I’ve never been a risk-taker. If something is wrong or dangerous, I avoid it. Unless you count piercing a second hole in my ear in 7th grade. It was wild.
Why put myself in harm’s way?
As I got older, I found comfort behind my computer screen. Everything I wanted to experience was just a few clicks away. And while I liked the idea of being adventurous, I always found an excuse not to be.
My bucket list hung high up on an imaginary shelf that I would someday reach. Someday, when the time was right.
A while back, I went to this restaurant off the JBR beach in Dubai called Zero Gravity. It’s this gorgeous place with great food, shisha and drinks located right next to Skydive Dubai.
I’ve always wanted to skydive, I would think as I watched the sky rain men and women, floating effortlessly over the Palm and landing softly on a grassy area surrounded by the sea. I could totally do this. Someday.
Months passed, and someday never came. There are seven days in a week, and someday is not one of them.
June rolled around and we all pitched in to buy my cousin a skydive package for her 30th birthday. I told her how I’d always wanted to do it but never had the courage.
“Do it with me!” she shouted. “Uhh…yeah, sure,” I replied.
A few days later, my brother calls me up and asks what date I want to skydive with him and Jules. Say what? They were seriously doing this, and I could either bow out or grow a pair. We decided on a date, we paid, and it was official.
Someday had arrived and I was going to skydive.
Fast-forward one month. It’s the night before my jump and I was freaking out. My mom told me to calm down and just close my eyes the whole time. My brother told me to stop psyching myself out. And my husband told me if I really couldn’t do it, I could just ride the plane back down.
Like a failure. He didn’t say that part, but I knew that’s what it would feel like.
I woke up for suhoor, got dressed and headed towards the Palm. I was terrified, but I knew I could do this. When we got to the place, they made us sign a bunch of forms basically saying that they’re not responsible for anything.
Sign your life away on the dotted line.
I signed, got weighed, measured and partnered with my instructor. She was half my size. I look over and see my brother and cousin with 6-foot instructors. You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Uh, no offense…but won’t I weigh you down?” I asked. My instructor, Leigh, laughed and told me that she’d be jumping for 15 years all over the world and had carried people three times my size. She was beyond comforting.
She answered all my questions and reassured me that there were back-up parachutes and an automated computer that released them in case of emergency. I was really impressed with the facility’s technology and quality of equipment.
You’re assigned two people when you jump tandem (tandem is the first jump when you’re attached to an instructor): your instructor and your videographer. The videographer takes all the photos, interviews you before and after, and jumps with you.
As we boarded the fun-sized plane, I kept repeating the few things that Leigh had told me. Head up, smile, pelvis out, kick your feet back. Head up, smile, pelvis out, kick your feet back.
She told me I didn’t need to worry and it would all fall into place. Not to worry?!
Leigh tried to talk to me about random things to keep my mind off how high we were going, but I couldn’t keep a conversation going. I was shaking and wondering how I got myself into this.
Ashton, my videographer, tried to do a small interview right before my jump as well to distract me. Nice try, Ashton.
At a certain elevation, we were all strapped into our instructors and prepped for our jumps. The instructors were all geared up with gadgets and were extremely organized. The light turned green and my brother was the first to go.
In less than a second, my brother disappeared into thin air. Great, I’m an only child now.
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.
If you watch the video, you’ll see a look of pure terror as we jump, followed by screaming, clapping and throwing my hands up in excitement. Ashton got the whole thing.
It’s really not fair though; everyone else looks super cool in their photos with their hands doing the “rock on” gesture and their smiles somewhere in between total coolness and bad-ass adventure.
And then there’s me. I looked like a total lunatic. My eyes and mouth were wide open like I was trying to eat the Palm.
Anyway, 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. Such a girl, I know.
As we got closer to the ground, Leigh told me to lift my legs up until she instructs otherwise. I did as I was told and we landed smoothly on the grass.
After hugging the crap out of Leigh, clapping some more and literally high-fiving everyone I saw, we waited about 40 minutes for our videos and photos. I was so high on adrenaline.
I never understood the whole “adrenaline rush” that extreme athletes talked about. But I get it now. It’s like a drug; it’s the most euphoric feeling in the world.
When I was falling, I didn’t think about a single thing besides, “OH MY GOD this is unreal”.
I wasn’t worried about dying or getting hurt. I wasn’t thinking about deadlines or follow-ups. There was no time for fear or over-thinking. It was the most calming yet exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life.
I am so happy I did it. Would I do it again? Absolutely!
I know that this one jump probably won’t completely change my life. I’ll probably still live cautiously and stress over the little things, but perhaps with more courage now.
When I’m neck-deep in work and feeling overwhelmed, I hope to take a minute and remember that time I jumped out of a plane even though I was terrified. I’ve dusted off my bucket list and plan on crossing things off.
I will never forget the adrenaline rush and euphoria I felt that day. I drank the kool-aid and I want more. Someday is now.
WE SAID THIS: What’s on your bucket list?