Head in the clouds

One of my bestest friends, a man that I love* and the man I am most jealous of in this life once again has his head in the clouds bobbing around in the sky.

Quite literally.

Let me explain,

Sean is the only person that I know who lives his dreams, who plays and dabbles for a living. Admittedly, playtime is more than tempered by the realities of running a business and he is a workaholic or rather a playaholic who has had more 4AM wakeups that a chicken house full of roosters, but play it is. See, Sean builds and flies hot air balloons for a living. His dad (who is also awesome) started the business whish is now a family affair. It is not enough that Sean and his parents run a successful small business and have made significant advances in Hot Air Balloon design, inventing new controllable vents and quiet but blisteringly hot burners but Sean is also a shit-hot pilot. He is one of the best, who battles it out in the skies around the world in a wicker basket dangling beneath 15 tons of hot air suspended by a few slim wires, whilst surrounded by the massive gas bottles that keep entropy at bay. He consistently manages top ranked positions and, with a handful of other Aussies is a real threat on the world grand prix.
Where is he now??? – This a very good question and one that I often ask. Whilst it would not be unlikely to find Sean in Europe, or floating over the Masai Mara, or selling encyclopaedia DVD’s in the Australian outback, or even perhaps flying the worlds largest set of underpants across Melbourne. Currently Sean is in Saga Japan, competing in the Pacific Championships which are a warm up to the final round of the World Hot Air Balloon Championships which will be held in Tochigi, Motegi Japan in October.

I’m pinching this (copyrighted) pick from his blog, which you should read. If you’re a yank and just want to hear a sexy Australian accent or you want to see an exiting landing in what is usually an elegant sport do make sure you check out his youtube posts.

Sean, Wendy, Phil, Tem - if you read this, good luck and have a fantastic competition.


*in a manly standing around the BBQ drinkin’ beer kind a way