Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is an extremely popular event that happens annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many people buy tickets to get up and close to the hot air balloons and others buy tickets to take it a step further and ride in a hot air balloon. I attended this amazing event in 2019 for my sister’s birthday. We booked the tickets to ride in a hot air balloon. This was a unique experience from the beginning to the end.

There were two sessions, one session with all morning activities and one session with all afternoon activities. We decided to pick the morning session because our ride was on the same day as my sister’s birthday, and we had dinner reservations that night. The morning of our balloon ride, we were up around 3am. We had to catch the 6am shuttle bus from our resort to Balloon Fiesta Park, where the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was taken place. What we didn’t know is that we had to buy tickets for the shuttle bus beforehand to hold our spots. Luckily the resort was able to get us seats on one of the shuttle buses. I advise anyone who’s attending this amazing event to find out about the transportation in advance.

When we finally arrived at Balloon Fiesta Park, it was so dark. Not only was it dark, but it was very cold. I had on a long sleeved turtleneck shirt, a thick turtleneck sweater, a jacket, leggings and jeans, and I was still cold. I would advise to dress in layers; wear a scarf, hat and gloves, yes gloves. Also wear comfortable shoes because you will be standing for a long time while waiting for your ride to start.

To stay a little warmer, we began to walk around. There were many people walking around and balloons being blown up everywhere. It was amazing to be so close to the hot air balloons; watching them get bigger and bigger. The bigger they got, the more real it began to feel and I honestly began to get nervous. I couldn’t believe I was really going to get in a hot air balloon and float over Albuquerque.

When the time came to board, nervous was an understatement. But once I was in the basket, my nerves started to fade and I began to get excited. The thought in my head was “this is really about to happen.” The takeoff was unbelievably smooth and it’s such a beautiful feeling when you’re slowly floating higher and everything below you began to get smaller. While we were in the sky, the sun was shining bright and it felt like time stopped. This was one of the most memorable things I’ve done.

The landing wasn’t as smooth as the takeoff. The basket hit the dirt pretty hard when we landed, and at some point it felt like we were going to go up again. But the company (Rainbow Ryders) we rode with did an amazing job taking charge and keeping the basket and balloon down. Everyone got out safely and discussed the experience we just had.

Will I ride in a hot air balloon again? Yes, it was definitely worth the money and the experience was mind-blowing. Maybe next time I will do it in another country.