A globetrotting flight attendant has revealed the highs and lows of life in the skies – from lightning strikes and brutal sleep deprivation to ticking off the world’s greatest wonders.
Mateusz Kowalewicz first caught the travel bug as a teenager after joining a school exchange with Israel – his very first trip abroad.
He soon began exploring Europe on the cheap, hitchhiking to save cash, before eventually deciding to become a flight attendant so he could get paid to do what he loved.
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Mateusz, 29, grew up in Białystok, Poland, and now lives in Warsaw, travelling the world for work.
He told Polish media: “It’s very hard to describe a typical month, because every single one is different.
“My airline operates three types of aircraft, which means it never gets boring, and the roster looks different every month.
“My biggest travel achievement is visiting all the ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’. I owe a lot of that to my job – I visited four on layovers and flew to another using staff tickets.”
But it’s not always smooth sailing. Mateusz recalled one flight being struck by lightning, as reported by What’s The Jam.
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“It felt like someone flashed a camera straight in my eyes. A moment later, we heard from the cockpit that we had to turn back to Warsaw.
“The aircraft was fine, but logically it’s better to return and take another plane than risk finding out in Rome that the aircraft must be grounded.”
When asked what frustrates him most, he didn’t hesitate: “Not being able to fall asleep, especially in the East on long-haul layovers.
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“I’m a heavy sleeper, so any unexpected wake-up in the middle of the night because of time zones is awful.”
What he loves most is the unpredictability.
“Sometimes you fly to Chicago on a layover and end up meeting a Polish priest who invites you to an American christening for nearly 200 people – and one of the guests is a passenger you met on a flight a few months earlier.
“Absolutely incredible!”
His job has also allowed him to splurge on bucket-list adventures like skydiving in Dubai and taking a seaplane ride in Mauritius.
As for travel dreams still on the list: “I’d like to climb Kilimanjaro, and I can see I’m being drawn towards Africa, which is the continent I’ve explored the least after Australia.”
For those hoping to follow in his footsteps, Mateusz’s advice is simple: “Language skills. It’s one of the key elements if you want to work in this profession.
“You must also be 18, have a high school diploma, be able to swim in case of a water landing, and you can’t have tattoos in visible places.”
