Mr Morriss, formerly of Mosgiel, has spent the past nine years working as a flight attendant based out of London's Heathrow airport.
For eight years he worked for a charter operator but has been with Air New Zealand for the past year.
"It's been an amazing opportunity to travel for free. But we do work hard,'' Mr Morriss said.
He first applied to work with Air New Zealand when he was nine years old.
"I wanted to be a pilot. But I don't have 20/20 vision so I focused on studying languages and tourism.''
Studies in Invercargill and then London led to his flight-attendant career. He now lives in Crawley, northeast of London, and works on Air New Zealand services to Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
A typical monthly roster includes three or four trips of at least three days' work each trip. "I'm working about 16 days out of every 30.''
Stop-overs are usually two nights, allowing a good night's sleep and then a full day of relaxing or sightseeing.
Air New Zealand has about 300 employees based in London, a third of whom are New Zealanders.
The airline was well-known for its "professional, high-quality service'', he said. Mr Morriss has taken up a professional development option offered by Air New Zealand to learn Maori.
"At the start of flights I now give a 20-second welcome to passengers in Maori and then translate.''
The effect on Mr Morriss' social life is the best and worst aspect of his job. "It means I miss out on some occasions with family and friends. But we also get some good, long breaks.''
He was recently able to use one of those breaks to make a surprise, eightday visit to his parents in Dunedin.
While he is happy living the life he dreamed of, in the future Mr Morriss would like to return to New Zealand.
"I'm strong on family and would like to settle down some day. Flying internationally doesn't make that very easy.
"I wouldn't mind transferring to Christchurch and flying domestic routes.''
• Do you know Dunedin people doing interesting things overseas? Phone Bruce Munro on 479-3505 (ext 8311) or email star@alliedpress.co.nz to share their adventures.
