The author of this blog is Alan, and here's a little bit about him in his own words: "In June of 2007, I decided to leave the relative safety of a regular salary, stop climbing the corporate ladder, and become a helicopter pilot. After graduating from college, I worked as a Regional HR Director for about 3 years. During that time, I lived in Philly and Alaska. I reached extreme burn out and took a sales job with a cultural exchange company based in San Francisco. I traveled all over the world and met some really great people during my 3-year stint. However, after about two years I found myself increasingly jaded about international business travel. It sounds very sexy, but the travel became anything but. My last business trip saw me in 8 cities, in 5 countries, in 3 weeks... all the while entertaining six clients. Standing in Red Square for the third time in as many years with a ho-hum attitude, I decided there must be a better way to see the world. I'd been researching helis for several years and finally decided I didn't want to be 50 wishing I'd been a heli pilot at 30. So I gave two months notice, moved back to Washington State, and am now working as a flight instructor. I hope you enjoy reading this detailed chronicle of my flight training experience."