Might as well JUMP

Sometime in November, I was challenged to skydive before the end of the year. While it had always been something I wanted to do, I was not expecting a trip so quickly. After all, what sense does it make to fly 2.5 miles above the ground and decide to just jump out?

When you arrive, you are required to watch a video of a lawyer do nothing but reiterate the danger of skydiving and the ugly truth that the waiver you sign states you cannot sue the company even if the company acts negligent. Great way to get the nerves out. I was fortunate my instructor had a couple thousand jumps behind him.

In the plane, it was hard not to look out the window and see the ground get further away. At one point, I thought we looked really high and realized we were only 2,000 feet up (14,000 was the jump height). Once you get to the right altitude, your adrenaline is pumping so hard, it would almost be too hard to shy back. Jumping out of the plane was like no other feeling a human can experience. In that split second, all my fear and worries just disappeared as the view overloaded all my senses. For one minute, your body accelerates to 120 mph during the free-fall. When the chute opens, you are jerked up quickly into a standing position and the world goes silent. There's not a whole lot of things that are a mile above ground making noise. If you hit it on a clear day, you can see for miles and get perspective on how big the world is. Total peace is the only way I can describe it and that does it no justice. 7 minutes after jumping out of a plane, I landed safely on the Earth thinking of nothing but when was the next opportunity I would be able to jump.

If you have ever considered jumping, DO IT. It is worth every penny and the anxiousness leading up to it. If you are in the Upstate SC, Charlotte, or Asheville area, I recommend going with Skydive Carolina. They did an excellent job and are worth trusting. And if you need someone to go with...I'm open to invitations