Danielle Murnane

It’s almost the end of February, and what a fabulous month it’s been! Firstly, I would like to send some belated Valentine’s Day love to all my readers❤️ Yes, each and every two of you out there (Hi Mum and Dad!) I can’t say my Valentine’s Day this year was overly romantic. After arriving home from Denmark that morning, I spent the entire day asleep in preparation for my flight that night to Bangladesh. I had an extremely romantic time flushing the toilet after each passenger finished doing their business. I suppose I can’t complain that I didn’t receive any presents this year😝

Sao Paulo, Brazil
My February started off in Sao Paulo, Brazil. First time in Brazil and first time in South America so I was very excited. I am definitely planning to spend a lot more time in South America in the near future but this was a nice little taste tester for the time being. Unfortunately, considering how long the flight is (16hrs from Doha to Sao Paulo), the layover is quite short and because the flight is so long, it’s very tempting to spend the layover resting from the flight. However, as usual I was determined to go out on my layover so I picked the number one thing on my list to do in Sao Paulo which was visit the area Beco Do Batman, famous for it’s graffiti and street art (very Melbourne I know #sorrynotsorry). I had the best day exploring the area and taking soooo many photos hehe! There were also many nice restaurants and bars throughout the streets and the weather was perfecto!

Hanoi, Vietnam
My second layover for the month was Hanoi, Vietnam, which is now country #27 on my country count. Ah Hanoi… such fond memories! It has been my favourite layover to date, probably because I spent the majority of my time eating and the food in VietNOM is PHO-nominal! Hehe I couldn’t resist. I had been wanting to travel to Vietnam for quite some time so I was super excited to see the city and try the local street food. FYI – It did not disappoint. I was lucky to fly with amazing crew who also shared a love for Vietnamese food and were keen to adventure around the city on the hunt for it. My favourite was of course the Pho (Yes, very Melbourne again #sorrynotsorry) however this time I ate it for breakfast – proper Vietnamese style!

viet bbq😋

UnPHOgettable meal🙈

famous egg coffee – egg yolk and black coffee👍

Hoan Kiem Lake

A Beirut flight with an Australian flare
Earlier in the month, I had a turnaround flight to Beirut, Lebanon. I wasn’t expecting anything special regarding the flight, however it turned out to be a constant reminder of Australia. Firstly, the Captain was Australian. We also had two Australian crewmembers travelling as passengers for their days off. I was delegated the English PA for the flight and the Australian crew recognised my accent and came over to indroduce themselves to me. I mentioned in my previous blog post there aren’t many Australians here so it’s always exciting when you come across one. In addition to this, one of the crew I flew with was from Brazil, however he recently lived in Melbourne for a few years so he and I had plenty to reminisce on. Just to top it off, when the bus picked us up from the aircraft, it had pictures of Australia plastered all over it advertising the new flight launched this month to Canberra. I haven’t felt homesick since my move but this flight had me feeling a bit nostalgic.

Copenhagen, Denmark
Last week, I travelled to Copenhagen, Denmark. A city I have always wanted to travel to. I was planning to go last year when I travelled through Norway and Sweden, however I didn’t have enough time to go then so I was super excited to see it on my roster this month. Copenhagen was cold and I don’t enjoy the cold weather but the city was beautiful and I experienced snow falling on me for the first time. Usually the only time I see snow is if I go to the mountains for a snow trip (which I hardly ever do) so it was amazing to walk through the city and have the snow falling down around me. I really want to come back here when the weather in warmer and hire a bike to ride around and explore. I also want to try more of the food. The Danish know how to brunch and I love to brunch so I feel this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Zanzibar, Tanzania
Last but not least, my final layover for the month was Zanzibar. Wowpachow… what can I say! Just look at the photos❤️ #hardcrewlife

That takes me to the end of February in terms of layovers. I have now reached my goal of travelling to 30 different countries by the age of 30. So considering I still have a few years left until I reach 30, I have decided to aim for 60 countries by then!

March Roster
March roster is out and the rostering gods have been nice to me again. Layovers include:

1. Edinburgh, Scotland (New country to add to my list)
2. Manchester, England (shop, shop, shopping)
3. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (and I have a day off here woo hoo!!!!!)
4. Pisa, Italy (yaaaaassssss carbs)
5. Phuket, Thailand (finally! I’ve been craving a Thailand holiday – massage, pool, sun… tick tick tick)
6. Dar Es Salam, Tanzania (seafood!!)
7. Last but not least, rostering have given me Perth! See you soon AUSTRALIA! (Anyone have some ideas of what I can do on my layover? I haven’t been in so long)

Only one new country for me next month but I have plenty of new cities to explore. Stay tuned! xxx