Some adventures I say yes to right away and there’s others that takes time to schedule and plan. And then there are are others that takes time to convince myself to do. Skydiving was the last one for me. Me and heights don’t necessarily get along at first.
Back in 2020, my best friend and I went out to Skydive The Farm in Rockmart for a tandem jump. Now he’s been plenty of times, has his own shoot, licensed and all, and I finally decided to go
The Jump
I’ll let the video do most of the talking.
What It Actually Felt Like
I’m not gonna lie, I was very scared and nervous. My heart was beating out of my chest.
But it was so much fun!
It was strangely quiet once the chute opened. I still had adrenaline rushing, but it was super cool to see the area from a different.
It Didn’t Stop At One
That first jump turned into a handful more over the next few years, always with my best friend. Then he moved out of the country, and I haven’t been up since. Some adventures are better with your person.
After the initial jump, the other tandems were more enjoyeable. The initial fear isn’t as intense anymore and the scareiness subsides.
It also changed my scale for what counts as adventurous. Caving and kayaking feel pretty tame after jumping out of a plane.
The Lunch That Summed It Up
A few years back I was working at a distribution company when the CEO and HR came into town from Denver. Normally they’d go with the owner to a local spot called Come-In-Get-It. This time the owner wasn’t available and they wanted to try somewhere new, so I took them to Corazon Mexicano Cantina.
On the drive, the HR director and I got to talking about what we do outside of work. Camping, hiking: we had a lot in common. Then she brought up skydiving.
So I told her about The Farm and the jumps after it. Then I told her that at this point I just want to go higher, and started explaining the high-altitude jump with the oxygen mask.
The CEO was driving. He shook his head and said, “Jesus, Cathy.”
Us ladies giggled the rest of the way to lunch.
Then a small tweak to the opening of “What’s next” so it doesn’t repeat the same line twice:
What’s Next: Going Higher
I meant what I said on the way to lunch.
There’s a dropzone called Chattanooga Skydiving Company that does high-altitude jumps, and it’s been on my list for a few years now. Chattanooga is less than two hours away, so there’s really no excuse.
When it happens, and it will, it’ll end up here.