I did it y’all. I have wanted to go skydiving for years. Let me start from the beginning and how it came to be.

At the beginning of the pandemic Zach Braff and Donald Faison started a Scrubs Rewatch Podcast called Fake Doctors Real Friends. They would rewatch an episode for each podcast and talk about it, but they also would talk about experiences and their lives and they would have guests on the show as well. During this show they repeatedly spoke about these white boards they have. They would write things on them that they wanted to come to fruition. They always said they were “putting it out in the universe”. After hearing them talk about this for at least 2 years, I finally decided that I wanted fun and exciting things to happen for me and that I was going to put it out in the universe and see what happened.

I got a whiteboard and put it up in my bedroom right near my bed so I would see it every night and morning. The first thing I wrote on the board was skydiving. Several other things came to mind and were written down along with “Go to “A’s” (shortened because I don’t know if she would want her name in this blog or not)”. A was my roommate after college and has remained one of my best friends since college. I knew she would like that I was trying to come see her and I sent her a snap of my board. The first thing she did was ask, “When?” Then she mentioned that her husband wanted to go skydiving too so maybe I could do that with him while I was down there.

OH EM GEE. The white board was working. So I went to A’s. Me and her husband were both so excited to go skydiving and had scheduled to go the Sunday I was there. On Saturday morning we received an email from the skydiving company and it said there was a chance of rain Sunday and if we wanted to move up to Saturday we could. A was a champ. She didn’t want to skydive, but she wanted to be there when we did which was really comforting . As soon as we knew there was a chance we might not get to go, we all looked at each other and immediately scheduled it for later that day.

Talk about not having any time to fully freak out. I had just enough time to get a bit nervous because when we got to the hanger we had about 2 hours + until we would make the jump. Me and AH (I’m going to call A’s husband “AH” because he’s not on social media and I don’t know if he would mind if I used his name or not either) got the shpeel from an instructor. Don’t put your feet on the airplane step. Do hold on to the straps at first. When you initially fall be like a banana then put your feet back on your instructor’s butt. Put your hands out when told to do so. It was … a lot to remember. When the instructor left, AH was like, “The part I don’t understand is the part with your elbows. Like, what was that he said? That was confusing.” Of course, I started freaking out because I didn’t remember anything about elbows. Turns out he was messing with me. (#ImGullible #Apparently) We laughed and tried to remember everything we WERE supposed to do. Some day I will get him back for that. lol

AH loaded in first because he was jumping second. Then I loaded in and was sitting in front of my instructor with my body by the door. We flew for about 15 minutes I would think. Long enough to get 2 miles up above the drop zone. As we got close, Travis (my tandem/instructor) reminded me what I was supposed to do. The pilot told us it was time to open the door and when they did, a rush of cold air came in. Much like opening a freezer on a hot day. Next step was to get my feet out the door. Well, with my butt right by the door, this was a feat for me. Everybody was helping. It was hilarious. There is a short period for you to do this so I’m sure it’s not a new thing for everyone to pitch in to make it go more quickly. Now my feet are outside the plane, basically flapping in the wind. Travis stood up and my whole body was just hanging from his outside of the plane. Then he pushed off and we fell face down for a quarter of the distance (half a mile-ish).

When he pushed off, I could have sworn we did a somersault. I ask him after we landed and he said no. I honestly couldn’t say for sure because there was so much adrenaline involved. When he pushed off, I yelled “banana!” because that was the shape I was supposed to be in (and I love Minions – IYKYK). Then, we started falling and I forgot EVERYTHING I was supposed to do. Feet back? Nope, he’s down there kicking my feet trying to get them where they go. Put my hands out when he tells me? Nope, 2-3 times he has to give me the signal before I remember. We got there though.

Then he signaled to me that it was time for him to pull the parachute. I didn’t know the signal though and boy was that a shock. lol As soon as he pulls it, you drop about a foot from him and then go straight up violently. For an idea of what it’s like, you know that ride at the theme parks when you sit in a seat and it shoots you straight up in the air? That’s what this was like except you’re a mile and a half up in the sky and you’re strapped to another person. Then all of the straps readjust themselves tighter and in a different location. For me, suddenly my boobs were crushed and I was in a seated position in my harness.

As soon as we begin gently floating he asks me if I’m alright and I, because I’m a lady, yell “My boobs are smooshed!” He says he will fix it then hands me the handles that steer the parachute and tells me where to steer towards while he fixes it. As soon as he got the straps over my chest loosened it was infinitely better. We did a circle around and then he ask me if I wanted to do more. The problem was – I get motion sickness and that first loop about got me. I told him no (he knew I had a motion sickness patch on my ear) and he told me we had to do one more to land but that’s all we would do. I told him ok cool. We did that loop and it was fine. Somehow I kept it together. That’s not normally the case for me and motion sickness so I’m pretty proud of my body for that.

I tried to sing while I was up there but there are so many straps, wind and adrenaline involved that it just came out like a yell and I forgot most of the lyrics. It was a silly idea but I wanted to try it. It sounded just awful. Sorry Travis. I swear it doesn’t sound that bad when I sing in my kitchen.

Now it’s time to land. We came in pretty fast. First thing you do is lift your legs up and the goal is… well, the goal is to land safely (duh). Well, we dropped and landed pretty hard on our butts in a seated position. Travis leaned back and I went with him and accidentally crushed his nards. Woops. Again, sorry Travis! He unhooked me, we got some pics and another guy walked me back to the hanger while Travis got his parachute together.

In the mean time, AH landed except his instructor had him land on his feet. Little bit jealous about that one. I have a theory as to why he got to land on his feet and I landed on my butt but I won’t go into it.

We went back in and got our “1st time skydiving” certificates and drove into town for ice cream. On the way back to A’s house and the next day I kept just randomly laughing for no reason because I couldn’t believe I had finally done it. I do have some pointers for anybody who goes.

1. What to wear? I wore biking shorts and A’s husband wore gym shorts – both of us wore t-shirts. I would wear something similar to this, so long as it’s a warm day, but with the shorts just a bit thicker. When the parachute went up both of us got pretty chafed up. I think I would maybe wear 2 pair of shorts next time or bike shorts with basketball shorts over them. Something like that.
2. Girls – I would wear a sports bra for sure, but something without an underwire. I had on a high support sports bra with an underwire and the bra stayed in place but pulled up really hard. The wire felt like it basically cut off my chest. I think I would rather have the bra just slide up during the chute deployment and I could fix it when I got to the ground.
3. Go somewhere that there is something you would like to see from high up. For me, once we started floating around, there were islands and water and it was just gorgeous.
4. Your back WILL crack when they pull the cord for the parachute. Be ready for that. It will be quite a shock either way but at least you’ll be prepared.
5. Have a good time. Chances of you seeing the instructors again are slim. I mean, unless you plan on making it a hobby and jumping at the same place every time. Be fun and ornery. Yell if you want to. I believe this is one instance where yelling is expected.
6. Your mouth WILL dry instantly if you keep your mouth open. I was smiling the whole time and my mouth was as dry as if I was eating a cotton ball.
7. If you get up there and have a panic attack or even just a change of heart, you do NOT have to jump. Would it be an expensive half hour plane ride? You betcha. Chances you would get your money back are slim to none but you don’t HAVE to do it.

Lastly, feeling terrified is normal. Once I was in the plane, and Travis had me all strapped in, I never felt unsafe. I felt scared a couple of times. For example(s), when the door opened, when we were going out the door and when the chute opened. I never felt unsafe though. If fear is what is holding you back from trying it, just know that they have taken every effort to make it as safe as possible. The instructors told me that even if something happened to them when we jumped, there is a computer on the parachute that will deploy it and allow you to land safely. Just do it. Get it out of your system so you can say you did it!

I highly recommend going where I did. They were a professional, yet a fun, group. Here is their info just in case you want to give them a go. They’re very highly rated is what I’m told. I never looked them up before I went. I just trusted that AH would pick a good company and he did!

Crystal Coast Skydiving – Beaufort, NC

https://crystalcoastskydiving.com/