Basic HTML Version
34 | FireFlyz
JOURNEY
Humble Beginnings
AndrewParker
shares his story before the take-offof the FlyingHigh For KidsWorld
Balloon Project.
A
s
a person who loves
life, my philosophy
has always been to get
out and do it because I
believe life is for living.
Ever since I was in my
early teens, I wanted to
take a balloon on an overland trip around
the world. And I wanted to do it for a good
cause. When I finally decided to do it for
real, there was no turning back!
About four year ago, I approached
UNICEF and after some discussion with
the Director of UNICEF New Zealand,
he gave me the green-light to pursue
my cause with the support of UNICEF,
although it would be up to me to work
on the funding. The project was definitely
going to be a challenge, but it was a
challenge that I was willing to pursue.
Hence, the Flying High For Kids World
Balloon Project was born – I will be taking
a UNICEF hot air balloon to over 100
countries on an epic four and a half year
overland journey, raising awareness and
funds for them.
It is hard to know where to start when
planning a project like this. First and
most important of all, I had to make
sure that it was possible to execute. A
project like this has never been done
before, so there were no guidelines to
follow and troubleshooting for every
possible issue that might arise would not
be easy. Many things had to be taken into
consideration, including border crossings,
temporary import and export processes,
road conditions, seasons for best weather,
shipping, legal issues, road rules ... and
the list goes on.