Ok, time to start crossing off my “30 before 30” bucket list.  One of the things I’ve wanted to do for awhile is skydive.  No particular reason other than the adrenaline rush.  In one of my recent posts, I made a commitment to make plans to knock something off my bucket list.   Honestly, one of the easier things to cross off was skydiving.  So I bought the tickets, scheduled a time, and was ready to go.

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The day finally arrived!  Brad and I got up bright and early to head over to Mount Dora, FL, which is about 45 minutes from Orlando.  The few days leading up to that day had been pretty gloomy and foggy, so I wasn’t so sure about how things would shake out.  Nevertheless, we were super pumped and headed over there.   We got there, filled out our paperwork, watched the little training video, and suited up.

It was a little foggy, but everyone was optimistic.   Once we got up to about 400 feet, visibility was limited, and the pilot and our tandem divers nixed the jump for the day.  Bummer.

I’m not one to believe in “signs”, but the thought crossed my mind if this was not something I should be doing.  Oh well, we rescheduled for next week and the anticipation grew even more.

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We arrived cautiously optimistic the following week – suited up and ready.  We were the third load to go that morning, so we had the opportunity to see some other people go and land.  I can’t really put my finger on it, but there was not any moment that I could recall up to the point I was suited up that I was nervous or scared.  I might have been a little more anxious to go the second week, but I don’t really know if nervousness or fear hit me at all.  Good.  There was no way I was turning back. And I would never wimp out.

As we got up to 10,000 feet, my excitement slowly because nausea.  Luckily, my excitement came back and won that battle.

The plane door opened, and I realized, “Yeah, this is definitely the point of no return!” Brad and his instructor went first, and holy crap, I went very quickly afterwards, so there was little time to realize what I was getting myself into.  But as soon as we dropped…it was…my god…extremely intense, but awesome! The goggles were so tight that my eyelashes made it a little difficult to see, but the combination of the view, the feeling of flying on a blanket of air, and the realization that this guy I met an hour ago has my life in his hands, made me more elated and the experience that much more thrilling.

It went by like a blur, so I will have to go again for sure.  A huge thanks to Start Skydiving Florida and my tandem diver, Brent!  Thanks for being so chill and making the experience that much sweeter!

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-Jumped from 9,500 feet, 120MPH

-Mount Dora, FL

-Start Skydiving Florida