Just a few years ago, I had absolutely no desire to skydive. I knew a lot of people that had done it or talked about wanting to, but it wasn’t really anything that interested me. I can’t say I had a fear of it per se, but a fear of flying and a strong fear of heights put it firmly into the category of something I could go my entire life without doing.
Thinking back, I have no idea what changed my mind. My fear of heights has remain unchanged, but my fear of flying has reduced dramatically with all the traveling Melissa and I have done. A few flight lessons in the last six months certainly doesn’t hurt, but I’d already long added skydiving to my Life List. If anything, the single greatest contributor is me realizing that life is about experiences and wanting to do as many cool things as I can before I die.
As I said, it’s been on my list for a few years. It was always something you half think about doing but doesn’t work out for one reason for another. The reason we did it when we did was really just a confluence of events. My mom had previously gotten me a gift certificate (for my birthday, I think [Thanks Mom!]) and we were going to be back in Virginia for a wedding, so it was probably the only opportunity we’d have to redeem it.
I really thought I was going to be MUCH more nervous than I was. I mean, I used to freak out just getting on a commercial airliner but for whatever reason, I was very ready to make it happen. We were really busy in the days leading up to it and I didn’t have much time to dwell, so that probably helped. My two pilot “lessons” have helped me to look my fears square in the eyes, so the idea of getting on a small plane didn’t bother me either. If I’m honest, I didn’t even really have what I would describe as nervousness until we were in the plane climbing past 3,000 feet. For the record, we would continue climbing and eventually jump out at around 14,000 feet.
The hardest part was the squat waddling to the edge of the plane door with a dude strapped VERY tightly to your back. I didn’t have trouble because I was scared of jumping out, but rather because I have bad knees, I’m very much out of shape and I am uncoordinated. I just physically had a hard time doing it (which you will see in the video). I did have a brief few seconds of panic when Melissa jumped out right before me, but I think that was more about worrying for her safety and not because I was about to do the same thing.
Then, we fell out of the plane. It was cold, it was windy, it was confusing and I was massively queasy from the flips we did as we exited. I have a long standing (genetic) history of vertigo and despite always having meds with me, I completely blanked on taking them beforehand. Unfortunately, this meant I spent most of the time in free fall trying to gain my bearings and all the time under canopy concentrating on not throwing up. We didn’t do any maneuvers because I wasn’t feeling well, which is a shame because I bet that stuff would be cool to experience. The best way to describe the whole experience is disorienting.
Would I do it again? The whole way down I couldn’t wait to be on the ground. I felt seriously ill, I just wanted it to be over and I was pretty certain it was going to be my first and only time skydiving. Once we landed and I gained my bearings, my opinion changed to “maybe.” Now that I’ve had time to process everything, I’d say there’s a decent chance I’ll do it again. I’d really like to experience the whole thing without feeling sick and concentrate on enjoying myself. I’m not gonna rush out and do it again tomorrow, but if someone is getting a group together or we’re somewhere cool and want to see it from the air, I’m probably there.