With the graduation ceremony over and done with and my bags packed, I was ready to set off on my own adventure, exploring the world from the sky.
Right outside the college entrance, my uncle’s pride and joy was parked on the roadside. It was the most bizarre looking thing you would never expect to see, a mobile home hot-air balloon.
Other guests and graduates looked at my uncle’s invention as something only a crazy person would make. After all airplanes and hot-air balloons already existed and served a purpose. What was the point of building something that imitated them both?
It had only been a few hours since I received my diploma and successfully graduated from college, and I was already sky high, travelling on a one-of-a-kind aircraft. For my aunt and uncles, this was not a leisure cruise but a business trip. The balloon plane was an experiment, a project they were passionate about. It was my uncles childhood dream to build his balloon plane, he still treasured the very first design draft he made, a colourful drawing done in crayon. The quirky aircraft took over ten years to finish. As a successful inventor and engineer, Uncle Hugh had the means and the money to make his childhood fantasy a reality.
Built using the best and most expensive light-weight materials, the balloon plane was designed, not for speed or to compete with passenger planes, instead it was built for adventures. To let people experience the true wonder and enjoyment of flight. The Balloon plane was created feel like “a boutique hotel gliding through the sky”.
To promote the uniqueness of the experience, Uncle Hugh had arranged to pick-up a few special guests to join them on their journey of a lifetime.
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I helped my aunt with housekeeping, it was the least I could do after they gave me the opportunity to experience something so amazing. Over the course of a year, I met so many people, experienced different cultures and indulged in many delicacies. It made me appreciate how vast and wonderful the world is.
Dedicated Dreamer 