Up, up and away: Liftshare Travel Happy!

It was a double Liftshare celebration last week. Not only did we celebrate our 20^th birthday, our Office Manager, Candice, celebrated being Liftshare’s Employee of the Year 2017!

For all her hard work, Candice was awarded with a Virgin Balloon Flight for her and her friends. Who did she offer to take? None other than 11 of her Liftshare friends. We’re lucky here at Liftshare – a team of 25, when recruiting we do give thought to gelling the team, and we’ve all become firm friends, undertaking a lot of activities together outside of work, like the Race for Life.

It was an early start for the flyers, having to be at Old Buckenham Air Field at a fresh 6am on Wednesday 22^nd August. Of course, the team liftshared to the air field!

After undergoing the safety briefing, everyone mucked in to get the balloon ready for flight. They ascended to around 500 feet to get glorious, panoramic views of the Norfolk countryside, including Old Buckenham, Bunwell, Aslacton and landing in Wacton. Floating through the sky at a relaxed 10mph, the team highlighted how serene life is up in the air!

Whilst in the air, the team were taught by pilot Robert about the inversion line, which could be clearly seen on the horizon. An inversion is the “deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude” and traps pollution. It really gave the Liftshare team perspective on some of the pollution in our local, rural area. It served as a great reminder of why we strive to reduce the number of cars on our roads through liftsharing and promoting other sustainable travel options through myPTP.

Upon landing the team were greeted with a champagne (or orange juice!) toast and flight certificates endorsed by Richard Branson! Champagne upon balloon flight landings is said to be a tradition from 18^th century France, where champagne would be shared with the farmers of the landing fields as a gesture of goodwill – can’t say we complained!

All Liftshare fliers agreed that it was a wonderful experience, and was another reminder of how we can all #TravelHappy!

“I’m ever so grateful to Candice for including us in her prize for Employee of the year 2017/18! It was such a fun experience, the views were amazing and I wasn’t as scared as I thought I’d be!” Sarah, Head of Prouct

“The views from 500 feet were stunning and it was so serene. It was so quiet you could hear individual dogs barking from the ground. I was a bit nervous to start with – my colleagues mentioned it’s the quietest they’ve heard me!” Laura, Marketing and Membership Manager

“A really tranquil, yet exhilarating experience.” Kate, Senior Business Development Executive

“It was great to see a birds eye view of the area, however it would have been a better view with less cars on the roads. Why not make our hot air balloon dream a reality by visiting Liftshare.com to find a sidekick and become a super commuter.” George, Client Engagement Manager