Fear is something that used to control my life. Somewhere in my past – definitely when I was too young to remember – I learned that life isn’t always safe. I learned that people can hurt you, that your decisions can hurt you, that there are things in this world that exist to hurt you.

I had my first panic attack in high school. I think it was something to do with my health – I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was dying…or going crazy. The world was spinning, I had tunnel vision, and people speaking to me sounded like robots. I would live the next almost 10 years of my life struggling to fend off these panic attacks on almost a daily basis.

Once your body experiences something like that, it becomes accustomed to it and learns that if there is a threat, you panic. It’s the flight in a flight or fight response. It’s completely uncontrollable. It becomes like a groove – the more often you experience it the easier it is for your brain to lock into this groove.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an intense fear of flying. I’m pretty sure it originates from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It’s safe to say that I’ve never been on an aircraft without taking too much Gravol and spending the entire flight sweating and crying. When I made the decision to become a flight attendant, I forgot about my fear. There were more important things to worry about than my fear.

I forgot about all of my fears actually. Being confident in your path does that to you. Giving into the universe and allowing destiny to take it’s course really does free you.

My name is Katherine (Katie for short) and I am a writer from Vancouver, Canada. 6 months ago, right after I graduated from university, I made the decision to drop my career goals to move to the Middle East to work for one of the biggest airlines in the world. I created this blog so I can continue doing what I love (writing) while doing what I love (travelling).

Many people have asked me why I chose to become a flight attendant instead of working hard to chase my dream of working for a news organization, and the truth is I never know how to answer that question. It seems silly to work hard for a bachelor’s degree just to switch career paths.

I knew I wasn’t happy in what I was doing. I realized that nothing I thought would make me happy was actually making me happy. I thought I wanted to work as hard as possible at any job that would pay me in order to fulfill my dreams of travelling the world. That was never going to happen on a beginner writer’s salary.

I was too comfortable in Vancouver. I was in a relationship that wasn’t benefiting me, I was living with my parents who were probably praying for me to move out, I had friends who I’d known for 10 years and had no plans to move from our tiny town. It’s hard to realize how unhappy you are when you’re wrapped in the coziness of familiarity.

And then when I made the decision to take this job, suddenly everything became clear. I broke up with my boyfriend of 8 years who I realized I wasn’t in love with because it didn’t make me sad to think about living without him. I sold all of my fancy designer bags and shoes. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was doing the right thing. It felt like my whole life lead me to this point.

My only barrier was my fear of flying. But that’s a story for another post.