First Class and Fire Escapes

Photo Credit: Noah Berg 

I was sitting in a St. Louis nail salon on a dreary day in March of 2010. I was in the middle of a pedicure when the call came through that jolted me so much that I ran out of the salon with bare, wet feet and escaped to my car so I was able to give every single ounce of my attention to the news I was about to receive. I also needed to be alone if said news wasn’t favorable and my dreams were crushed. I was about to learn whether I was hitting the job lottery or it was back to the job search,  applying for positions where I would work at a desk for an entire year in exchange for a week’s vacation.

On the line was the HR director from the company in which I had been interviewing, she informed me that….I. GOT. THE. JOB. I got the job. I GOT THE JOB. IGOTTHEJOB! This was not just any job, but a position that would take me around the world, twice, if I stuck around for a little while. I really had no idea what the role entailed, I only knew that I wanted it…badly.

The following month I went through two weeks of training at the company headquarters and on the final day I received my schedule, which I quickly learned that the first day of every month is a very big deal. On the first of each month, you wake up and find out where you’re heading the following month(s); destination, resort, and almost as important as destination, who you’re traveling with on these trips. It felt too good to be true. I couldn’t believe that I truly, after two weeks of office training, would be heading to London, St. Thomas, and Seoul (for weeks at a time), but it was very real and once I left that training room, I was only back in the office a few times per year to touch base with my manager for roughly thirty minutes at a time.

The next four years were a total blur and went by so quickly that, without photos, journals, and my blog,  I don’t think I would have retained half of the memories, as my life was a constant adrenaline rush and endorphine trip, full of international trips with new friends, client dinners at incredible restaurants, and countless complimentary spa treatments from hotels. Don’t let me fool you, the days were long, the travel exhausting, and sometimes the work, less than glamorous, but I’m a girl who can easily get lost in a daydream and I’ve learned to value balance,  because without it I would have had no appreciation and understanding of how lucky I truly was at that time and without Vegas, Orlando, and Dallas sprinkled in there, I would’t be where I am today, because I would have never left the road.

That was nine years ago and since then, I’ve had tons of people reach out to me by way of social media, asking what it is that allowed me to travel to incredible destinations and stay in top resorts around the world, at such a young age. Clearly, I was not an experienced professional at the ripe age of twenty five, yet I was flying in business class and experiencing the perks of a traveling executive. It was a dream and I want to share with you some inside information that will help you secure one of the most sought-after positions in a market and industry that most don’t even know exists.

How to Break into the Travel Industry

Yours in first class and fire escapes,

Brittany