Normally he hangs among the Brabant clouds, but for the past two weeks, Ballonman Sven de Hoogd was in another special place. The Bredanaar was allowed to go ballooning from abroad in Saudi Arabia with some other pilots. And he did that in his own Dutch hot air balloon. “This was so very beautiful,” says Sven proudly.
Sven has quite a bit of experience with ballooning. He owns Ad Ballon and regularly hangs above the Brabant landscape. Last March he suddenly received an invitation to come in Saudi Arabia at the Alula Skies Festival. The Bredanaar will only be back in the Netherlands a few hours on Tuesday when he proudly tells about his experience.
“It was bizarre. Normally I go here in Brabant about villages, cities and lawns. I suddenly hung there above sandy plains and mighty beautiful rock formations. I made beautiful canals about the area,” says Sven.
The balloonist did not know at all that he went to the festival in Saudi Arabia until recently. At the festival, a few balloonists from all over Europe are invited together to come and make trips. “They had sent invitations to people from Spain, Portugal and France, for example. A number could not, so they approached me in mid -March. It was always on my list around.”
And so Sven was the only Dutchman to go to the festival. A huge honor, he thinks. Everything had to be arranged quickly. “Within two days, all the stuff had to be ready to be able to be ready to be able to be collected for transport. We quickly grabbed everything together, emptied gas bottles and removed the fuel from the fan. Two days later it was on the way to Saudi Arabia.”
In mid -April, Sven himself also got to the airport. Together with his father, because he had taken it as a crew. From trips on monumental graves to world heritage locations: father and son shared the most beautiful experiences during the festival. “Sailing in another country that you don’t know at all, that’s such a great experience. I am proud that I was allowed to do that.”
It is a highlight from his balloon flight career. And more beautiful trips are waiting. Sven still has a wish list. “Turkey, Australia, New Zealand,” he sums up. “I’m going to finish the list step by step.”
