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Giveaways you're from Kansas

Believe it or not, there’s more to being from Kansas than enduring unoriginal The Wizard of Oz jokes from out-of-staters and being surrounded by Republicans and farmland.

1. You know where you stand in the Sunflower Showdown.

You were either raised in a KU or K-State household, so when the schools play each other in football and basketball, we can’t help but feel a little more competitive than usual.

2. Speaking of sunflowers, there’s a picture of you standing in a field of them.

Kansas isn’t called the “Sunflower State” for nothing.

3. You spent the ungodly humid summers of your youth at Worlds of Fun growing up.

“Hold on tight, because the Mamba is about to strike.” *boom boom* *tzz*

4. Independence Day? More like Independence Week.

Doesn’t matter if fireworks are legal in your city or not, you shoot off explosives from the weekend before to the weekend after the holiday.

5. After a while, you don’t bother to correct people who assume that Kansas City is in Kansas anymore.

Most of it is in Missouri, but if you grew up and live in the metropolitan area like I did and do, you spend a lot of time over there.

6. Baseball season is the most wonderful time of the year (because Royals).

The Royals may technically be Missouri’s MLB team, but that doesn’t stop us from claiming them as our team, too. With Salvy splashes, Eric Hosmer first base saves, Mike Moustakas (MOOOOOOOOOSE) home runs and the unbreakable bond of the whole team, what’s not to love?

7. Pretty much any surprising situation results in “ope.”

Turn the corner and almost run into your coworker? “Ope!” Drop your spare change at the register? “Ope!”

8. Experiencing spring, summer, fall, and winter weather in the span of 12-24 hours doesn’t surprise you in the slightest.

Kansas’s weather does what it wants, and we’re just along for the ride.

9. Your Instagram is cluttered with pictures of the sky.

Where Kansas lacks in interesting terrain, it makes up in picture-perfect sunsets that end up all over your newsfeed. Mountains, beaches, and forests are overrated, honestly.

10. Tornado warning? No problem.

Instead of seeking shelter during tornado warnings, you stand on our front lawns and stare at the green, swirling clouds.


More like this: 32 things you’ll never hear someone from Kansas say

No peacocks on United flights

Flying is hectic these days. With reduced leg room and seemingly more and more reports of onboard incidents, it might come as no surprise that some passengers prefer to fly with a companion to help keep calm. But what happens when that companion is a peacock?

Such was the case with a recent United Airlines flight. A passenger, claiming the animal was there to provide emotional support, arrived at the airport expecting to bring a peacock on board. Whether or not the passenger actually needed the peacock notwithstanding, there certainly are animals more appropriate for high-altitude travel. Dogs, for instance.

The airline attempted multiple times to inform the passenger of its peacock-on-plane prevention policies, but the message appears to have alluded the ticketholder. The bird arrived at the airport seemingly ready to fly on chartered wings. A United staffer informed FOX News of the reasoning behind their decision to decline boarding privileges. “This animal did not meet guidelines for a number of reasons, including its weight and size. We explained this to the customers on three separate occasions before they arrived at the airport.”

In case you’re wondering, it doesn’t appear that the passenger offered to buy the peacock its own seat. Here are our tips on how to doze off the next time you find an unexpected travel buddy in your aisle.

For more about Dexter the Peacock, check out his Instagram account.

More like this: 10 pets of Instagram who are better travelers than you

super blue blood moon lunar eclipse

Last night’s super blue blood moon and total lunar eclipse is as rare as it sounds. In case you are not fully up-to-date with your astronomy terminology: this was the first “blue moon” of 2018, meaning that it was the second full moon of January. It was also one of three “supermoons” happening this year. This means that the moon was at the point in its orbit when it is closest to the Earth, appearing 14% bigger and 30% brighter to observers. Finally, the moon crossed through Earth’s shadow during the already uncommon event, also known as a total lunar eclipse. As the Moon perfectly aligned with the Earth and the Sun, it turned a reddish color from red sunbeams peaking around the edges of the Earth.

The last time this trifecta of lunar events happened over the western hemisphere was 152 years ago. While most of Europe, Africa, and South America missed the Earth’s shadow obscuring the oversized off-color moon, countless amateur and professional photographers stayed up late — or woke up early — to capture this cosmic event.

Of course, NASA was totally geeking out about the whole thing and captured an unedited timeline of the super blue blood moon during its eclipse.

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Become a flight attendant

It is possible to traipse around from city to city with hours of free time and almost no supervision in exchange for slinging a few smiles and picking up some trash. Sounds pretty nifty, right?

How to become a flight attendant:

1. Why do you want to become a flight attendant?

2. What airline suits you best?

3. The reality of being a flight attendant.

4. Apply

5. The interview

6. Training

1. Figure out what’s motivating this pursuit for a lifestyle change.

If you want to become a flight attendant, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.

Money should not be one of those reasons. You won’t earn a lot as a flight attendant. If you can, it’s best to have solid savings before going into this career for what might be weeks of unpaid training on top of a low starting pay.
The desire to travel is going to be a major force in this quest, but don’t let that be the only factor. You will get to travel, but you’ll also spend a lot of time enduring those not-so-favorite sides of travel: hours upon hours on a stuffy plane, being away from loved ones for several days at a time, short layovers, late nights and early mornings, delays and cancellations, and a constant cycle of getting sick and worn down.
You simply must also get some sort of kick out of interacting with folks in a customer service environment. You’ll deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly in the service industry — and if you’re not exactly a people person, it’s going to become a lot to take. A desire to help and serve people should be among your reasoning for pursuing this goal. Being a flight attendant gives you the ability to have a positive impact on someone’s day through authentic interactions.

So, if you love travel, people, and an ever-changing work environment, this might just be the gig for you. And even if you try it and find out it’s not for you, you’ll still have lasting memories of a unique point in your life when you tried something completely different.

2. Do your own research to find out which airline best suits you.

There are the huge legacy carriers that have been around forever, mainlines and regionals. Then there are the fancy private jets. There’s a wealth of information online through Glassdoor and Indeed that will help you decide which route is best for you through information about company mindset/goals, employee morale, salary, benefits, work environment, etc. There’s no answer to the question, “Which airline is the best to work for?” It’s very subjective.

Here are some things you should keep in mind when doing your research:

Age

For most airlines, you must be 21 to apply. That does exclude some regionals that will hire at 18 — a good option to keep in mind if you just graduated high school and aren’t keen on throwing yourself immediately into some student loan debt.
Education

You need to at least have a high school diploma or GED, but more education, especially safety- or communication-related, is looked highly upon. The same goes for any experience in the medical field. If you’re proficient in another language, that opens even more doors!
Crew base

A major factor to take into consideration is where these airlines have crew bases. If you plan to keep your home during this transition, do they have a crew base in your city? Are you willing to relocate? If so, take a look at which airlines have bases where you could potentially see yourself living.

Of course, you don’t absolutely have to move — there’s always commuting (living away from your base and flying there to start your shifts). If this is your plan, be sure to check if the airline you’re looking at encourages this way of life — specifically if their contract has a commuter clause that protects you in case you can’t get to work. It is also a good idea to check into flights from your home airport to that airline’s bases. Are there direct flights, or would you have to connect?

3. Understand that it’s not all a fairytale.

Flight attendant jobs are some of the most glamorized positions out there. It is a very cool gig that will pay you in amazing life experiences, but it’s not all perfectly painted lips and long layovers on the beach — it’s also a lot of slinging Diet Cokes to grumpy passengers, getting the bare minimum of rest before flying out again, testing your relationships, and squeezing by financially. Also, when you start out at most airlines, you’ll likely be on reserve (on call) for at least a year — or 15-20 with some legacy carriers. While it’s exciting in certain ways to be flying by the seat of your pants, not knowing which city you’re headed to next or who your co-workers will be, it can be stressful and tiresome.

If you want it bad enough, however, all of these things can be worked through with a little creativity and elbow grease. Still, it’s very important to think through every struggle that might be coming your way after making this switch.

Here are the comforts you’ll have to give up on:

A steady, predictable paycheck. Flight attendant pay can vary greatly depending on how much you fly per month, whether that’s with a regular schedule or on reserve. But do keep in mind that it only gets better with time — raises come and picking up extra shifts gets a lot easier.
Weekends, nights, holidays and birthdays off. If you’re someone who values specific days off — let’s say Christmas — you might struggle when you start off in this career. Seniority is everything in the airline industry. The longer you stick with one airline, the better chances you’ll have of getting certain days off. Looking at things from the other side, though, to have Monday-Friday off before a six-day stretch of work is a pretty sweet perk not many other professions could give you. Once you become a flight attendant, it’s hard to imagine going back to only having two days off at a time.

A sense of routine. If you’re someone who thrives on having a set schedule to follow, flight attendant life could very well drive you mad. But on the flip side, varying hours and schedules can be a welcomed change. And as your seniority gets better and better, you can tweak, drop and swap days off to your liking, creating a lot more flexibility than you could ever imagine in your typical 9-to-5.

4. Apply, apply, apply!

Job openings can be found on the airline’s “Careers” or “Jobs” pages. There’s also a handy dandy website that highlights which airlines are currently hiring flight attendants. You’ll have to input or upload your resume — make sure to include specific details about service- and people-related positions. Let your sparkling personality shine through in your cover letter! Don’t be afraid to share what inspired you to embark on this new path.

You know those annoying application systems that have you input your resume and then enter your detailed job history on the very next page? You’ll likely have to do that. Proofread everything! Most airlines require a 10-year job history as well as a 10-year residence history — you might have to do some digging if you’ve moved around and changed jobs a lot. But that just shows how versatile you are!

Some airlines will also have you complete a personality assessment as part of this initial application. This information is usually related to working in teams and individually, problem-solving, what kind of work environments you thrive in, etc.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back right away. With the volume of folks who apply for these jobs, it’s not uncommon for your entire application and interview process to take nearly a year from start to finish.

5. The interview

Glassdoor is a great resource for finding sample questions before your airline interviews. Formulate some good responses from the heart and make sure you have them down, but don’t stress yourself out about it. You don’t want to be underprepared but you also don’t want to sound robotic.

Most airlines will have you complete a one-way video interview for the first round. Questions will pop up on your screen for you to answer aloud into the webcam, but a human will not actually be there to respond. Most questions will be related to your background, relevant experience, and why you want this job. Also, be prepared for some situational questions to answer in the STAR format: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Master that technique and you’ll be good to go. There are about five to seven questions in the video interview and you’ll be given about two or three minutes to respond to each one.

If you make it past this round, congrats! You’re one step closer to your dream job. Time for the face-to-face interview, which is usually set for about a month after you get your response from the video. Depending on the airline, your flight to the interview location may or may not be paid for.

The interview will involve a group portion where your interactions are observed. In some cases, you will be separated into smaller groups to complete an observed activity or game and answer a round of questions in front of each other.

Be prepared for anything. Your questions could range anywhere from, “How would you comfort a nervous traveler?” to “Describe the color yellow.” At some point throughout the day, there will also be a Q&A setup where you can find out more specifics about the company.

If the recruiters like what they see during this first round, you’ll be selected for a one-on-one interview where you’ll be asked more situational and personal questions.

If you take nothing else away from this guide, remember this: Do not get down on yourself if you aren’t selected on your first — or even your sixth try. Just because you didn’t make it this one time doesn’t mean you won’t be an amazing flight attendant. It’s a highly competitive field.

6. Flight attendant training

Once you’ve been invited to training and are sent your study materials, don’t stall on digging into them! The sooner you get to work learning the basics, the better off you’ll be.

Remember why you’re there. Don’t get caught up in petty drama with other trainees or go out partying every night. Try your absolute best to get along with your roommate. You are there to achieve what you worked so hard for, so don’t let anything get in your way. Buckle down, study, and focus.

Training is not easy and can range anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. You’ll have written and oral exams on your flight routine, security, emergency procedures and equipment, First Aid, and other topics. You’ll also take part in drills where you’ll demonstrate CPR and land and water evacuation commands.

After you pass your cumulative final exam, all that’s left is your Operational Experience. You’ll get on a real, live flight and prove yourself. Once you pass this, you’re a certified flight attendant ready to report for duty — congratulations!


More like this: How to pack like a flight attendant

Travel and fear the unknown

Despite the fact that I live a spontaneous lifestyle as a globally mobile travel writer and digital nomad, I definitely don’t possess the carefree “ce sera sera” attitude that you might assume that someone who lives in this manner does. In fact, by nature, I’m a worrier; a control freak; a meticulous planner. It’s just that I have worked hard to ignore niggling doubts and worries in favor of following my heart.

In the few weeks before I left my corporate job to pursue my own endeavors I barely slept or ate as I sat up at night worrying about all the possible ways in which things could go wrong. What if I returned home six months down the line with my tail between my legs, feeling like a failure? What if I couldn’t find a “real” job again on my return? My friends were getting engaged or promoted and there was me, aged 26, leaving a respectable career as a Sourcing Manager to start travel writing. I felt foolish. All I knew at the time was that I wasn’t happy with what I was currently doing and would always regret it if I didn’t at least try to pursue my passion.

A lot of travel literature glamorizes the experience of leaving your job and disappearing into the sunset with a backpack but the reality of this is terrifying. Obviously, there is more to this scenario than simply leaving home and living happily ever after as a perpetual traveler. There are little things that you need to think about such as where your next paycheck is going to come from, and what your long-term aspirations are.

The last eighteen months traveling solo full time have been a rocky road. Things haven’t always gone according to plan, but I’ve learned a thing or two about coping when they don’t. My career choice means that I don’t always know where my next paycheck is going to come from. Instead of using this as a cause for worry and panic, I’ve learned to embrace uncertainty.

We are not in control

As much as we like to think that we are, we certainly are not in control of the way our lives pan out. Nobody knows how things are going to end. Not a single soul. Many people choose to stick with the hand that they are dealt, considering it as the “safe” option rather than taking the leap and pursuing whatever it is that fuels their fire — be that travel, entrepreneurship, or something else. The fact is though, that there is no safe option. You could formulate an in-depth five-year plan for your career and meticulously plan out every detail, but what happens if the company that you are working for suddenly decides to close its doors? What then? Life is always going to throw curve-balls at you. The only thing that you can control is your own happiness. Don’t try and control external factors and don’t live with an expectation that things will definitely turn out a certain way if you do X, Y and Z otherwise you’ll wind up bitter and disappointed when they don’t. Follow your heart and enjoy the ride.

Failure isn’t the worst thing in the world

Many of us will go out of our way to try to avoid any situation that may result in failure. When approaching a new challenge, we consider it prudent to weigh up the potential risk of failing when we decide as to whether or not we should dive in and seize the opportunity. If we determine that the risk is too high, we may not take the chance. When you think about it though, what is the worse that can happen?

I started travel writing terrified at the prospect of failure. I thought it would be utterly humiliating if things didn’t work out and I had to head back home. Actually, things didn’t work out at first. I struggled to break even and I wondered at what point I should give up and go back to my previous career. I persisted, mostly out of stubbornness and now I make more money as a travel blogger/writer than I did as a Sourcing Manager.

When things get tough, it’s sink or swim. We only fail when we give up trying and sometimes it’s when we are at our lowest point that we discover precisely how resourceful and determined we really are.

The picture doesn’t always look like you expected

When we try to plan for our future, we conjure up an image of our perfect life in our mind. This is dangerous, though, because then we become consumed with trying to turn this into a reality. We become so focused on achieving one specific goal that we close ourselves off to other opportunities that may arise. The truth is that as you progress through life, your priorities will shift, and with unexpected curve-balls, also comes unexpected opportunities. If you had told the 22-year-old, career-obsessed business graduate version of myself that she would end up becoming a full-time travel blogger she would have laughed in your face. In the end, I realized all of my worrying, over-analyzing, and sleepless nights were for nothing. Things have turned out well, even if the picture is totally different to what I had envisaged.

This article originally appeared on High Heels & A Backpack and is republished here with permission.

More like this: 10 traveler doubts you shouldn’t waste your time worrying about

Beyond Barcelona: Catalonia's beauty

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Barcelona is one of those cities everyone has heard about, and when you visit it’s easy to understand why. It’s beautiful, its architecture is unique, it’s culturally diverse… But this can be a problem — Barcelona is so amazing that it overshadows the rest of Catalonia, an incredibly beautiful region, with its own traditions, festivals, and diverse landscapes scattered with ancient churches and monasteries and cute little villages.

Videographer Oliver Astrologo knew as soon as he stepped in Catalonia that he found a place he did not want to leave. The video he shot will help you understand why (and maybe put Catalonia on top of your bucket list).


More like this: 9 best outdoor spots to hike or chill around Barcelona

Italian homes for sale at €1

The Italian village of Ollolai in Sardinia has a problem. It has about 200 historic stone cottages in need of owners, but the village population has been shrinking for decades. The solution? Sell every one of the houses for just €1 (about $1.25 USD).

That’s right, you can own a piece of Italian history for the same cost of running your laundry. But there’s a catch: true to the meaning of “historic”, these homes have undergone a considerable amount of wear and tear, and will demand blood, sweat, and tears before meeting the demands of a modern lifestyle.

Adding to the challenge is the requirement that new owners must refurbish their home within 3 years, which will cost about $25,000 USD.

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Ollolai is one of several villages trying out this technique in an effort to repopulate. Over the last five decades, Ollolai’s population has dropped from 2,250 inhabitants to 1,300. With few babies being born each year, Mayor Efisio Arbau hopes that the strategy will draw new faces that will help revive Ollolai.

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“My crusade is to rescue our unique traditions from falling into oblivion. Pride in our past is our strength. We’ve always been tough people and won’t allow our town to die,” Arbau told CNN.

So far, the strategy seems to be working. Arbau says the town has already sold three homes and that many more offers are coming in from around the world.

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Despite the grim possibility that his home turns into a ghost town, Arbau is not intimidated by the challenge. “Our pagan ancestors never succumbed to the ancient Roman conquerors, who dubbed us ‘barbarians.’ These hills are Italy’s ‘Highlands’ and we are sons of ‘Bravehearts.'” Who wouldn’t want that as a neighbor?

Check out what your future Italian residence could look like (yes, the video works!):

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More like this: Watch: You can own your own private island in Scotland for $350k

Visit Slovenia cheaply

While Slovenia may not be as expensive as its neighboring countries, the country has been getting more foreign visitors each year, and this has meant rising prices, especially in the tourist areas. Here are some tips on how to save money on your trip to Slovenia.

1. Walk.

With only 2 million inhabitants and 20,000 square km, Slovenia is one of the smallest countries in the world. Most of the towns are tiny, too. Although several of them have public transport, most of the interesting places and sights are reachable by foot. Ljubljana, the capital, is practically the only one where you might need to take a bus — you’ll have to buy an Urbana card and charge it. But you can avoid all of the fuss and the expensive rides and instead walk around the city, including to the must-visit castle.

2. Skip breakfast and lunch, instead eat “malica.”

A number of restaurants all over the country offer a meal, called malica, served between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Usually, you can choose among three different menus, one of them vegetarian. They’re primarily meant for workers, so you won’t find them in restaurants located in touristy neighborhoods, but with blackboards in the entrance exhibiting daily menus they’re easy to spot. They’re almost as abundant as lunches but are way cheaper. Don’t wait until the last minute because they tend to run out quickly.

Another cheap but tasty option is to visit the self-serving restaurants inside supermarkets like Intespar and Mercator in bigger towns, such as Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje, Koper, and Murska Sobota.

3. Go east.

The places that attract the most foreign tourists (Bled, Ljubljana, Postojna cave, Lipica, Piran) are located in the western part of the country, where the economy is stronger and the living standard is higher. If you’re willing to leave behind standard attractions and explore places that foreigners usually ignore, head to eastern regions, such as Prekmurje, Koroška, and Bela Krajina. Apart from being less crowded, they’re also less expensive.

4. Visit in summer.

The best time for visiting Slovenia is by far the summer, not only due to pleasant climate but also because of large numbers of festivals throughout the country. Many of them have free admission. Check out the biggest open-air summer festival Lent in Maribor, Ana Desetnica Street Theatre Festival in Ljubljana, Days of Poetry and Wine in Ptuj, the oldest Slovenian town, Festival Pivo in Cvetje (Beer and Flowers) in Laško, Jurjevanje, the folklore festival in Črnomelj, and the lace festival in Idrija.

5. Stay with a Couchsurfer.

Sure, there are Couchsurfers everywhere in the world, but Slovenians seem to be especially keen on welcoming strangers into their homes. There are less than 300,000 inhabitants in Ljubljana, but there are almost 9,000 people registered on the Couchsurfing site. And you’ll most likely find at least several dozens of them even in small towns with less than 3,000 inhabitants (Tolmin and Lendava, for example). Besides, Slovenians are really good hosts, so you’ll probably end up eating traditional home-made food and traveling to places you’d never discover without their help.

6. Enjoy the greenery.

Nature is free and Slovenia has lots of it; it’s considered one of the greenest countries in Europe with a third of its territory covered by forest. Triglav National Park is Slovenia’s first biosphere reserve, with seven lakes and Triglav, the highest peak in the country; Velika Planina has vast Alpine pastures and traditional herdsmen’s huts; and Kočevski Rog is one of the naturally most preserved areas in the country, with a huge amount of biodiversity (and home to the famous brown bear) and the crystal blue river Soča with the Trenta valley.

7. Remember three important cultural days.

There are three important dates when all museums have free admission: May 18 (National Museum Day), the second or third Saturday of June (Summer Museum Night), and December 3 (Happy Culture Day). Some of the museums in the capital (Muzej novejse zgodovine Slovenije, Slovenski etnografski muzej, Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Moderna galerija, and Muzej sodobne umetnosti Metelkova) also don’t charge the entrance every first Sunday each month.


More like this: 6 amazing Slovenian towns you can reach by train

biggest football cities in the us

The Superbowl is the most watched sporting event in America, yet not every city in the country is great for football fans. But what makes for a football fan’s ideal city? Obviously being home to a pro team helps, but so does cheap season tickets and a good local college team. A few Superbowl rings certainly add to the prestige of a football town, but even that might not be as valuable as a loyal legion of fans you will bump into in bars all over the country. New research from Wallethub shows that there are some US cities, like Pittsburgh and Boston, practically built for football fans, while others will just have to make do with the Timbers and the Blazers.

Check out the map below to see how your city ranks for football fans and the infographic for why. (You need to hover over the dots to see the stats).

Source: WalletHub

Photo: Wallet Hub

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how well do you know the North East?