Another Bucket List Update

So I've marked several items off my bucket list so far this year, though not as many as I would like since some of them are smaller items. The slightly mundane things like having a garden that isn't weeds or making my own clotted cream haven't happened yet, but I've done some interesting things!


I went skydiving as my birthday gift to myself (as adults get to do that). I got photos and video, and they are not cheap! The instructors wear a camera and recorder on a special glove. They're used to aiming it and posing. After my class, which lasted about half an hour, we saw video of a guy who had just jumped. He had gages in his ears, big ones, and he had to take them out to jump. So in his video his ears are flapping around in the wind, which was hilarious. You have to sign several forms and even write out a paragraph saying you understand you could potentially die.

So here I am in my harness, which means I'll be on the next plane to go up.

I chose a height of 10,000 feet, which was the lowest option. The other options are 15,000 and 18,000. I would do it again! But next time I would wear a jumpsuit, as I was so cold that my freezing hands and arms took the focus away during my free-fall. Speaking of which, here's a picture of my 35-second free-fall. I'm all derpy, but so is Andres, my instructor. I'm making Spock's Live Long and Prosper gesture here. Everyone else gives a thumbs-up, so I had to geek outside the box.

When you fall out of the plane (you don't really jump), you have to put the back of your head on the shoulder of the instructor. Between that and getting the harness on and off, it's like a third date, LOL. Another guy, a stranger, was also on the plane with his instructor, and he said it was scary because one second I was sitting by the door and the next I was gone! The planes are little Cessnas. They only hold four people and the pilot. There are seatbelts on the floor and you buckle in for the ascent. But then the instructors unbuckle you and attach your harness to theirs. I was right next to the door, and it was very cold and very loud once Andres threw it open. I was told to put my feet on a little step on the outside of the plane. I was still reaching for it with the leg furthest from it when Andres pulled my head back and we were falling!!! But with my head back I wasn't watching the ground. We were so high up that there was no sensation of the ground rushing toward us as everything was too small. 

And here we are once the parachute has opened. We spent five minutes or so floating around, and I got to drive the parachute for a bit. 

Most injuries happen during the landing, and they consist of an ankle sprain. I didn't sprain my ankle though, but we fell on our butts. You have to pick up your legs until the instructor tells you to put them down. There are other people waiting on the ground for you, and they grab your chute and direct you to a 15-passenger van with the seats out. The interior of the van was bigger than the interior of the plane! 

I would do it again. I suspect if I had been ready to go out of the plane I would have been more aware and maybe more scared. As it was, it seemed like my brain was still on the plane for at least half of the free-fall.