Around The World P Book

The amazing story of the first successful round-the-world balloon trip. Autobiographic, the authors share with us their historic adventure, from the preparation of the Breitling Orbiter 3 project in Switzerland to their return as heroes in Egypt via their stressful journey across continents and oceans. We get to know Bertrand and Brian at a personal level as they describe their time in the tiny capsule, their relationships on board but also with their team and families. We learn that their success was a combination of perseverance, technology, team expertise (e.g. the meteo guys) and sheer luck!

There was a nice touch of stoicism all along, about the importance of living in the Present (instead of being depressed by the Past and anxious of the Future), the purpose of a fulfilling life in a sustainable world, and accept that one cannot control the elements. The balloon makes the perfect metaphor for Life in that context: "In life you have the same kind of storms that can destroy you when you are ballooning and you are anxious about the future. There are moments when you have no wind and you are depressed by your stagnation; at other moments, everything seems so easy and smooth that you wonder why other people find life (or ballooning) so difficult [...] Life is a huge and difficult adventure because you are facing the unknown..." (p. 430).

It was nice also to read about the attempts by other stars such as Steve Fossett and Richard Branson, and about the illustrious Piccard family. I now want to read more about the father's and grand father's own achievements (back to the 1930s).

An unforgettable read.