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Breaking news of the day! Six year old kid thought at first to be high up in the sky in a runaway home made Mylar balloon in Ft. Collins, Colorado. The balloon finally landed. No kid inside. They’re now looking for him in the neighborhood. We wish him a safe return.

Update…Was found in the attic. When CNN’s  Wolf Blitzer asked Falcon “Why?” His answer? “For the show.” Hmmm.

Here’s another balloon adventure:

My mom was 60 years old (years ago). A travel agent, newly single after marriage number 2. She was on a group “fam” trip to France (a travel’s agent’s familiarization business trip).  My mom along with part of the travel agent group took a hot air balloon ride (not from a homemade one!). They took off early in the morning. It was a beautiful day over the rolling hills and rivers of France. They were enjoying an early “picnic” lunch of gourmet French cheeses, sweet grapes, and Bordeaux wine when the balloon captain declares in his thick French accent, “We’re running out of gas!” The balloon came down in the river. Everyone got out…except, my mom.

In a gust of wind, my mom and the balloon suddenly went back up in the air. The captain yelled to her to “Pull the cord! Pull the cord!” But all she could see was him waving his hands yelling something. So, there she was. All alone, hundreds of feet in the air.  She thought, “this could be it.” Then something told her to yank on that cord the captain was frantically yelling to her about. She yanked. The balloon plummeted right into the river, knocking her into the water. She immediately put her swimming skills in motion. She desperately detached herself from a branch holding her down. Somehow she got herself free, and swam, and swam to shore. The French paramedics had just arrived helping her to shore. The rest is “Fam Trip” history.

As with adventures, some are little steps out of our comfort zone, others gigantic leaps, catapulting us into the sky for the experience of a lifetime, testing our true adventure grit.

Adventure Tip: When you’ve had an emergency adventure, remember to celebrate your survival and keep adventurizing…But you can cross that one off the list. Learn from your emergency. Don’t rinse and repeat!

-Tracy Pattin

Tags: Bordeaux, CNN, Fam Trips, France, French, Hot Air Ballooning, travel, travel agents, Wolf Blitzer