Bucket List: Skydive

Blasting wind was all I heard, while staring into the big, gaping hole in the plane, 5km above the earth. The people who had just jumped out of our small airplane turned into tiny dots within seconds. Now there was just a big green landscape and clouds filling up the horizon.

I was firmly tied with 4 clasps to the guy behind me. My legs dangling into nothingness, my back bended like I was supposed to, my hands firmly gripping my harness.

I could feel our weight fall over, and then I couldn’t feel any weight at all anymore.

I was falling. Hard.

I know they had told me that I would be falling with 200km per hour, but I hadn’t realised how fast that really is. Nothing had quite prepared me for the immense pressure of the strong wind pushing my arms and face around. My ears were buzzing.

It. Was. AWESOME!

Flying is one of those childhood dreams I believe most people have. Swimming in the air, high above the world. I’ve been in airplanes before, I’ve parasailed, and I’ve flown in a hot air balloon. But one thing that I’ve never done, yet always wanted to do, is skydive.

Truth be told, I was probably closer to a falling rock than a flying bird, but whatever.

I had to wait 3 hours longer than planned, because of the rainy weather (ohh, summer in The Netherlands). Normally you do a tandem jump from 3000 meters, and the parachute opens at about 1500 meters, which gives you a free fall of 25 to 30 seconds. However, because of the long waiting time the formation of the group had changed, meaning I had joined a more advanced group of skydivers who went up all the way to 5000 meters. The good part for me: a free fall of nearly a minute!

The funny thing is, I didn’t even feel that scared. It was like the excitement I feel when going on a rollercoaster. There were 2 moments when I felt slightly nervous.

When I just entered the plane, I realised we wouldn’t be tied to anything, and there would be a gaping void in front of me. What if the plane would make a sudden move and I would accidentally fall out without being clasped to the guy with the parachute yet? Thankfully he already tied the bottom 2 clasps pretty early on, tackling my fear.

The other moment was when the plane suddenly made a steep climb and I could feel the G-forces tickle my stomach.

But the moment we jumped out, there wasn’t fear, just excitement.

It made me think about how similar fear and excitement are to your body. And how silly it is that a lot of things make me feel scared, just because of my interpretation of the situation and what I make it up to be in my head.

I saved up for a while to be able to make this dream happen, but I think it was worth every penny. I believe it’s more sensible to invest in experiences than in material assets. Therefore I keep a dream fund. That way I’m always saving up for my next dream.

I love how making your dreams happen indirectly gives you more confidence about the possibilities of your other dreams…

So, tell me: what’s on your bucket list?

Have you made a saving plan yet? You can start simple. Find an empty jar, label it with your dream, and put your first buck in.

PS. Learn how to make dreams happen on a tight budget in my Creative ReBootcamp (it’s free!).

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