Went for my 18th birthday with my older brother and two friends!

Well, duh! This is like the one thing that most people have on their list. I wanted to do this because it scares the bejeezus out of me, and I want to conquer that fear. I mean, really. What's going to scare me after I have jumped out of a plane?

I did this for my 30th birthday! It was amazing - my friend Crystal and I did this and it was unforgettable. I am so glad that I got to share this experience with Crystal before she died. I'll always have that memory.

If you do decide to skydive, invest the money into having the video made. I am as cheap as they get, and I am so pleased that I splurged on the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSk_wyKgSr4&feature=youtu.be

Convinced my mom and brother to skydive with me together! 

One of the best feelings in the world!!

It was a cool experience, definitely something you should do at least once in your life.  A little more expensive than I thought it was going to be, it cost $300 in all.  I'll definitely do it again one day, maybe in a place with a more scenic view, because where I was was just surrounded by farms.  It goes by so fast, so it's hard to appreciate the experience a little, but worth it overall.

This was sooooo amazing!

It was a gift for my 18th birthday of all of my friends. I admit I was a little bit scared at first, but maaan that was great! 

Once in a lifetime experience! I got the photos and video package.  

 Competed my first solo skydive.

Skydiving was something that I wanted to do for 20 years.  I  am deathly afraid of heights and this fear held me back.  It was weird but the fear of heights didn't matter once I was strapped onto the instructor. The tandem  jump was amazing! It was so freeing and peaceful. It truly was a life changing moment!!  I highly recommend checking this off your bucket list!!!

The idea came up often in college. A group of friends and I talked about it. When it came time to pull the trigger all bailed out and I went by myself. One of my coolest life experiences to date.

I took my sister skydiving to celebrate her 21st birthday and it was an exhilarating experience I'll never forget!

skydiving was always on my bucket list, and I finally went and did it out in Perris Valley, CA. I actually did 5 jumps, each one a little different— the first was on a big transport-type plane, but I worked my way down to a tiny Twin-Otter, where I actually got to stand on the leg struts before throwing myself into oblivion. Woot!

I feel like this one is on everyone's bucket list. I had always said I wanted to do it but never seriously thought it would be something I would accomplish. It just seemed so crazy and scary and who in the heck would go with me? Then I met Emrald. This girl is always up for an adventure with me...anything to get our adrenaline pumping. We kind of jokingly mentioned it to her mom and BAM!, the next week we found ourselves in the car, on the way to the Skydiving Center in Alabama, stomachs fluttering, jamming out to Van Halen's Jump on repeat. Almost as soon as our feet touched back down, we were planning our next trip out there. Mother's Day that same year we went again, this time with my mama in tow as well! It is almost a yearly thing now.

I recommend everybody to try this amazing experiment in Dubai

Dubai is the best place, and the staff there are very nice. 

Mom was mad, but it was so freaking worth it.  

In July 2013 with my dad 

This story first appeared on the BucketList.org blog here: http://blog.bucketlist.org/2014/10/skydiving-thrill-seekers-bucket-list/.

Skydiving was one of the first bucket list goals I crossed off, mostly because it doesn’t take a lot of time or money. It also became one of the most thrilling experiences of my life.

A lot of people said I was crazy and shook their heads, but eventually I found four coworkers willing to strap a stranger onto their back and jump out of a plane with nothing but parachute.

We drove over to Vermont Skydiving Adventures in rural West Addison, Vermont.  After training, suiting up and practicing, two of us, plus our skydiving instructors, the pilot and the videographer/photographer squished into a tiny, tiny plane.

I skydived with my work supervisor and, yes, I wondered if I would have a job after this adventure.]

We sat on the floor and I was jammed tight between the door, the pilot and my instructor. Aloft, I felt and heard the roaring wind.  I looked down and saw a gap in the door, giving me a bird’s eye view of the growing distance back to the ground. The adrenaline started pumping.

At 11,000 feet, we maneuvered ourselves into jumping position. The little latch on the door was let loose and it flipped up with the force of the wind, revealing a horrific distance between me and the ground. My stomach was in my throat, the sound of the air merged with the pumping of blood through my veins.

Sitting on the edge of the plane, I put my feet on the wing. We had two, brief moments left:

1)     Look at the camera and smile. I wasn’t too capable of this on my own, so my instructor moved my head toward the camera, then away from the camera and back up into position.

2)     Split-second pause….at which point a tiny voice in my head said, “Am I sane?”

Then we were falling.

For the first few seconds, it was all adrenaline, fear and excitement. The wind beat hard at my body and ear drums. I forced my eyes open and realized we were flipping: “There’s the sun. Oh, there it is again!”

Gravity had a 130 MPH downward grip on us. The force of the air shoved my breath back down my windpipe.

Eventually, the instructor signaled to extend my arms and get out of the fetus position. Then he signaled to pull the rip cord. I pulled hard and suddenly we reversed direction, going up again.

We floated and turned and swooped. This was the only time my stomach felt queasy, but I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted to savor this and stay, live up here in the clouds forever.

On the ground, our reactions ranged widely. I was excited and didn’t know what to do with all the extra energy. Joe was the best: grinning ear-to-ear, his hair blown back, he glowed/floated off the landing field.

I can vividly re-inhabit two moments: when the airplane door opened dramatically and right before I jumped and it was all before me. The adrenaline rush is still accessible and it was an experience of a lifetime.

If you haven’t gone skydiving, don’t let it linger on your bucket list. The US Parachute Association states that tandem dives, perfect for the beginner, cost between $150-$250. It’s worth a few months of brown bag lunches or skipped lattes.

But, beware: other bucket list goals may pale in comparison to the thorough adrenaline rush that skydiving provides.

I already did it

Charity skydive when I was 16, absolutely cacking it going up in the awful plane, but entirely worth it.  

July 2009

Juin 2011 :)