As one who came from a military family and later became a U.S. Army major, Kevin Knapp grew accustomed to floating from place to place.
In his retirement, it's a lifestyle he has embraced.
As a professional hot air balloon pilot, Knapp travels the country coast to coast attending flight shows to promote the Mayflower Transit balloon.
He pulled into Jackson last week to participate in the Hot Air Jubilee, which wraps up this morning at the Jackson County Airport.
Forty-two pilots are participating in this year's event. About 15 of those came from outside Michigan — one from as far as Nevada.
Knapp has a post office box and storage unit in North Carolina. Otherwise, his home is the road. He attends 25 to 30 shows annually.
He books other public appearances virtually 300 days a year.
"A lot of people say I don't have a home, but I do have a home. I'm from whatever hotel I'm at that day," Knapp said. "It's what I know."
Knapp says he fell into ballooning almost naturally.
In 1989, he accepted a job at an Army Recruiting Battalion in St. Louis.
Knapp remembers the move clearly.
On one of his first days in the city — on the Fourth of July weekend — he was out for a run when he came across a pilot in the area for a balloon festival.
"He asked me what I was doing, and I said, 'I'm unpacking, I just moved here yesterday,' " Knapp said.
He walked over and held a rope for the man's balloon and, after a conversation, agreed to be part of a chase crew for the weekend.
"That was my ... introduction to ballooning," Knapp said.
The weekend turned out to be a great experience and remained in his mind. It provided him an opportunity to see a balloonist at work and to see the hobby — which he'd long had an interest in — on an approachable level.
Shortly after, he hooked up with a St. Louis ballooning group and began networking with area pilots.
Knapp enrolled in piloting classes and did his "ground school" work through a local community college. He banked 10 hours of flight time with professional pilots and two hours of solo experience before obtaining his pilot's license in 1990 — less than a year from his first weekend in St. Louis.
Knapp has just one word of his first solo flight: "Indescribable."
"Once I discovered ballooning and learned for myself how fun it is, how magical it is, how peaceful it is, how quiet it is, that's when I discovered my passion for flying balloons," he said.
"If you've ever gone for a balloon ride, it's very difficult to explain to someone else. It's like the very first time you took the training wheels off your bicycle — you're very anxious, your palms are sweaty, your heart is beating fast."
Ken Myer, a pilot from Howell, said ballooning births a sense of "total aweness" as to the surrounding world.
"When you're up there without the burner, it's total peace and quiet," he said. "I love the 'free' feel."
Knapp began saving his money and purchased his first balloon for $20,000 in 1994.
He said the purchase was like buying a car or a bass boat, except that once he took the necessary tests to get his commercial license, he could sell rides to recoup some of the cost.
In 2005, about two years after retiring from his full-time Army recruiting job, Knapp partnered with Mayflower Transit to fly the company's first hot air balloon. The company provided him with a balloon and chase vehicle, and Knapp hit the road. He travels on his own and recruits volunteers to assist at each event, providing them the same opportunity he had to get a taste of ballooning.
Randy Coller, a balloon pilot and long-time participant in the Jackson Hot Air Jubilee, said Knapp's passion is infectious.
Knapp is one out of about five corporate pilots who will be at the Jackson County Airport this weekend. These people are supported by and promote specific companies.
"We're tickled to have him here ... there are several levels in the sport and he's at the top of the class," Coller said.
On Friday morning, Knapp gave a balloon-shaped pin to each volunteer who helped with his first set-up at the Jackson Hot Air Jubilee.
"I have family everywhere I go," he said, looking out at the group of helpers. "You can't call this work. There's effort involved, but it's a paid vacation."
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