I’ve been on more than 2,000 hot-air balloon flights in 124 countries

I can still remember my first flight in 2002, in Myanmar. I was working as a tour guide when a British balloon pilot called Phil had a spare place and offered to take me; floating gently with the wind, out in the open air, felt entirely different from flying in planes.

It was serene and picturesque as we passed over temples, and I immediately fell in love with ballooning. Growing up in Germany, I thought I might become a doctor, but a backpacking trip through China after high school sparked my passion for travel. After university I led tours and hiking trips through Asia and the UK.

On that balloon trip with Phil I’d lost my voice and he tried to chat me up; he had little internet access at first and spent a fortune sending emails by satellite phone, and after seven weeks we finally met again. He proposed on top of a sand dune, we married in Bristol in 2004 and I moved to the UK; Phil persuaded me to train as a pilot and I got my licence in 2005.

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