As I was contemplating on what has happened these past few days, I realized that I am so lucky to have made the decision to control my life back. And as I am adjusting from being a yacht crew to an entrepreneur, I get to have more time for my family and my friends, and even for myself, which I wasn't able to do for the past 10 years.
I've been in the yachting industry for almost a decade now. And what I have discovered me was an eye opener, that there is still life after yachting, that I do not need to work until I cannot anymore.
It is true that working in this busy and luxurious industry is very exciting. You get to meet a lot of people, most of them are celebrities and business tycoons, sport champions and those not so famous but rich. You get to go places for free and at the same time earn a lot of money. Yes, we get to do all those things. Party until morning, that was fun, but not for the crew.
I will give you a glimpse of how my life was especially during the peak season. During the past years, I work in a privately-owned yacht. In this yacht, I have two other stewardesses under my supervision. The 3 of us have our own duties to attend to. In this yacht, we follow a certain schedule, for example, breakfast is at 8am, lunch is at 1pm, snacks at 4pm and dinner at 9pm. Those are the daily schedule, except if there are guests coming on board, or there is special occasions.
So most of the days, I get to wake up at around 6 to 6:30 am and prepare myself for the day. I need to start preparing at 7:30 am for the breakfast at 8am. While the guests are eating, that's the time I eat my breakfast. I would then start cleaning the saloon and check if they have finished eating. Normally breakfast finishes at 9am. I would then keep everything for breakfast and then continue cleaning and detailing the saloon for the owner and the guests. Everyday, we always make sure that everything is in place, in case there are people coming on board.
At around 11am, I would start preparing for my cocktails and appetizers. Everyday, there are 2 sets of cocktail drinks apart from their normal wines and favorite drinks. I would then prepare my appetizers that will go together with the drinks. At 12 pm, cocktails will be served and we will then start preparing the table for lunch.
One o'clock is lunch and it sometimes lasts up to 2 or 3 pm, depending on the flow of their conversation and the number of guests sitting. And that would be the time we will eat lunch. Sometimes, we get to eat lunch before the guests but most often, I eat lunch after the service. I have one girl helping me for the service, while the other girl do the cabins and the laundry. We would then have our 1 hour break, with one stewardess on stand by just in case there are people coming on board or if the owner wants something. Sometimes if it is not too busy, we get to have 2 hours break each for the interior crew.
At 4pm, we would serve the snacks. Mini cakes, biscuits, tea or juices. While they are having snack, we would sit down in the crew mess and eat snacks or chat with the other crew. Some days, we would be sitting in the crew mess polishing the silverwares, cutleries, cloches and silver decorations of the owner. If not, we would be cleaning the leather and putting creams to maintain it. Or sometimes the owner would tell us to go have a little swim at the back of the boat while they are relaxing and having snacks.
At 6pm, I would then prepare my cocktails again for 7 pm. So we have 2 cocktail time per day, one before lunch and the other before dinner. Depending on the number of guests that will eat for dinner, we would prepare the table at 8:30 pm for the 9 pm dinner. We sometimes eat dinner while waiting for the guests, or we would help the chef in the kitchen. Dinner finishes at 10 pm and while waiting for the guests to finish, we would clean the dishes they have used and then put them away. Most of the time, the guests sleep before midnight so one of the girls should be awake in case they would need anything.
That was my daily schedule when I was working in a private yacht before. If we are cruising, I don't go home and I don't see my son. I just call them when I have free time cause most of the time, I was so exhausted and I would have afternoon nap to get ready for the dinner service. I get to go home after 2 months of cruising. And when I go home, I cannot even talk to my son because he's already sleeping. And in the morning, when I go to work, he is still sleeping.
Do you think that was fun? I don't think so.
Now this is fun. Working from home, spending time with family and friends, earning more than what I used to earn working 16-18 hours per day. And I am grateful for the decisions I have made. It was not so easy but I know I deserve better.
Here is how I do it http://www.better-life.info
Here is how I do it http://www.better-life.info
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