Go skydiving

“Nothing could have prepared me for this. Not snowboarding, not diving, nothing. I don’t feel as though I’m falling, I’m spinning upwards and backwards in a jet of burning air that whips away my voice, deafens my ears and spins my brain into overdrive. Those ochre fields twist around in hexagonal disarray. The earth and coast move way too fast and something slowly registers that I don’t seem to be breathing. Neutral survival kicks in: you need to try harder. Breathe through your nose, breathe harder, harder again, really use your lungs, you’re running out of time. I try it all, then swallow hard. I’ve adjusted to this strange new reality and I stretch out my arms, feeling the sky run through my fingers like scorched cotton candy.”

“I was the first person slated to dive and before I could contemplate the heavens around me I was out of the plane. The sensation of falling is intense but I was more freaked out by feeling like I couldn’t breathe. We tumbled so fast I couldn’t catch my breath! The jump probably only took a minute or two but it felt like an eternity. I was dizzy, I was gasping for air, and I felt nauseous. To summarize: I couldn’t wait to feel the earth under my feet.”

“We walked towards the open door and I said goodbye to this sweet world. I had a good run. I said a few prayers, looked up, smiled and totally forgot everything else Leigh had told me. On the count of three, she pushed us out. We were flying! We free fell for about 45 seconds before she pulled the parachute for a 5-6 minute smooth descent. In those first 45 seconds, I literally lost my mind. [...] it was the most surreal thing ever. The view was unbelievable and the feeling was indescribable. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I didn’t realize I was tearing up on the way down.”

“Last week I had my very first tandem. I work as a packer here so I had already known the instructors, and they had been jumping both my good and bad packs every day (close to 3 months) Then I finally got a chance to have my first tandem and I didn't waste it. What came to me as a surprise was how mentally prepared I thought I was, how I expected the instructor to jump out from sitting position to belly position, and then he jumps out and starts flipping all around (I got to see the plane's belly). Since I didn't expect it al all, during those 2 first seconds I wasn't able to connect one single thought, it was absolute panic, then I got my sht together and got into "banana" position. After that, thought it was ironic how the freefall feels like floating with a lot of air pushing against you and how flying with the canopy is what actually felt like falling instead.”

“Words cannot describe the view of the world down below me. It was way better then when you look outside of the window of an airplane. As we fell we were surrounded by sugar cane fields. All I could smell was the scent of burning sugar cane in my nostrils. It was so relaxing and peaceful.”

“How peaceful it was under canopy. I stalled it a couple times, the sound of the wind went away and it was deadly silent, hovering at 3000ft looking at the countryside below. It was surreal, cathartic, beautiful and such an almost baffling contrast to the chaos and adrenaline fueled energy I had a couple minutes before.”