Skydiving: Not a carnival ride, but the greatest view on Earth

Let me start off by saying I still have a lot of adrenaline in my system from the jump so this is going to be full of lots of energy. Skydiving was not always on my list, but as I traveled more and more I thought it would be so awesome to see the Earth from a different perspective. I currently live in Ohio and while I appreciate the fields of all the farmers, I felt like I wanted a view of everything that God created for me so I waited. I knew that when I was in the right place at the right time He would grant me the opportunity to go.

As it turned out I was working in North Carolina when Hurricane Florence hit the east coast and I was visiting two of my closest friends in LA. As I hiked trails with them, became immersed in the museums and local restaurants, I found myself so excited by all that Southern California was giving me in just a few days. My trip was extended by a few extra days since I could not go back to North Carolina right away and it was a beach day that we took in Malibu that spoke to me and I knew I was going to use one of my extra days to go skydiving. I was surrounded by all the beauty of the mountains, the ocean and vineyards as far as I could see.

On a whim I googled skydiving near Los Angeles and Sky Diving Santa Barbara came up. Full disclosure: this is located in Santa Barbara County, not the city so the drive was a bit further than planned. But with a drive that was 80% on the Pacific Coast Highway I was not complaining. I actually think it contributed to my excitement because I knew I was about to looking down at it rather than laterally.

 I just walked in and luckily they had an opening, but if you want to reserve your spot on their website you can definitely do that too. Okay the moment was here, I was instantly handed like 6 stapled pages where I initialed and signed my life away (not really, but I did keep having a thought of “should I have a will in place” and “I really wish my parents would have answered their phones on the way here because they do not know I am doing this”).

The entire time I was reading and signing these forms there was a legal video playing that I periodically looked up at and my favorite line that I remember was “this is not a carnival ride, you are a student and need to listen carefully to your instructor.” I mean this seems pretty obvious right? I could not help but to laugh out loud at the thought of someone comparing me jumping out of a plane to a carnival ride.

After the video and all the forms were signed we went straight to getting strapped into our harness. Then we immediately got on the plane. The whole time I was thinking that’s it? I should have really paid attention to the bearded man in that video. Before I knew it we were off the ground and since I fly every week for work this all felt really normal to me so the view looked like it always does on Mondays and Thursdays. Then we were at 12,000 feet climbing and goggles were on and when we reached 13,000 feet the door opened I sat on the edge of the plane and leaned forward out of that tiny plane.

I cannot describe the feeling as anything else but euphoric for me. I was not scared at any point. I felt totally safe and I knew this was where I was supposed to be at that exact moment taking in the oceans and mountains and vineyards. All of my photos are basically the same; me with the biggest smile on my face in awe of everything around me. No fear in my eyes, head or heart.

I would highly recommend skydiving if you have any of the same feelings as me. It’s so fun to be at such a peaceful place in your life that you are not afraid to experience all that life and this world has to offer. I would not have wanted to be talked into it because I don’t think I would have truly been able to appreciate everything around me in those exact moments. The staff at Sky Dive Santa Barbara are awesome and made the whole experience so seamless and easy. I jumped with Jack Flores, but all the instructors seem great. My only regret is that I did not jump at 18,000 feet but I think it’s safe to say that I will be searching for another place in the world to make another jump that I know is where I want to see everything that surrounds me at that point in my life. Oh, and when asked if I had any final words my mind was completely blank. Looking back I know that my final words would be “Live Fearlessly” because I know firsthand how rewarding life is when you do just that.