Well I figured it is high time I posted something in this thread seeing as I've been making a few posts here and there lately.
Anyway, hi, I'm Ashley. I normally go by just Ash or one of my various nicknames I've been given over the years, though people seem to have settled on Smash lately, or Rash when referring to my partner and I with one word.
I'm 22 years old and live in Auckland, though I'm originally from the beaches just north of Sydney where my family lives. I'm half-Chinese, half-European so had a rather interesting time growing up with hard-core Chinese on one side and the contrasting European culture on the other. I graduated in March last year with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in Conflict Resolution and kinda moped around for the rest of the year before pursuing my current position once I decided travel was where I wanted to go. I am kind of kicking myself for not doing a joint BA-BBus, but we all live and learn.
I have just started a job with a well respected travel agency here in sunny Auckland, New Zealand. I'm looking at sticking this out for a couple of years. We'll move to London next March and once we're done there we'll move to my hometown, Sydney, where I'm thinking of doing a Masters in Aviation Management and then trying for an airline job. Of course plans can change, so that's only my rough guide at the moment. My partner, Richard (23), is a senior recruitment consultant for a great company here in New Zealand which is opening offices in London, New York and more in Australia (they have one in Brisbane and one in Melbourne I think) within the next 12 months.
I can't remember when I joined FT, but I stalked for a long time before joining and I mostly read about various airlines, the hotel section and I enjoy the milage run area even though there are never any ex-AKL flights listed.
We don't do a huge amount of traveling, but we do get to my family in Aussie every few months and we also have been to Samoa the last couple of years (my partner is Samoan-German-Danish-English). We also try and go on a long-haul once a year and last year we went to South Africa (^) and Thailand (
). This year for a September / October trip we're thinking of Italy, but I'm liking lazing on the beach somewhere just as much at the moment. Anyway, I love Emirates so we fly them always across the Tasman and long-haul. I hate budget airlines so we normally suffer on Air New Zealand for South Pacific flights. Got to Gold on EK last year, but I probably won't bother with favoring EK much anymore given some of the deals airlines offer me as a travel agent. SQ has the 777-300ER coming into AKL and their business seats look like something fun to try when we go away later this year.
Anyway, can't think of much more to rant on about that anyone would find interesting so that's me.