ALTITUDE

Hot Air Ballooning

Dawn, from underneath.

THE FEELING

Float

The desert at dawn from a wicker basket: gold light on dunes that no road crosses, and the only sound is the burner's occasional exhale.

In Dubai we fly at first light over the Al Marmoom desert reserve — gazelle, oryx, and the sun arriving like a scheduled event.

The crew unfolds 30 metres of fabric, the burner roars, and the sphere stands up like a building that decided to be a bubble.

The ground gives up on you gently. There is no sensation of rising — only the earth descending at the pace of a held breath.

Dune fields to the horizon, oryx running in their awkward beautiful way, falconry demonstrations at altitude, and the cool of 3,000 feet at sunrise.

OTHER FEELINGS

Three seconds that reset your calendar.

Entering another world.

Watching nature work.