When I was in high school, one of my favorite character was Jason Bourne. He was handsome, mysterious, sharp as a tack, and a born killer. I wanted to be just like him, and I imagined that if I ever got asked to be a CIA operative, I would be able to handle the job like a pro. Things like handling a sniper rifle or having my fingernails tortuously pulled out wouldn’t faze me. Things like diving out of a moving airplane also wouldn’t faze me. As I got older, it became clearer and clearer that the chances of me being a top-level spy would never happen. Boo. But I’m still determined to experience some of the activities that spies get to do (aside from the painful stuff).
One of the things that I constantly see spies do is jump out of airplanes, helicopters and buildings. They do with it such poise and make it look so fun, I wanted to do it myself. This has been on my list for years because of it. I mention this to my long-time friend Anna and she said it’s been on her list too. I couldn’t believe it; another person who dares to do this? That is rare!
So I ask her if she wants to go by the time we’re 25, which is a couple of years from now, just so I still have lived a little more in case anything bad were to happen (something that went along the lines of ker-SPLAT) and she upped the ante instead by saying that we go for her 24th birthday! So, two months after our initial conversation about jumping off a plane, here we are!
We arrive at Skydive Perris pretty early on in the day. To kill time, we played some some pool. Anna told me she didn’t play pool. I, in turn, got hustled. She played juuuuust fine. Good thing we didn’t make any bets, or else I would have been toast. After a couple of rounds of this, we finally get called to gear up.
EEEEEP!
My instructor/tandem buddy Mike tells me to look at the camera, haha, as we walk to shark plane.
I so wish I could have brought my own camera to this thing. Sigh, till next time. But anyway, the images below were taken by my cameraman.
First, the rickety plane was not so rickety. It was definitely a small and chugging plane that really had no protection if it ever went down (but really, if it went down, we would be surrounded by parachutes and experts who flew them, so there really shouldn’t have been a concern O____O”) but my, oh, my, did it just skyrocket into 12,000 feet without me even realizing how fast up we were going.
Maybe ten minutes after takeoff, we were ready to jump out of the plane!
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I was seriously holding on for dear life as we plummeted back down to earth at 100mph. At the same time, my eardrums were going crazy, as if it would explode! No one told me that would happen, and the whole time we were going down, all I could think about were how much my ears hurt >_<”
But then I realized that I was paying an extra hundred to have the cameraman there with me, so I should probably smile for the camera! Haha.
A few minutes later, Mike pulled out our parachutes and we slowly made our descent. Everyone else were going crazy with their parachutes, swirling everywhere like rollercoasters. I had to yell at Mike not to do that and that I preferred a more relaxed and slow-paced descend. Thankfully, he listened and did just that. He was so awesome to have as my tandem buddy!
Love this shot below!
Overall, I had a pleasant experience, though I think I hyped it up a little too much. It was a quick ride in the grand scheme of things, but exciting none-the-less. Would I do it again? Most likely not.
But now I can say that if I was ever in an airplane that was falling to the ground, I would know how to better survive that situation. I think…
Thanks, Anna, for doing this with me! I hope your 24th birthday was magical, and then some.
