Take a romantic hot air balloon ride

In today’s world, spending quality time with your partner is a luxury for most couples and it can be extremely difficult to find new and exciting things to do that will really surprise your love. If good old fashioned dates on terra firma (Earth) just don’t cut it for you anymore, then there is only one place to go: up!

Think about it, it’s an early September evening, when the weather is calm but can’t decide whether to be sunny or cloudy, so just becomes a light haze. As the sun sets over the horizon, it’s light refracts off the moisture in the air into the most wonderful array of colors, scorching across the sky. And there you are 2000 feet up in the air, away from the traffic and madness below, where the only sounds are the light breeze whistling through your hair and the sound of your love whispering how much they love you as you kick back, relax and sip some exquisite champagne. Maybe you could add some chocolate covered strawberries or some hors d’oeuvres to make the occasion even more memorable

The Cost

Sound too good to be affordable? This actually may not be as expensive as you think. Balloon packages range from $90 to $250 per person, depending on the type of flight and the extras you would like included. Every balloon company offers different packages. Some will pick you up in a limousine, take you up in the balloon, provide champagne, flowers and almost anything else you would want (for a price), and then drive you to dinner at a romantic restaurant.

Safety First

Jim Whitesell is an experienced balloon pilot and CEO of hotairballooning.com, one of the largest directories of ballooning companies on the internet. He says that ballooning is actually one of the safest ways to fly, “Balloons travel very slowly and are very safe. Their design and concept is very simple and there are no moving parts so there is very little that can go wrong. In fact the single most limiting factor in ballooning is the weather.”

The best times to go ballooning are in the summer and fall when the weather is stable. However a lot of people in the Southwest prefer to go in the winter so they can catch the breathtaking views of the snow-capped mountains and the migration of the snowbirds.

Which company’s best?

Jim also has some advice on what to look for when choosing a ballooning company, “As with any industry, there are a number of fly-by-night operations that spring up during the peak times so make sure to check how long the company has been in business, and also check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there are any complaints logged against the company. Ask for references from past clients, check their safety record and make sure they are insured.”

In terms of what you should wear up there, Jim says that the temperature is not much colder than on the ground. So wear whatever feels comfortable and have fun.

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