BECOMING A PILOT & EXPLORING ALASKA FT. MELODY BURDETTE
My Solo Road: S2 Ep 13 | Becoming a Pilot & Exploring Alaska | ft. Melody Burdette
Today I’m talking with Melody Burdette all about why she loves Alaska, getting her pilot’s license, not feeling scared to try new hobbies, and which one is next on her list! If you need a dose of inspiration, this episode will give it to you!
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INTRODUCTION
From traveling to Alaska in her van to getting her pilot’s license, my badass friend Melody Burdette is here with us to talk all about it! We’re diving into her top tips on integrating hobbies into your life, why she decided to get her pilot’s license in only 4 weeks, and her adventures in Alaska (seeing the northern lights AND orcas). So if you’re looking for inspiration from the queen of hobbies, this episode is it!
HER BACKGROUND BEFORE VAN LIFE
- She was born in Florida, raised in Georgia, and went to college in South Carolina
- She came from a big road tripping family but wasn’t super outdoorsy until she moved to the west coast in 2015.
- Before that, she got into rock climbing in NYC because there are the Gunk mountains on the east coast that everyone would go to on the weekends.
- She’s been rock climbing for 10 years and she’s recently been learning new techniques from women and it’s been great.
- She went to school for journalism & fashion merchandising and moved to New York because she wanted to move there ever since she was a teenager.
- She fell into tech writing and worked at Directv until she received a job offer to move to California and didn’t want to say no to the opportunity.
HOW SHE STARTED SOLO FEMALE VAN LIFE
- Before van life, she was a weekend warrior and would drive 4-6 hours every Friday to go somewhere. She would go to the mountains and thought it was dumb that she had to go back to a city.
- When she started, she was in her SUV for 7 months. She didn’t know if she was going to like it and she wanted to figure out who she was.
- She ended up loving it and in the beginning of 2021, she sold her car and bought a high roof Ford transit van in Chicago.
- All of her family is in construction so her mom and step dad helped with plumbing and frame work in Arizona and her step mom and dad helped with the finishes.
- She is obsessed with her van and every bit of it.
TIPS ON BEING A HOBBY QUEEN + INTEGRATING THEM INTO YOUR LIFE
- Last year she got her pilot’s license, a skill that she underestimated. She also loves rock climbing and got her wilderness first responders training.
- She doesn’t get social anxiety or second hand embarrassment when she does things. She gets really excited about them and then tries it.
- She doesn’t like to be bad at things but she also doesn’t care about looking stupid.
- She is single, has a flexible job, and doesn’t have a family so this gives her a leg up on spending time for hobbies.
- But her top tip would be to find something that you’re really excited about doing and integrate it into your daily life!
GETTING HER PILOT'S LICENSE
- In 2021, she and some friends rented a place in Alaska for a month.
- They were riding in a plane around Denali and the pilot asked who wanted to ride with him in the cockpit and her hand shot up so fast.
- She was so curious and didn’t fear it at all so she decided she wanted to learn how to fly the next summer.
- She found a program in Palmer called “Fly Around Alaska” and got her pilot’s license in 4 weeks. It was quick and intense.
- You need 40 hours to become a private pilot but you only need 10-15 before you do your first solo ride. She did 3 laps alone and loved it.
- To keep your license current to be able to take passengers you need to do 3 landings and takeoffs every 90 days.
- One of the teachers from the flight school in Alaska owns a flight school in Phoenix where her parents live so every time she sees them she can keep her license up to date!
TRAVELING TO ALASKA IN A VAN
- She caravanned with some friends. They met in Montana in mid May and took a month to get up there. It’s around 40-60 hours so it was a haul
- British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon are all amazing. Yukon is vast, remote, and gorgeous.
- She went on a marine tour in Valdez where she saw puffins, orcas, and humpback whales. And she recently went fishing for halibut and black cod fish!
- One night she drove 3 hours to see the northern lights. She was alone on the river in the back of her van and she was amazed by them. They don’t feel real and you have to keep pinching yourself.
- She was up there for 4 months and headed back down at the end of September.
HER FUTURE PLANS
- She is getting her motorcycle license then going to an all girls riding event, Babes Ride Out.
- She’s going to the east coast in April then she’s getting her tailwheel endorsement for off airport landing and her floatplane endorsement so she can land on water!
- At the end of August she’s relocating to Alaska for at least a year. She’s taking a ferry from Washington to Anchorage and will rent a place for the winter and then live in the van in the summer.
SUMMARY
Creating time and space to bring hobbies into your life is the key is having them. Find something that you are excited about and add it into your daily routine just as you would work! If there’s something that you’ve been wanting to try but haven’t done it or are scared of looking stupid, take Mel’s advice and do what lights you up!
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
