Allie Dunnington, 56, spends the summer working as a commercial balloon pilot for Virgin in Taunton and Tiverton, and during the winter she travels the world with her balloon. From October, Allie, who lives between Sidmouth and Bristol, will head out to Kazakstan and Central Asia to tick off as many countries on her list as possible. The balloon pilot currently holds the female world record for most countries flown in a hot air balloon, 115, and hopes to reach 150+ — her late husband, Phil Dunnington, holds the world record having flown in 127 countries.
Asked why she's taking on this challenge, Allie said: "I've always loved travel, I was a tour guide for 20 years in Asia, and I had nothing to do with ballooning until I met Phil in Burma [Myanmar] in 2002. "I had my first balloon flight in Burma, and my future husband was the pilot there. We always joked, about what came first, falling in love with the balloon or my husband.
" She added: "This mini-race has been going on for nearly 40 years since we looked at his old logbook thinking 'Oh my god I've flown in 50 countries', and that's when he suddenly thought that it sounded like a nice challenge. "I've always loved challenges in my life, it keeps me going." After finding a passion for ballooning, Allie made it her career, building up qualifications to work as a pilot, instructor, and examiner.
Although Allie warns that ballooning income is "sporadic" and seasonal, due to flights being unable to take off in certain weather c.