If you know me, then you probably know that I’m more of an experience type of gift person than a tangible gift person. When my cousin came down to visit a couple of weeks ago, she surprised me with a hot air balloon ride! Now this couldn’t have come from a better person because she’s a hot air balloon pilot. She has her own company, Balloons over Paso, in Paso Robles, CA. and was in town to get her balloon worked on, so she got in touch with Compass Balloons, where she helped out in the summer. Sure enough, they had room on their flight and we were able to go.

To me, this was an experience unlike any other. I got to see the behind-the-scene action, and was able to get upfront and personal with the crew. I was really nervous at first (something about having kids, being overly paranoid about anything that’s remotely adventurous, and do I have enough life insurance?!?!?!?!) but my cousin was really reassuring and put me at ease, and they also load you up with champagne first, so that could’ve been it to.

The views were incredible and and it was so cool to see it from a different vantage point. We even saw some houses belonging to some pretty notable people! I’m pretty sure one of the houses is from a reality show I watched.

Aside from my cousin, this couldn’t have been possible without the generosity of Compass Balloons, my cousin’s boyfriend (that’s him in the picture below) for watching my kids and taking some pictures of us in the air and landing, and my husband for being so cool about it even though he knows how freaked out I get. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who’s hesitant about doing it, have it on their bucket list, or just never even thought about it. 

If you follow me on Instagram, be sure to check out my Stories for some live shots. And if you’re not following me, then what are you waiting for?!?!? Kidding aside, what has been your most unexpected gift, and have you ever been on a hot air balloon ride?