You would be smiling too if you were flying for free. Picture: Amber Nolan/JetHiking.com
IMAGINE not having to deal with airport security, spend hours waiting for your flight or put up with annoying passengers. Even better, what if you never had to pay for a flight again?
Sound too good to be true? Not for this woman.
Meet US travel writer Amber Nolan. After years of corporate work, Amber went backpacking around South America and vowed never to be chained to her desk again.
Amber came up with a radical plan for her life which involved taking the hitchhiking concept to a whole new level … in the skies. She decided to fly to all 50 US states, for free.
So she set up a website called JetHiking.com and began researching her idea. It wasn’t long before she was contacted by a private pilot in New York, who loved her plan and helped get her started.
Amber hitchhiked on her first plane in July last year, flying from Rochester, New York, to Nashville, Tennesse. Since then she’s made it to 31 states, and she won’t stop until she’s flown to them all.
So how does she manage to get pilots to fly her for free?
Amber gets in touch with the pilots of private jets and light aircraft who are planning an upcoming trip and asks to join them. She has to be completely flexible on the destination, date, and time.
“I find most pilots enjoy sharing their passion for aviation with people,” Amber told news.com.au. “They are adventurers too, and want to help be a part of my project so I can reach my goal. They think it’s a cool idea.”
Travelling on smaller planes has its upsides. She even gets to fly them sometimes.
“I always associate travelling on planes with commercial airlines. I think a lot of people do. Long lines, security scans, being miserable in general,” Amber said.
“Also, hitchhiking this way offers an opportunity to see the country from a different perspective that you will not find if you fly commercial airlines.
“We can do a lot of low flying and really see the landscape. Yesterday, I flew up the Hudson River parallel to the New York City skyline at about 1100 feet (335 metres) – just over the bridges and next to the Statue of Liberty.
“On the way to Georgia, I was able to experience some aerobatic rolls in the plane, and often the pilots will let me fly a little to practice – I want to get my license. On a seaplane, we can land on a small lake in the middle of nowhere.
“And when I land at some of these smaller airports, I feel like I am time-travelling to a ‘romantic era’ of aviation.”
Among the states she’s flown to are California, Texas, Arizona, Washington, Maine and Florida.
What about the challenges?
“It isn’t easy and there is a lot of waiting involved,” Amber warns. “I can’t really plan much since I often have no idea where I’m heading to next, and flights get cancelled all the time for weather (or anything really).
“I’ll land in an area and have to find a place to stay on a shoestring budget. The airports are often far away from any public transportation, so getting to and from the airport is challenging and there’s often a lot of walking.
“I have to be totally flexible to just roll with whatever comes my way, and I often rely on the kindness of strangers.”
Her next stop is Maryland and New Jersey, followed by Alaska. She still works as a freelance travel writer, earning enough money – along with her savings – to keep her going during her trips.
Amber is also considering taking her “jethiking” international, and is writing a book.
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