The Global Gratitude Show with Daphne Freise International Flight Attendant

When Daphne Freise received a globe for Christmas in the second grade, it ignited a passion for learning about the world and its many cultures. Soon after that, her great-grandfather built a bookcase to house a brand-new set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Her mother—fortuitously—placed it in Daphne’s little blue Holly Hobbie-themed bedroom.

She spent hours on the blue-and-green shag carpet, absorbed in her own small but expansive world. As records by Glen Campbell and Olivia Newton-John played on the Donny and Marie record player, she spun the globe, closed her eyes, and let one fingertip glide across its surface until it landed on a distant continent. Then she would pull down the corresponding encyclopedia volume, drop to the floor, and lose herself in the wonder of that place.

Daphne launched her career in 1994 as an international flight attendant, and the wonderful worlds of charter and corporate aviation have taken her around the globe hundreds of times over the past 25+ years, including temporary duty assignments in India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.

She retired in 2025 and will soon be transplanting from Pennsylvania to North Carolina with her husband and cat, Copper. A wannabe hippie and ABBA devotee, she and Tim frequently holiday in London. She has attended writing workshops in Bulgaria, Kripalu, and the Pearl S. Buck Writing Center. Her published works appear in the Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal and Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay, by Nancy Aronie.

She currently has several works in progress, including her memoir of the workplace violence incident that led to the end of her career, and the story of her father, a federal prison guard over mafia operatives, whose life ended under legal guardianship in a small-town probate court.