Okay, so this title makes no sense to any non-airline people. Let me take it back a bit. 

Flica is the web platform my airline uses for scheduling. Want to get rid of your trip? Do it in Flica. Want to pick up more hours and add an extra trip? Flica. Bid for a paid vacation week? Yep, that’s done in Flica too. It’s the key to altering your schedule and probably my most visited website. An ex took to telling people that Flica was my “other girlfriend.” It was a fair classification. 

Flica offers a service where you can receive alerts, via text, email or both, to assist  you in getting the schedule you want. I have been subscribing to this service for four years and have dozens of alerts. I want more productive trips (that I’m not senior enough to get). I want layovers in San Diego and Bermuda (which aren’t always easy to come by). Sometimes I just want a specific day off and have to wait until the airline has enough people covering that day before I can drop a trip. In all of these instances, Flica alerts come in handy. I get the text that what I want is available, I head to the site and go after it. 

I May be a bit extra when it comes to Flica alerts because I receive a barrage of alerts daily. My text inbox fills with 30, 90, 300 texts that pile up on top of one another. But notification bubbles don’t bother me, and it’s the price you pay to get what you want.

HOWEVER.

Sitting in my hotel bed in San Francisco this morning, trying to focus on homework and becoming annoyed at the incessant ding of text alerts coming in, I realized something. I didn’t need them. All the San Diego layovers and 10-hour turns and days off I’d wanted didn’t really matter to me.

Because I’m leaving.

I’m not working anymore. When I arrive in Boston tonight at 11pm I will have finished my last trip before Colombia. My last trip for six whole weeks. It barely feels real that I’m heading down to Medellín in under a week, that I’ll be hanging in the City of Eternal Spring and not in airports, adjusting to a new culture and setting and language and not adjusting my schedule.

I couldn’t possibly keep up with this onslaught of texts while I’m away. And why would I even want to?

So I logged in, went to account settings, and I cancelled.

Here we go. It’s getting real.

To read more about my Colombia trip, click here.

Been to Medellin? Send along your best tips, tricks, and favorite spots!