5. Go Skydiving

A report on one of my items from my 30-before-30 bucket list.

Well. I did it. I jumped out of a perfectly good* airplane. Here are my thoughts on the experience along with a few pictures and such from Skydive Canyonlands in Moab.

Post-Jump Excitement

The evening group post jumps. We all survived.

Skydiving certificate holder, near said tiny plane.

When you first jump you have to arch your back. We were practicing.

Matching camo.

I am glad I did it. While I don't think I will ever do it again, I am truly glad I did it. It was a good, learning, eye-opening experience. I don't think it is for everyone, but it was good for me. Once.

I don't really know what I expected, but there were a few things that surprised me.
- The landing didn't hurt. Although, I still kind of crumpled when I landed.
- The harness for skydiving is actually a lot more comfortable than for rock-climbing, repelling, or zip lining. Not sure why, but it didn't really hurt at all.
- It is really hard to breathe during free-fall. I had never considered this problem, and it definitely affected me. I realize now I should have just held my breath when I first jumped. But I then figured if I passed out

I learned a lot about myself
- The moment the plane door opened, and I found myself looking outside into thin air, up until right after the jump, were beautiful. That was by far my favorite part. While you free fall for 30 seconds, it is only in those first few seconds that you feel truly weightless before the wind messes it all up.
- I am not a very good listener. There were lots of directions I had to follow. It wasn't that I didn't hear the instructions, but the stress of it made it hard for me to follow for some reason.
- I am super weak and need better flexibility. You have to pull a lot and move weird ways. I'm just a weakling.
- I like being in control of things. Skydiving tandem does not allow me to be in control. But really, there are many times in life I need to just let go and trust in the mechanisms and other people. It will all work out. My instructor kept saying "we are a team" and I loved that. I really need to remember that in real life too, and trust in God. We are a team too, and taking that leap of faith is important.

Now... my landing video. Please enjoy my beautifully botched landing.

*"Perfectly good" is up to interpretation, as the plane was a tiny, sketchy little thing with I am sure a few issues. But it would have at least returned me to the ground safely.