Falling From Cloud 9

  Being a part of this generation, the expression, ‘YOLO’ won’t be such a new term. For those who do not know what it means, it simply stands for, ‘You Only Live Once’. People would normally say YOLO before going on a rollercoaster, or completely changing their hairstyle, but there are some situations where YOLO is fits best. An example of that would be skydiving! 

  A lot of people look at skydiving as something crazy, I would be wrong to say it isn’t, but it should not be one of the things that would never be checked off your bucket list or even never included. In fact, it should be the main priority of your bucket list. When you’re young, relaxed and chill, it would be a perfect time to challenge yourself and face your fears. 

  I remember when I had the choice whether to skydive or not, it took me a day to decide and I finally said yes. I went with my sister so we were both facing our biggest fears. We went skydiving in a town called Byron Bay, which isn’t too far from Surfer’s Paradise in Australia. It was a very good winter day, the temperature wasn’t too cold and there even was a rainbow. I had to wait about 3 hours for my turn. In the wait, I enjoyed watching other people land and I felt really hungry. I lost the appetite to eat because I was scared I would only expel it while actually in the sky. When I heard my name, I jumped off my seat feeling excited as ever.

  First, they started gearing us. We were given a special pair of pants and we had the choice to use an extra sweater provided by them. Even though I already had 4 layers on, I wore that extra layer because it would be around 5 degrees celsius up there. They attached a harness to us with goggles attached to them. After that, we were briefed on what’s gonna happen. First, they thought us our position for freefalling. It’s called the ‘Big Banana’ because it actually looks like a big banana. After the briefing, I was really excited and I also got to meet my instructor since I chose to go tandem skydiving. He was really nice and he filmed a bit before we got on the plane.

  While getting on the plane, I didn’t really feel scared, I just felt extremely excited. The takeoff was very rough since it was a small plane. My instructor filmed a bit of the view and of me. The view was amazing, I could see the beach and so much of land. When it was almost time to skydive, he just made sure everything was in order. First, the solo skydivers exited the plane together as they were going to do formations. Then, my sister jumped off with her instructor attached to her. Then, it was my turn. We went to the edge of the plane, sat there for a few seconds and jumped off. 

  At that point, I was completely terrified. The freefall lasted 60 seconds and I was so reluctant to let go of my harness. I finally let go and enjoyed what was left of the freefall. It almost felt like I was drowning because it was almost impossible to breathe. After that, he pulled the parachute and the first thing I thought about was that feeling in your ears. The view was maginificent and breathtaking, literally. We hovered around for quite some time and I felt so cold even with the 5 layers. A little while before we landed, he explained what to do. All I had to do was lift my legs while he did the rest. 

  When we were coming to a land, I felt so relieved and when I felt the ground I felt amazing. As soon as we landed, I said that I want to do it again, but my instructor told me that it’s addicting. Even though it’s been more than a month, I am still in compete awe. I get chills everytime I watch the video. I have even thought of learning how to solo skydive and get my own pink ombre parachute. Again, this is an experience everybody should have, as the expression goes, You Only Live Once!