Two years and two months ago with tears filling my eyes, the flight examiner extended his hand.
“Congratulations, Katie. I’m going to give you your private pilot’s license,” he said. Then he started filling out the paperwork as Martin patted my back. Martin and I had spent the summer of 2009 with one major goal: getting my wings.
We’re sticking with the theory that you cannot (and should not) work every single day, no matter how badly you want the goal ahead. Every weekend, we stop decluttering the hangar. I stop making journals. Martin stops sketching the heating system plan. And we do stuff.
Sometimes it’s über nerdy stuff.
If you were to look up into the sky just a wee bit, you know what you might spot?
Me!
(hehe)
Martin and I were invited to check out a little flying club outside of Berlin. These types of groups are pretty common in Germany. They fly together, eat traditional German food on the air strip together, work on planes, and drink bottles and bottles of beer when it’s all said and done.
I hate hunting for airline tickets. But I think I’d hate going to Europe by boat even more.
So I thought I’d offer some tips on airline ticket hunting. We’ve found amazing deals. We’ve also paid more than we wish to remember to get back and forth between the US and Germany. I hope this helps make your trip comfortable no matter how much you end up spending.
My first visit to Yellowstone National Park was in kindergarden. My love for this park is one the reasons Martin says, “You can take Katie out of the country and put her in Berlin, but her heart is always in the country.” Yellowstone is – without a doubt – my all-time favorite National Park.
Here’s a seriously jaw-dropping youtube video my dad documented of a bugling elk in the park:
I caught him smiling in the co-pilot’s seat. It’s hard to catch him smiling in that chair. He likes to be pilot. But I like being pilot now, too!
My first solo flight + overnight out of town is coming up. I’m making Martin review emergency landing procedures with me. He’s reassigning the engine chapter of my textbook to me, and later we’re going to practice a few touch-and-gos where we land and immediately take off again on the remaining runway. ”Maybe I should just drive,” I keep telling him. The airport I’m flying to is incredibly challenging because of the mountains. I have little fears – the same kind you have on your first drive to another town or first interstate drive on an icy night.
I’m an American splitting life between a 480 square foot apartment in Berlin, Germany and – get this – a house made of old tires in the Rocky Mtns.
This blog chronicles the journey of Making This Home.Meet Katie.
