Nothing to lose nothing to fear

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A few days before my flight to California, my friend Kat called me and asked if I'd be interested to go Skydiving. I said "Hell yeah!" I almost screamed in excitement which I had to contain by whispering instead because I was in the office doing the usual mundane tasks that would not excite anyone. And I thought I wouldn't enjoy this trip so much because I've already been to Cali and I'd most likely just do the things I've done before. I've always wanted to go Skydiving but didn't want to do it alone and I didn't know any company in the Philippines that offered skydiving. After skydiving I did some research and found a company in Cebu, Philippines that offers skydiving. But I also found an article from a few years back about a sky diver dying in Cebu because his parachute wouldn't open. But that was 2011 so I'm pretty sure they've learned their lesson by now.



On my flight to LAX I found a Chinese woman sitting on my window seat. I told her that was my seat and she pointed me to the middle seat between her and her husband. She didn't speak any English but I insisted that that was my seat so she transferred. After the announcements, while the seat belt sign was still on, she got up to go to the bathroom despite the protests of the flight attendants who tried to stop her. Then she ate something that smelled like old kimchi. It was really annoying. Too bad money can't buy you class. I spent a few days in Los Angeles which I'll write about later since that was not the exciting part of this trip. I had to take a Greyhound bus to Santa Barbara where my friend Kat lives. I couldn't text using my Filipino sim card although I can receive messages just fine. Good thing I bought Chatsim. It's a sim card that you can use only for chat apps like facebook messenger, line, viber, whatsapp, and other similar apps. You only load it with $15 every year and you can use it in 150 countries! It worked everywhere I went and it really was a life saver during this trip. I think every traveler needs one. If anyone from Chatsim is reading this, I want free credits!



Had lunch in Santa Barbara with Kat and his two all American room mates who are colleagues of her in the US Air Force. Headed straight to the airport after lunch. We had to watch two instruction videos for about 15 to 20 minutes and sign a four page waiver which I didn't read. I skimmed through it and it basically said they won't be responsible for anything that happens to you. I was totally fine with it. I think I've lived my life and don't have much to lose. I might also have achieved everything I'm capable of achieving so I'm ready to leave everything behind. Kat and I were talking on our way to the airport and we agreed that it won't be so bad if we died while sky diving. At least we would have died like the cool people we've always wanted to be! haha!



I was a bit worried about my injury. If we had a rough landing I could break my leg again. It's been eight months but it's still not completely healed yet and my doctor has not allowed me to do rough sports yet. Not even hiking because he doesn't want me to have a bad fall which can break my femur which is still in the process of reattaching. I wanted to google parachute landings to see how rough the landing is but I never got around to it. The waiver asked for any illness I might have but I did not declare that! YOLO!



I didn't feel nervous prior to flying. Perhaps because I just rode roller coasters in Singapore two weeks prior. We waited for about an hour and a half before we were called to put on our harness. Most of the clients were young. Teenagers and people in their early twenties. Crazy how teenagers can afford $300 plus activities. I thought it would be much more expensive. The price depends on the height you'd be jumping. The cheapest is $169 for 8,000 feet. $209 for 13,000 feet; and $319 for 18,000 feet. You have to pay additional $99 if you want photos and videos. You can't just go skydiving without photos and videos! I paid for it although it was a rip off. Friends and family might not believe I had the guts to jump off of a plane if I only showed them a certificate. I did the 13,000 feet jump. That meant 60 seconds of freefall and five minutes under canopy. You only get 30 seconds extra time for freefall if you do the 18,000. The scary part was when the first two divers jumped. Technically four people because we were all attached to our instructors. I had to hold the sides of the plane when they jumped. I thought we would all get sucked out of the plane when the door was opened. Didn't happen although the plane was angled in a way that strongly suggested we would be. I was the first to jump at 13,000 feet. The freefall happened so fast. I was concentrating on not losing my shoes because I was only wearing Crocs boat shoes that had holes on the side. They did not allow open shoes. Free fall was the most enjoyable part. I want to remember that feeling for the rest of my life! It was just indescribable. Just pure bliss. After that we opened the canopy. Krissy my French instructor let me hold the reigns and control it. We did some maneuvers that made me want to throw up. Landing made me even more dizzy. Krissy had to loosen the straps while we were under canopy so I could breathe easier. I can imagine one might panic when the instructors do that. We landed softly. We didn't have to run while landing like they do in the movies. I had to put my feet up while landing so I landed on my behind. There was a short interview for the video right after landing and I really felt like I was gonna throw up. I had to lie down on the ground while we waited for a van to pick us up and take us back to the airport. I saw a few people puke. I almost did.

Watch the video below!!!

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Comments

[cabochick]

Your face says it all!

[Josevich]

Thanks!
I was expecting terrified facial expressions but that didn't happen :)