For me, most of my vacations revolve around my bucket list and Sedona was not exception. The ONLY reason we went was so that I could ride in a hot air balloon through the Red Mountains and it was 1,000% worth it! I knew from photos that the Red Mountains were spectacular, let’s be honest when you’re from the flat South every mountain range is phenomenal. But these really did take my breath away and the pictures really don’t do it justice. This is one of the few times where I haven’t had to edit my photos, not because I’m an awesome photographer but because the landscape is that amazing!

Can you believe that as I was going through the pics I thought I didn’t take enough?

There are only 2 hot air balloon companies that do rides in the Sedona area, we chose to do Red Rock Balloon Adventures because they had the best reviews on Trip Advisor and had shuttles to pick you up from your hotel.

• They fly 7 days a week so it wasn’t hard to book an flight with them, I booked about 3 months out since we were going over a holiday weekend (Labor Day).
• They only fly at sunrise when the air is cooler and there is less winds. Even though it’s super early in the morning this is perfect time to go, getting to see the mountains change colors in the sunrise is something you have to see to believe.
• The total flight time is between 1-1.5 hours depending on the wind. We were lucky enough to be in the air for the full hour and a half, so I really felt like I got my moneys worth. The total time of the excursion was 4 hours for us.
• They provide breakfast at the end of mimosas, fruit, and muffins.
• The baskets hold 10-12 people but there is plenty of room for everyone to get a front row view. There is a little wiggle room to move around but most people stayed still. There are 3 other balloons that fly at the same time, so I was able to get some good pictures of the other balloons in the landscape, these turned out to be some of my favorite pics.
• The total cost was $225 a person, which I think is really reasonable given the total amount of time you’re in the air and the breakfast that’s provided.

A couple of things I learned:

• I thought it would be windy and cold once you get up in the balloon so I wore my hair up and a sweater. It’s actually not windy at all so, ladies, you can wear your hair down and style it and it should hold. I’d recommend dressing in layers, especially if you’re naturally cold like I am. In the early morning before the sun comes up it is more chilly, however when the sun comes up and is beating down on you, it’s hot.
• Bring both a video camera and a regular photo camera. We had one person in control of the video camera and one person in control of the camera and I’m so glad we did, the video turned out so great! One day I might learn how to work YouTube and post it 🙂
• Make sure to take deep breaths and focus on your breathing. I’m not afraid of heights but I did get a little light headed just by the change in altitude.

Overall, would I do it again? Absolutely.

** No photos were edited in the making of this post. 🙂