What: 31st Annual New Jersey Festival of Ballooning
Where: Solberg Airport, NJ
When: July 26-28; balloon rides as early as 6:30am and as late as 6:30pm
Why: To achieve new heights in life. Ballooning exists in that special space between flying in an airplane and jumping out of one, and this weekend, the largest summertime hot air balloon festival in North America will commence rising. An hour from NYC, join 175,000 spectators—including Blues Traveler on Friday—as 100 colorful puffed-up shapes take to the sky. While the trip is mostly worth it for the experience of hovering 2,000 feet above the clouds for up to a few hours, there will be plenty of other amusements on the ground, from yoga classes to Air Force skydiving shows to funnel cake, a family fun pavilion, and live music. Get out a pen, cross air ballooning off the bucket list, carry on.
Cost: Day balloon ride/$200; Night balloon ride/$225. Adult festival admission in advance/$20; Children 4yrs+/$10
How to get there: Take the New Jersey Transit’s Raritan line to Raritan Station (check the schedule, you may need to stop in Newark first) then call American at 908.526.0055 for a taxi or Worldwide Limo at 908.906.5011 for a 15-minute ride to the destination. If you’d rather carpool in a rented car, consult oM’s guide to renting Hybrids in Manhattan.
(Balloon Festival, Solberg Airport, 39 Thor Solberg Road, Whitehouse Station, NJ, 800.468.2479, balloonfestival.com)
Photo: Dan Schenker
The co-founder and editor-at-large at offMetro, Lauren is a sustainable travel specialist and freelance journalist with frequent bylines in National Geographic, Bicycling Magazine and Shape. Follow Lauren’s adventures at @laurenmati.
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram