It's been a while since an idea/ event has registered so strongly in my mind that I needed to pen it down. Having recently returned from a massive five week vacation to the US and London (yes, i know so many of you are cursing me for the five week vacation); I managed to do one thing that was on my bucket list for the longest time - Skydive.
I do not consider myself to be an adventure sports junkie - I do not need to jump off a aircraft or go wreck diving or bungee jumping but I do have a few activities on my bucket list and Skydiving was definitely one of them. To let you in on a little secret (and my family will agree), I get petrified of climbing up on a stool at home to remove stuff kept in higher shelves and cupboards - my feet tremble and I have the constant feeling of falling and cracking my skull. So how skydiving landed on my list I don't know and I can't explain but I only knew I had to do it once.
The planning for this started at almost the same time as the planning for the trip itself. I looked up every place I was visiting and researched sky diving centres there. I finally settled on the idea of doing this at my last destination in the US & my last big adventure in the vacation there, so Miami was the chosen one and The Miami Sky Diving centre was best one I found. I kid you not I must have visited their website at least 20 times in 3 days to read reviews people posted, videos of tandem dives, prices, the whole shebang. Once I was convinced, I began persuading my sister to do a dive too. Once in a lifetime experience I said and what's the worst that can happen - you die .. Of course we discussed a whole lot of worse scenarios but yeah a little convincing later she was on board too. Now the difficult part - telling my parents who were going to be with us in Miami. I thought and thought about it and then decided not to tell them; atleast not at that moment. We made the appointment for the tandem dive - where an instructor dives with you, paid the advance and then a few weeks before we were to leave, we broke the news. They laughed, thought we were kidding, realized we weren't but luckily no drama. My mother seemed quite kicked by the idea actually.
Fast forward to the day of the dive. My sister and I made our way to the airport - a long cab ride away from Downtown Miami. There is no feeling of anxiety or fright or happiness even; it's a little early in the morning and we are still sleepy. We are made to sign a whole bunch of forms which basically say "dude, this is entirely your idea and we are only here to help... so if things go south up there (literally); your family (and you, if you survive somehow) can't sue us. Thank you very much - enjoy your dive". My sister actually reads through each point and comes up with questions; me, I sign blindly. So the instructors/ tandem divers are here and we are getting geared up and we head to the aircraft.I believe that your instructor is super super important esp if this is your first dive since you go in with no expectation. As brave as you are, nerves start to set in and you need someone to talk you through. My instructor has been skydiving for 33 years and done over 8500 jumps. It's just like any office job he says 9 - 5 types (yeah right). The aircraft is a little box, and I am not exaggerating. It correctly fit 5 people - the pilot, my sister, I and our tandem instructors. Superbly uncomfortable with minimal place to stretch your legs and I am 5 ft nothing - I wonder how the taller people manage. My instructor has already given me a low down on what needs to be done once we are out of the aircraft - hands crossed across the chest, head back, back arched.. Sure sure it's simple. As the aircraft takes off, the excitement builds, it's finally happening. My instructor chats away non stop, asking all kinds of questions - where are you form, so where all are you travelling to, do you have family here, tell me about India, the weather in Miami etc.
By the time I finished answering his questions and posing for random pictures on his go pro (for the insurance guys, he says and laughs), we are at 10000 ft and my sister's tandem instructor has thrown open the aircraft door. When the wind hits your face, is when you know - damn this is happening. My sister was closer to the door therefore was the first to jump; one awkward smile to each other and the next moment she was gone. Holy hell - this is really happening. So I inch closer to the door, the wind hitting my face harder and i listen to my instructor telling me to put my legs out of the aircraft. I do and before I know it - I am free falling. Not a moment to think he gave me and I am glad he didn't. As we free fall and I scream, my instructor screams with me - its adds to the fun he says. Let me just say, the free fall of 25-30 seconds seems to be much much longer. So many thoughts crossing my mind - will the parachute open, will I crash into the ground below, haven't I reached 5000 ft yet, damn I am way up high, wow what a view and so much more and of course my instructor kept his chattering up with ohh look you can see the beach from here (yeah, like I was going to look at the beach as I plummet to the ground). Suddenly I feel a tug and the free fall has dropped speed and now I am gliding with the wind. Praise the lord, the parachute has opened - arms wide open and safety glasses off, I finally start appreciating the scenery so to speak. I finally look ahead straight and see the beach, look around and the instructor tells you those are the Keys. My instructor suddenly asks, you want to try some stunts - Hell yeah and two somersaults later my head is reeling & my heart is racing but I am thinking holy hell, somersaults in the air - awesome. I look down below and I can see my sister gliding closer to the ground and ready to make a landing. We prepare to land too and 2 minutes later I can see the ground inching closer. Feet up he shouts, we are supposed to land on our ass. Not the smoothest landing but injury free and I am glad.
An unforgettable 4-5 minutes of my life has now ended and I am grinning. All that we thought of and imagined all these months and we are done - the experience is ours to hold on to. The rush is unbeatable, I can't explain it. Was it scary, hell to the yes but was it worth it - totally and more.My recommendation for your bucket list - go jump !
I do not consider myself to be an adventure sports junkie - I do not need to jump off a aircraft or go wreck diving or bungee jumping but I do have a few activities on my bucket list and Skydiving was definitely one of them. To let you in on a little secret (and my family will agree), I get petrified of climbing up on a stool at home to remove stuff kept in higher shelves and cupboards - my feet tremble and I have the constant feeling of falling and cracking my skull. So how skydiving landed on my list I don't know and I can't explain but I only knew I had to do it once.
The planning for this started at almost the same time as the planning for the trip itself. I looked up every place I was visiting and researched sky diving centres there. I finally settled on the idea of doing this at my last destination in the US & my last big adventure in the vacation there, so Miami was the chosen one and The Miami Sky Diving centre was best one I found. I kid you not I must have visited their website at least 20 times in 3 days to read reviews people posted, videos of tandem dives, prices, the whole shebang. Once I was convinced, I began persuading my sister to do a dive too. Once in a lifetime experience I said and what's the worst that can happen - you die .. Of course we discussed a whole lot of worse scenarios but yeah a little convincing later she was on board too. Now the difficult part - telling my parents who were going to be with us in Miami. I thought and thought about it and then decided not to tell them; atleast not at that moment. We made the appointment for the tandem dive - where an instructor dives with you, paid the advance and then a few weeks before we were to leave, we broke the news. They laughed, thought we were kidding, realized we weren't but luckily no drama. My mother seemed quite kicked by the idea actually.
Fast forward to the day of the dive. My sister and I made our way to the airport - a long cab ride away from Downtown Miami. There is no feeling of anxiety or fright or happiness even; it's a little early in the morning and we are still sleepy. We are made to sign a whole bunch of forms which basically say "dude, this is entirely your idea and we are only here to help... so if things go south up there (literally); your family (and you, if you survive somehow) can't sue us. Thank you very much - enjoy your dive". My sister actually reads through each point and comes up with questions; me, I sign blindly. So the instructors/ tandem divers are here and we are getting geared up and we head to the aircraft.I believe that your instructor is super super important esp if this is your first dive since you go in with no expectation. As brave as you are, nerves start to set in and you need someone to talk you through. My instructor has been skydiving for 33 years and done over 8500 jumps. It's just like any office job he says 9 - 5 types (yeah right). The aircraft is a little box, and I am not exaggerating. It correctly fit 5 people - the pilot, my sister, I and our tandem instructors. Superbly uncomfortable with minimal place to stretch your legs and I am 5 ft nothing - I wonder how the taller people manage. My instructor has already given me a low down on what needs to be done once we are out of the aircraft - hands crossed across the chest, head back, back arched.. Sure sure it's simple. As the aircraft takes off, the excitement builds, it's finally happening. My instructor chats away non stop, asking all kinds of questions - where are you form, so where all are you travelling to, do you have family here, tell me about India, the weather in Miami etc.
By the time I finished answering his questions and posing for random pictures on his go pro (for the insurance guys, he says and laughs), we are at 10000 ft and my sister's tandem instructor has thrown open the aircraft door. When the wind hits your face, is when you know - damn this is happening. My sister was closer to the door therefore was the first to jump; one awkward smile to each other and the next moment she was gone. Holy hell - this is really happening. So I inch closer to the door, the wind hitting my face harder and i listen to my instructor telling me to put my legs out of the aircraft. I do and before I know it - I am free falling. Not a moment to think he gave me and I am glad he didn't. As we free fall and I scream, my instructor screams with me - its adds to the fun he says. Let me just say, the free fall of 25-30 seconds seems to be much much longer. So many thoughts crossing my mind - will the parachute open, will I crash into the ground below, haven't I reached 5000 ft yet, damn I am way up high, wow what a view and so much more and of course my instructor kept his chattering up with ohh look you can see the beach from here (yeah, like I was going to look at the beach as I plummet to the ground). Suddenly I feel a tug and the free fall has dropped speed and now I am gliding with the wind. Praise the lord, the parachute has opened - arms wide open and safety glasses off, I finally start appreciating the scenery so to speak. I finally look ahead straight and see the beach, look around and the instructor tells you those are the Keys. My instructor suddenly asks, you want to try some stunts - Hell yeah and two somersaults later my head is reeling & my heart is racing but I am thinking holy hell, somersaults in the air - awesome. I look down below and I can see my sister gliding closer to the ground and ready to make a landing. We prepare to land too and 2 minutes later I can see the ground inching closer. Feet up he shouts, we are supposed to land on our ass. Not the smoothest landing but injury free and I am glad.
An unforgettable 4-5 minutes of my life has now ended and I am grinning. All that we thought of and imagined all these months and we are done - the experience is ours to hold on to. The rush is unbeatable, I can't explain it. Was it scary, hell to the yes but was it worth it - totally and more.My recommendation for your bucket list - go jump !
