Ahead of starting our travel adventure, Erik and I read a wonderful book called The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart. In it she writes about Big Juicy Conversations - family discussions, exchanges, or debates that lead to meaningful questions and contributions. We often find ourselves entering these conversations and throwing around lots of “what if we could” or “wouldn’t it be awesome if” questions.

One such conversation has led us to plan our first Big Juicy Project. I believe the conversation thread went something like this:

why do helium balloons float? - composition of air - weather balloons and their purpose - what if a balloon was filled really really full? - do we want to try to see what happens? - can I fly to space on a balloon? - how big would the balloon need to be to pull me up to space?

So, as a family, we decided to find a way to send something to space which was how Big Juicy Project #1 was formed.

Erik has published a 4-part post, and the video below, on how we prepared for, and ultimately successfully achieved our goal!