Diving in the Sky

Skydiving is one of those things that's on many people's bucket lists, but it never happens. I figured it would be the same for me. I've always wanted to do it, but who knows when I ever would. I was watching some reality television (my guilty pleasure), and the people on the show went skydiving. It looked so fun, and they made it seem not scary. My best friend, Inna, turned eighteen on July 2, so on her birthday I brought the idea up (completely expecting her to say, "no way"). The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Don't say no right away, just think about this okay... Don't you want to do something crazy and fun this summer? And since you're 18 now... How about skydiving!?" (I'm terrible at persuasion, so after listing all the reasons why it would be the coolest thing ever, it became more of a "please, please, please.")

Inna: "Yeah, okay. I'll think about it." (She later told me that she fully intended to say, "NO.")

A week or so later, I brought it up and asked if she'd thought about it. I guess I was persistent enough because to my surprise she said YES! We were going to go skydiving! I made the reservation at Skydive Oregon - and there was no going back.

[being goobers while taking photos — what we do best]

[Tasha & I all geared up and ready]

[Inna with her instructor]

[Inna about to jump]

[the little orange parachute is Inna]

I can honestly say that it was NOT scary — exhilarating, but not terrifying! The moment I saw my friend disappear off the plane right before I was going to do the same did get my heart pounding, but the actual experience of flying through the sky was somewhat peaceful and relaxing. It's completely surreal — it felt like I was watching a video, not actually doing it. My mind didn't grasp the fact that I was in the middle of the sky looking down on Earth. And the view was breath-taking! From up there, everything seems so close, and you can even see the roundness of the Earth. You feel like a bird during the ten minute parachute ride that the instructor lets you control (you can turn and do spins). It's an incredible thrill, and I would do it a hundred times again. So if you've been wanting to do it, GO. It's completely worth it.

I made this little video out of the GoPro raw footage. Here's a link to the awesome song playing that fits so perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6P7lgfo9Gk