Around the World with Bertrand Piccard
Perhaps it was a secret dream of Jules Verne that drove him to write the book "Around the World in 80 Days" in 1873. Maybe Bertrand Piccard read this very book and felt motivated. Motivated to take action! To fly around the world in a balloon. An adventurer needs an incentive, so maybe he secretly bet with Jules Verne and actually managed to circumnavigate the world, not in 80, but in 20 days. This was in 1999. Today, Piccard fulfilled another dream. To make the impossible possible. It has to do with flying again. On July 26th of this year, Bertrand Piccard landed in Abu Dhabi. Not with any airplane or balloon – No, he landed with the Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered solely by solar energy. A year earlier, he had taken off from Abu Dhabi, deciding to circumnavigate the world with it. With 16 stops, some longer interruptions, and a forced stay of nine months in Hawaii, he also managed this mammoth project! In retrospect, it doesn't matter how many stops they had and how long they lasted, because one thing counts: Piccard and his colleague Borschberg proved that flying is possible with solar energy and without a drop of gasoline. With this successful flight, they are making a real statement right now. With his triumphant cry, "The future is clean. The future is you. The future is now," Piccard makes an important statement that should go down in history. Many may call him crazy. But isn't it true that those who were always a bit crazy and just got started brought the best ideas and changes? Shouldn't we all be a little crazy? Have the courage to pursue ideas that have always been swirling around in our heads? Admittedly, not everyone needs to build a solar plane now, but one can already make changes in their environment with small things. With his experiences as an adventurer, the setbacks and successes in recent years, Piccard has also made a name for himself as a speaker. He tells how he managed to cross the Pacific with little sleep. Everything is possible! So, we should ask ourselves, if a man has managed to change our future today, shouldn't we also be able to change our lives, our attitudes, and many other things!
