My Last Flight Before Truly Becoming Nomadic
My wife and I had been planning to jump into the digital nomad world full-time for over a year. Once the calendar flipped to 2016, we only had 90 days until it became a reality. Needless to say, I didn’t get a chance to spend much time in the cockpit during this transition period given all the changes needed to make the dream a reality.
In mid-January, my friend Mark visited us in Northern California for the first time. Like typical Bay Area “wet season” fashion, the weather was great for wine tasting but not flying. Yet, we were not to be deterred. Mark booked a last minute trip to visit us just four weeks later in February, and low and behold, the skies (and the aircraft) held up to perfection.
There’s nothing more fun as a pilot than treating a visitor to the SF Bay Area to their first private aircraft flight. Fortunately, the weather was perfect for a trifecta – a SF Bay Tour, lunch on the ramp at Santa Rosa Airport, and a visit to a local Sonoma County winery. Oftentimes folks ask me if I enjoy myself when I fly friends to a winery and am not able to partake in the libations. The answer is simple:
I just got to fly a plane in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m good!
Plus, it’s always nice when you return home and treat yourself to one of your favorite meals (in my case, Chicago Deep Dish pizza) and my passengers serve me a glass of wine from a bottle they bought me on the trip. Thanks, Mark!
Not only was it the most comfortable flight of my short pilot career, but a fantastic landing and a fitting way to end my initial 8 years of being a private pilot. And while I am not able to get in the cockpit and treat friends to amazing weekend adventures in the sky during my nomadic travels, I eagerly await the day when I get back in the cockpit. Until then, I’ll have to enjoy watching old videos of my pilot adventures – including the one below of my last landing before truly becoming nomadic.
1 Comment
DJ Mo
August 22, 2016Special momento indeed!