I can’t explain the rationale. It’s not something I’ve been thinking about for years and years. It had always been an idea but I was not on a mission to do this.
I booked this vacation a year ago. Three other people were supposed to join me and their plans changed. So when it became a solo vacation, I had to change my expectations. My main focus was to relax, recharge, read, meditate and have more of a New Agey trip.
Then I made a list of other things that I might want to do, if I was in the mood. Skydiving was one of those. I booked the trip on Monday and jumped Tuesday. I had a bizarre sense of calm about it. I was excited by not too nervous. I slept fine.
Got to the place early and started filling out all the paperwork, waivers etc. that say you might get hurt or die and you can’t sue, your family can’t sue and neither can your dog. As I scanned the 12 pages, I could feel the butterflies starting.
It was overcast so we had to wait until clouds cleared. Then it rained. Then we had to wait for more clouds to clear. I showed up for my 9am appointment and we didn’t jump until after 1pm. That was the worst part!
It only took about 10 minutes to get to the 18,000 feet. There were 12 of us crammed into the plan plus the pilot. Each jumper was strapped to their tandem expert plus each jumper had an extra videographer.
I was next to the ‘door’ so I was first out. The air was cold and it was really windy. My tandem guy, Junior, and I shuffled/scooted from our bench to the opening. My heart was racing and I kept thinking to make sure and smile for the video, to look all around and make sure I enjoyed the ride.
It wasn’t so much a jump but a lean forward out the door and put my knees back. The front flip exit I suspected was later confirmed on my video. It was a total rush of air, extreme adrenalin and emotion as we free-falled for a minute and a half. It was literally breathtaking—I could hardly breathe. The wind and air was rushing by so fast it was hard to get a decent inhale. I could feel my face and lips flapping and I just tried to stay calm and get my breath. I made sure to smile at the camera and look all around.
Once Junior pulled the shoot it became much more of a Zen experience, just floating in the air, looking at the ocean, the Space Center and taking it all in. The earth is stunning from up there!
I think we floated down for maybe six or seven minutes. It was very peaceful and smooth. Junior steered very well and the landing was a piece of cake. Once we were detached and I was standing on my own I felt very tingly, dazed and light-headed. I felt a little stunned and it was hard to walk back to the hangar.
I think part of what kept me somewhat calm was the crew. My videographer has jumped over 3,500 times. Junior has jumped over 13,000 times. And one of the other tandem guys has jumped over 19,000 times. With that kind of result data, I felt reasonably sane in my crazy decision to sky dive.
No comments:
Post a Comment