Danielle Murnane

Sorry not sorry for the awful pun in the title of this blogpost… it’s wrong I know but it just felt so right! hehe

This will be my LAST post regarding travel (for a while) so enjoy it while it lasts 😛 Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon with more travel adventures! I haven’t retired just yet **wink wink**

A few days ago I completed my last flight as cabin crew for Qatar Airways. My final month of flying was seriously amazing, I tried to enjoy every flight and every layover as much as I could. This past month I travelled to the UK, Philippines, France, Italy, and Singapore. I also operated turnaround flights to Turkey and Macedonia.

I’ve spent my days off catching up with as many of my friends as possible and savouring my last few weeks in Doha, my second home. It’s amazing how close you become to your friends when you live abroad, they become your family and your whole support system while you’re away. The hardest part of leaving this job, is saying goodbye to the family I’ve made here.

London, UK

My first flight after my South America vacation and kickstarting my final month at Qatar Airways was London, UK. It’s always a pleasure to travel to the UK…. I really could see myself living here one day because I love it so much!

On this layover I caught up with my friend Pat from Sydney who lives in London. It was a transitioning period for the two of us as I would shortly be leaving Doha and Pat would soon be leaving London to move back to Sydney. It was our last catchup IN LONDON but definitely not our last catch up ever as I will definitely be visiting Pat each time I travel to Sydney. The two of us caught up over a delicious brunch at Avobar where they sell all things AVOCADO…

You can take the girl out of Melbourne, but you can’t take the Melbourne out of the girl 🙂

I don’t think I will ever get sick of an avocado brunch… it’s in my blood

Nice, France

Don’t hate me but I was lucky enough to receive another Nice flight which came with a day off. I am soooooo in love with the French Riviera, seriously they can send me every month for the flight, I’m happy to go!

This time around the weather was cooling down as we were at the end of September and a lot of the beach clubs had closed for the season. However, I still had a marvellous time and I can confidently say that this will not be my last time to grace this amazing destination with my presence.

After landing into Nice, myself and the crew went to the fancy Le Meridien rooftop bar to watch the beautiful sunset over Nice whilst sipping on an expensive glass of Rosé.

#prop #notmydrink

I was planning to go on my own adventure the next day, however the crew were very persuasive and convinced me to come out with them on our day off. I was not so keen only because I have travelled to the French Riviera a few times now and I was not interested to go to all the tourist hot spots which is what most people want to do on their first visit.

I decided to go along with the crew because there was a good vibe and nearly every single person (that’s 12 of us)  decided to join on the day… this is very rare! We hired 2 cars and drove to Eze for brunch, followed by Monaco for shopping and finally stopped in Cannes for dinner.

Monaco – the first time I visited I said I will not return here until I’m rich!! After being forced to return again with the crew and again not being rich, I swear on this blogpost that I will forever give up avocados if I ever visit again without my own private yacht!

No money, no honey in Monte Carlo…. 

Lunch views in Eze never disappoint

Cannes beach sunset ❤ the only sad part was the whole beach was closed for renovations 😦 I’ll have to come back next summer 😉

Singapore

Back to Singapore for my third time as crew. I love this country and will happily return again and again. For my third trip to Singapore I visited the famous Art Science Museum. It was a lot smaller than I thought but it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in town. I had a fun time here walking through the cool exhibition displays. My favourite part was walking through this light mirror display as you can see below…

Whenever I’m in Singapore I love to eat at the hawker food stalls. It’s amazing how good and cheap the food is. On this trip I tracked down this famous laksa at Sungei Road Laksa… they sell only one dish at 3 Singaporean dollars and there is a huge line to get it, but let me tell you it’s definitely worth the wait especially for the price and the quality of ingredients.

Sungei Road Laksa: Hand made noodles, coconut broth, fish cake and cockles

Milan, Italy

Ciao Milano! Finally a layover in Italy… it was short but I’ll take it. Italy is one of my favourite countries, of course I am a bit bias as my family is originally from Italy… but seriously, what is not to love? The delicious food and wine, the beautiful history and architecture? Italy is love.

Unfortunately, I only had time to take a few quick snaps in front of the duomo (since last time I was here my iPhone was stolen by a gypsy and I lost all my photos **CRIES**) and dinner. The weather was perfecto despite it being Autumn and the city had such a great vibe. I hope I can visit Milan again for a longer period of time!

Of course, I had to stop for gelato! I promise you the only time I eat ice cream is in Italy… I’m all about the good stuff! ❤

Rome, Italy

BOOM! 2 days later and I’m back to Italy for my final layover in beautiful Rome. I was so excited to come back to this beautiful city for my final layover. Unfortunately, we had a huge delay coming to Rome so I didn’t arrive until the evening and I had to leave super early the following morning to come back to Doha. I was sad that my precious already short layover was now even shorter but that didn’t stop me from commuting to the city for an evening in Rome. I walked along the Colosseum at sunset and stopped at my favourite restaurant Da Enzo in Trastevere for a delicious dinner.

The only 2 dishes to order in Rome: Cacio e Pepe and Carbonara ❤

Indulging in carbs, pork and organic wine on my final layover as Qatar Airways crew ❤

My last flight! Skopje, Macadonia turnaround

OMG and with the blink of an eye, my final month of flying is over! It went quick but like I mentioned earlier it was marvellous! I really enjoyed every second despite the auditors on board my flight, customer complaints when they didn’t get served their meal choice.. I just SMILED and continued to be happy and positive no matter what was thrown my way!

My last turnaround ended up being a really nice day despite being super long (5 hours going and 5 hours coming back to Doha). I was blessed with a super light load for both sectors and also an amazing crew that made me feel special that it was my last flight.

The first time in 2 years of flying that I had an all male crew! I was the princess of economy 😀

That’s a wrap folks!!!

I can’t believe my journey here has come to an end. I’m still in Doha for a few more hours as the clearance process here takes a while in order for them to organise everything, there is a lot of admin involved. I’m packing my bags and catching up with friends for the last time in Doha. I’m feeling a whirlwind of emotions right now, I’m happy, sad, excited for the new chapter of my life to begin… there is so much going on. October is going to be a big month for me in terms of change. Like I mentioned before, my travel journey isn’t over yet and I’ll soon be writing about what’s next so stay tuned!

Until then….. Thanks for flying Qatar Airways!