of the curtain. What would you tell them?

Gaby: Well, the first few times are always nerve-wracking. That’s completely normal. My biggest advice is just common sense. Always stay aware of your surroundings no matter where you are. And on the flight itself, don’t hesitate to talk to a friendly female crew member. I had so many solo women come find me and say, this is my first time going here. Have you been here before? And I would like to just genuinely help them out, like where to go, what to eat, what to expect. So it was honestly one of my favorite parts of the job, like seeing solo women travelers and getting to be like a small part of making their trip feel less intimidating. So don’t be afraid to ask questions. The more context that you have about the destination, the culture, what’s normal there, the more confident you will feel. 

So I think that curiosity, well, plus the preparation goes a long way. So you’re never as alone on a plane as you think you are. There’s almost always one friendly crew member one seat away

Mar: Great, what a great way to end, Gaby. It is so nice to chat with you. I think that I’m definitely going to look for the stairs up to the bunks next time I fly, which is in two days. And I hope that everybody listening to us now has a very different understanding of what the job of the cabin crew entails and how difficult it is. And next time, hopefully, they are going to give them a bit more grace, a smile, and maybe tell them, you know, maybe ask them also for where the door is.

Gaby: Yeah, and just follow crew instructions. Just that when we ask you to fasten your seatbelt and stay seated, there’s a real reason behind it. And remember a plane isn’t a restaurant, it isn’t a hospital, it’s a plane. So we’ll take care of you, but the menu is not infinite and the medicine cabinet is not infinite. 

So yeah, it’s just following crew instructions, just it makes their lives easier and just understand that we’re also human. We have to take care of you, like we’re trained for that. and that has taught me a lot as well when I go to restaurants now or when I go to my flights as well. 

Mar: Indeed.

Gaby: Just I know what’s going on behind the scenes. So it goes a long way to be kind to them. So be kind to your crew.

Mar: Absolutely. Friendly reminder to be kind to your crew. Remember that they are people that they’re trying to do a job, but also go and say hello. And they’re probably also bored on a long flight. So they’re probably happy to chat with you and meet a new person. Right. Great. 

Thank you so much, Gaby. This was so much fun. I hope that people will also love it. And if you do, please leave us a comment. I don’t know if you have a question for Gaby, you can put it in the comments. She works with us so she can answer anytime. She actually works in the podcast too. She will definitely see the comments. So please do leave us a review and tell us how you enjoyed this conversation. And if you have more questions, you can put them in the comments. Thank you, Gaby.

Gaby: Thank you, Mar. Thank you for having me.

–

And it’s time for this week’s embarrassing travel story. We’ll call this one the hotel robe. This one is from anonymous and here’s her story. 

I was staying alone at a nice hotel with a jetted tub in the room and I wanted to relax with some wine and a book. So I decided to order room service. After it arrived, I realized that I needed some ice. So I threw on the hotel robe and went down the hall to the ice machine. I’m really not sure why, but I went out the door so fast without thinking that I didn’t bring my phone or key. And then I experienced one of those slow motion moments as the door shut and I reached out and said, no. So anyways, there I was barefoot in a robe, holding an empty ice bucket. I couldn’t find anyone on my floor to ask for help. So I ended up going down to the reception. The lobby was full of people checking in and some kind of conference was going on. Of course I had to stand in line. When I got to the desk and explained, they asked if I had an ID on me. I just looked down at my robe, turned very red and apologetically said, no. 

Thankfully the handsome young man just asked me a few questions, chuckled a bit to himself and gave me a new key without too much trouble. I also heard a few other chuckles around me when I proudly walked to the elevator. When I say proudly, I definitely was as red as a tomato. It’s okay though. I had a lovely night after this with my tub, my wine, my book, and ice. 

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Ms. Anonymous. If you have an embarrassing travel story of your own, we’d love to hear it. You can submit yours on our website at www.solofemaletravelers.club.