Thursday, September 4, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to my blog of the 2008 World Hot Air Balloon Championships.

Like my 2006 trip to Japan, the intent is to update this site very regularly with content relating to both our travels and the event itself. This time I hope to include more photos and videos, as well as comments from those following this site. Feel free to leave your thoughts by clicking on the teal red comments link at the bottom of any post. You'll need a Google account, which you can sign up for on that same page.

One thing we're still working on is the technical details for how we'll connect to the Internet while in Austria. Internet cafes seem to be fairly common, and we've been told there will be wireless available at the competition center. So at the worst, I'll post updates from there. I was hopeful that we'd find a reasonably-priced cellular modem that would allow us to upload photos and post updates from anywhere, including during the flight. And I think micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter) an event like this would be very well received. Unfortunately the options we've seen so far have been cost-prohibitive - if anyone out there is an expert on Internet service in Austria, I'd love to hear your advise.

Right now I'm still in Michigan, but plan to start updating this site daily with background information on the trip. I leave for Vienna on Saturday (September 6) afternoon, so at that time the updates will get more regular and exciting. We'll spend about a week being tourists (Salzburg & Vienna) and getting things ready prior to the first competition flight on the morning of September 14.