I bought my brother a hot air balloon ride for his 30th birthday with Virgin Balloon Flights so one Saturday morning a few months ago, we woke up at an ungodly hour to travel to Guildford for our flight.
We were very fortunate with the weather - most of the people I know who've done it had their first couple of attempts cancelled due to high winds or rain. We turned up in a frozen field to watch them set it up and were quickly up, up and away.
By 7am we were up in the air in the clouds, flying over the Surrey countryside, glass of fizz in hand, camera in the other, exhilerated grins on our faces, watching the morning mist roll over the hills and tiny trees, picking out ant-sized people below. What a view. That's one thing ticked off my bucket list.
