Jessica Loves...Skydiving

So, yesterday I went skydiving. Let me write that again so you understand, YESTERDAY I WENT SKYDIVING.

It was one of the most intense and insane experiences of my whole life. It is rare, in these lives of ours, that we actually do something that is indescribable, and that's just what it is, indescribable. It makes you feel calm and confident and crazy and wonderful and excited and scared all at the same time. I am trying really hard to just remember each one of the feelings as I felt them. They are all wrapped up in butterflies and adrenaline.

Here are the sequence of events:

Upon arrival (I went to the Ranch) you hand over a contract that basically signs your life away, then you pay, then you wait. You wait and wait and watch as planes go up and parachuters come down, which is actually quite handy (it's useful to see other people landing, since you too will be landing...hopefully). It is completely and utterly insane to watch batches of people floating down through the sky and gently scooting to the ground. You get to a place in your head where you say "I get it. Let's go skydiving already". Once your group is called you suit up in intensely fluorescent jumpsuits with funny soft helmets and goggles and you meet your instructor.

My instructor was very cute, very european, and very into telling jokes like "It's my first time with a tandem jump, but I'm learning...we'll be ok". Then your face turns grey and he goes "hahah just kidding". Great. Jokes. About safety. And my life. Good.



The instructor goes over everything about how to jump out of the plane (at 13,000 feet), how you have to arc upwards, what to do during the free fall (which is one minute) and then once you pull the ripcord, how to steer, how to land, etc. You listen really carefully and then you think: I am not going to remember one word of that. BUT the best part is, you really don't have to and me, knowing me, said "You can go ahead and just do everything, I'll just worry about the jumping out part."

So we, my instructor and I, got on the plane first, there were probably about 22 people in total including my friends and their instructors, but since we got on first, that meant we jump out last. This can be good or bad depending on the type of person you are, for me, this was the best possible scenario. I've always needed one extra minute to acclimate.  The door to the plane rolls closed and you think "what the hell am I doing? I am clearly and totally insane ." 

You find yourself  sitting right in front of your instructor, on these benches that you straddle. They hook your harness to theirs nice and tight, which feels surprisingly good, it's the security factor that you need at that moment..."at least I'm not doing this alone"...and then you have about a 20 minute long plane ride to endure while you go in big slow circles, up and up. Liken this to the uphill part of a roller coaster that lasts for 20 minutes. The butterflies in your stomach turn into bats which turn into some sort of small mammal which rips it's way out through your chest. Your heart is pounding like crazy as you attempt to laugh, make jokes and keep yourself from screaming your brains out that this is against every survival instinct you have ever had in your life.

So then, just like that, 20 minutes is up. The door rolls open and the advanced solo divers jump right out. I started at that point to take HUGE DEEP BREATHS and to say "OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT." 

I was so thrilled at that moment to be last; I got to observe everyone jumping out - the looks on their faces, the positions of their body, and that group mentality kicks in..."if they can do it, I can do it." We crouched our way to the edge of hte opening and there it is, a huge expanse of sky and land and NOTHING in between me and it. You rock back, forward, back and then....JUMP!

I hit the air and it was the most surreal feeling. It wasn't like falling, or how I expected falling to feel. Like one of my friends said "now I know all my falling dreams were wrong the whole time!" The instructor taps you on the shoulder, that's the part where you can start participating, I was all thumbs up, "I'm ok, you just do everything". I was too preoccupied from falling through the sky to check the altimeter and know when to pull the ripcord. I was feeling and hearing the wind, looking at the horizon and at the ground below. Then I felt it, the parachute opened and there I was gliding and floating through the air for 5 glorious minutes. My vocabulary in those minutes consisted of "WOW", "whooooooooooooo!", "this is incredible!!!" and then the instructor said "Jessica, welcome to my office!" Awesome. I love your office. 

We glided perfectly in to land and scooted right it on our butts and I had the most intense rush of my life. My face was glued into a smile for at least a half hour and the notion that I can do anything has not left me still.