CNN:

Purple lightning, psychedelic sunsets, glowing clouds and swirling Northern Lights — when it comes to crazily beautiful natural phenomena, airplane pilots have a front row seat.

For the rest of us wanting a glimpse of what life is like in the cockpit 30,000 feet above the planet, there are the incredible photos taken by Dutch pilot Christiaan van Heijst.

“It’s like a peaceful solitude just flying high up in the sky away from the rest of the world and the planet,” he tells CNN Travel.

Those of us who have struggled to take great shots out of an airplane window will be very jealous of this guy.