Skydiving Cairns

Skydive? MeH. Skydive over the great barrier reef & land on a beach? Check!

On of the biggest highlights of my Australia trip, was that I finally got to cross off a long time item on my Bucket List. With the exception of those who are afraid of heights, I think skydiving makes it on a lot of people's to bucket list. The thing is though, I've always gravitated towards, and welcomed the idea of facing your fears, and putting yourself outside your comfort zone (except spiders). I think it's critical to our personal development & living a worthy life.

When we arrived at our hostel in Cairns, we came with the sole intention of visiting The Great Barrier Reef. While checking in though, I saw a few skydive videos that involved a beach landing & I was sold! All of my friends with me had already skydived, but most of them did it in Seattle. Which of them could say they did it in Australia & landed on a beach? Not those guys! Two days later though, I could say just that!

The most interesting thing was, while I thought I would be scared, I wasn't! I was nothing short of thrilled! As it came time to board our plane, my instructor told me to hold of boarding, since it's rather hot inside. Little did I know, that meant I'd be last on the plane & first out. I guess I didn't really have time to be scared. We took off with the planes' side door open & slowly climbed up to 14,000ft. Eventually he asked me to scoot to the edge & before I could even grasp that I was on the edge, we were out the plane! 

The first 2 seconds felt like a drop on the Hollywood Tower of Terror, but after that the wind pushes up on you and it just feels amazing! The views of the aqua Australian waters made it breathtaking. When we finally pulled the shoot, my instructor said probably to me, the best line ever:

"Welcome to my office."

I think at that point, I was ready to quit my job and rethink my entire life. Ok maybe I wasn't going to do that, but I definitely had the exact thought of "What the fuck am I doing with my life?" My sky dive wasn't even over yet & I already wanted to go back up. The feeling (and the view) is indescribable, empowering, and absolutely freeing. 

I may not have dropped everything then, but I know for a fact that that experience would change how I planned the rest of my life and how I prioritized things. In the future my trips will no longer just be simple explorations, but adventures with purpose. I hope to one day come back to Australia & learn to sky dive solo (they have a course). I hope to one day learn to scuba dive in Cape Town & surf in Hawaii.

Some people find comfort in building mansions, just to stay in the dull safety of their home. I want to take in as much as possible of what the world has to teach me, and I hope I inspire others to do the same. I would highly recommend sky diving at least once & if you're scared of heights, do it twice. It's good for you ;)