Time Traveler: Up, Up And Away!

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I get vertigo at heights and suffer from motion sickness in cars, planes and boats. And I'm not the most adventurous person in general. So what in the world was I doing in a hot-air balloon thousands of feet over Albuquerque, N.M.? Simple: having the time of my life.

It was 1999, during the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the world's largest event of its kind. As soon as we took off in the cool dawn air, any trepidation I had instantly dissipated. My frazzled New York City nerves melted. I felt as if I were floating on water--completely quiet, calm and still--as the pilot, two other passengers and I let the breeze carry us about seven miles from our launch site. Although we were moving, it seemed as though we were standing still and the world around us were changing vistas.

After my 45-min. flight, I served as part of an eight-person crew that helped the next passengers get aboard, then followed along in a truck to assist them once the balloon landed. When I was finished riding and crewing, all I wanted to do was go right back up for another ride. I was like a 3-year-old who had just got off the slide for the first time and was tugging on her mom's dress to let her try it again and again.

Many others will experience the same exhilaration this year at the 30th Albuquerque bash, to be held Oct. 5-13 in Balloon Fiesta Park. About a million people are expected to attend, says fiesta director Pat Brake, with a showing of some 750 corporate, private and balloon-company vessels from 30 countries. As many as 60% of these balloon enthusiasts--spectators, passengers and pilots--are 50 or over, says Scott Appelman, president of Rainbow Ryders Inc., a full-service balloon company that is the official ride operator for the fiesta.

The trend holds true nationwide in this $50 million industry, according to Rick Jones, president of the Balloon Federation of America. Baby boomers, having more discretionary income, can afford ballooning (the rides cost anywhere from $150 to $225 an hour per person). These seasoned travelers have already been to the world's great cities, and may be looking to try something different at this point in their lives, Jones notes. And the inspiration of Steve Fossett's recent round-the-world balloon flight at age 58 hasn't hurt. "Ballooning is a sport that takes time, patience and some money, which works well when the kids are grown up and out of the house," says Jones. "I'm 37, and I feel like a kid when I'm around most balloonists."