A Day in the Life: Bogotá, Colombia

I wanted to paint a picture of one of my days as a working Flight Attendant. Some have this image of a glamorous lifestyle and some just have no clue how our days go. One of my motto's is, "Live no day the same", and everyday I really try to do something a little different from another. I love that this job helps me accomplish that. So here we go!

To give a little back story first. I have 6 days each month that I go on call, and we call them 'a-days'. To explain, this means I have to be ready to go anywhere and they will give me at least 2 hours to get to the airport. I usually stay by my phone prepared for their call. On Friday morning, I was on day 2 of 6 and I received a call from Crew Scheduling at 7:30 a.m. "Hi, GoodMorning Ms. Spencer, we have placed a 3 day trip on your schedule that signs in at 10:30 am. today, Have a good weekend." I immediately went to go check what my new trip was and it was a 32 hour layover in Bogotá, Colombia! I was so excited because I had never been before and had been wanting to go.

I did my new morning routine. Breakfast, pack my bags, do a little workout, shower then do my hair and makeup before I get dressed and call my Uber. Once I got to the airport and went through TSA, I briefed with my crew in the lounge. We were working on a Boeing-757, so there were 4 total flight attendants alongside 2 pilots.

Our 3rd flight of the day was to Bogotá and we arrived to the hotel that night around 11 pm. It was pitch black by the time we got to the hotel van so I didn't see much outside. I was pretty exhausted so I crashed as soon as I got into my room. The following morning I opened up my hotel curtains to his gorgeous view outside. Rainy and all, I was stunned at the beauty right outside of our hotel.

I met my crew downstairs for breakfast because our hotel gives us a free breakfast coupon! My favorite part was the exotic fruit and yogurt along with their delicious pastries. I ordered my 'cafe con leche y azúcar' -coffee with milk and sugar- and I was a happy camper!

Here's a shot of my food after I ate most of it. #HungryGirl

I went with our Spanish speaker, Mirelis, to go to Monserrate. She had been before, but was so nice to still go out and explore with me :) The Monserrate is a mountain in the center of the city and gives you panoramic views overlooking the city!

There are 3 ways to get up there (one was walking for free, which we opted out of, LOL). We took the cable car ride, which is $10 roundtrip. On the top of the mountain, there is a famous church along with street vendors and restaurants. Its like a cute little city up there!

After exploring around for a few hours we took the cable car back down the mountain and uber-ed (yes they have uber!) back to our hotel. The total 40 min roundtrip with uber was $10- so awesome! I wouldn't recommend doing uber alone in another country, but we felt completely safe together. If you're alone, you can ask the hotel staff to order a yellow cab for you, it should be almost just as cheap, you'll just need to grab some pesos!

Views from the top of Montserrate!

Afterwards, we walked to the mall and found a good nail salon. I got a gel mani AND pedi for $23 including tip! I can no longer justify going to the salon in the states, just look at those savings. lol I then walked over to the grocery store to find some things I could bring back home with me before meeting for dinner with my crew.

Our crew went to an awesome little area that has pubs and restaurants. We grabbed some wine before heading out for a group dinner. We went to a restaurant called "Tienda de Cafe". I ordered the Tex Mex steak and Ajiaco soup. I loved the flavor and couldn't even finish because it was so much food.

*SideNote* We all received calls from "Scheduling" while we were having dinner which we all thought was really strange. After returning to the hotel we found out there had been a bomb let off in a major mall in Bogotá leaving 3 people dead. It was horrible news and fortunately none of us were there. I wanted to add this part in because its very scary to find out such a thing is going on so close to you (while in a foreign country especially). It doesn't stop me from traveling of-course because these type of things are happening all around us. It does make you more cautious and aware of your surroundings. I think being a flight attendant has made me more alert and savvy, and I think we all should be this way no matter where we are. Good and bad happens all over, and its important to be aware and use your best judgement as much as you can. Its also good to travel with someone else or in a group when you're in a new place. I'm horrified for those people we lost and pray for their families. I don't want us to become de-sensitized to these events because they are happening far too often.

Lets continue to spread good and peaceful energy wherever we go.

All in all. I did have a great layover in Bogotá, my 22nd country! People are very friendly. The food is good. The views from Montserrate are amazing. There are many other things I'd like to go see here, so I will be back.

Until next time.

xoxo Aamirah