{"id":288,"date":"2012-01-30T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/?p=288"},"modified":"2012-01-29T22:14:34","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T03:14:34","slug":"the-start-and-end-to-my-skydiving-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/the-start-and-end-to-my-skydiving-career\/","title":{"rendered":"The start and end to my skydiving career"},"content":{"rendered":"
I should start off by clarifying that skydiving was never a career for me (sigh), but it was a passion of mine for a few years of my life. Being an adventure seeker for as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to skydive. I looked into it and quickly learned that I had to be 18 years old to do it. I vowed to myself that on my 18th birthday I’m going skydiving and moving out of my parents house (I was a very independent child).* Well, 18 came and went and I didn’t go skydiving or move out of my parents house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Fast forward 4 years when I was 22 and back-packing through Europe. I was visiting Interlaken, Switzerland and one of the main attractions there was sky diving (http:\/\/www.scenicair.ch\/en\/skydiving\/46-helicopter-jumps.html<\/a>). I jumped at the opportunity and signed myself up. It didn’t matter that I was on a strict 20 Euro per day budget, I figured that I just wouldn’t eat for a few days.<\/address>\n<\/a><\/address>\n<\/a>The big day came and I couldn’t have been more excited. I don’t even remember being nervous. It was a tandem jump after all, and I completely trusted the <\/a>Of course, life got in the way when I got home, and I didn’t get to go skydiving\u00a0again until I was in Israel a year later. Being born and growing up in Israel, there was nothing more appealing to me then skydiving there. I grabbed my best-friend H, and off we went (http:\/\/www.paradive.co.il\/english.shtml<\/a>). The skydiving center was along the Mediterranean cost in Tel-Aviv. The view was breathtaking and the jump just as spectacular as\u00a0I remember it being the first time around.\u00a0 I was so happy to share my love for skydiving with my best-friend.\u00a0 We spent the rest of the afternoon reminiscing about our experience on the beaches of Tel-Aviv.<\/a><\/p>\n When I came back home that summer, I was determined to keep the promise I made to myself, and FINALLY signed myself up for classes at a local (albeit a one + hour drive) skydiving spot just outside the city (http:\/\/www.skydivetoronto.com\/<\/a>). I signed up for the solo certified skydiving program which would enable me to skydive on my own anywhere in Ontario. There’s apparently several levels to become internationally certified, but I figured, one step at a time.<\/p>\nstranger<\/del>\u00a0experienced skydiver strapped to my back. The instructions took a whole of 5 minutes, when we jumped into the helicopter and up we went. Not only was it amazing that I was going to get to skydive from 13,000 feet but I got to see the beauty of Interlaken\u00a0from the air.\u00a0 With a disposable camera in one hand (yes, this was before digital photography people), and my body strapped around\u00a0the professional, it was our turn to jump. With my feet dangling off the helicopter, we counted to three and next thing I know we were free-falling. I can’t even describe this feeling to you other than saying it was the best 45 seconds of my life. I had a perma-smile\u00a0on my face; half of it due to how happy I was and half of it due to the wind blowing in my face; after all, we were dropping towards the earth at 200 Km\/h (120M\/h). Then I received a tap on my arm indicating that he’s going to pull the parachute. I crossed my arms across my chest, and back-up we went! The next 5+ minutes is the part where you get to “sit-back” and enjoy the view as you’re gliding down. This is also when I was allowed to take pictures. The landing was smooth as I landed on my bum (per their instructions) and the first thought that went through my head was “I can’t wait to do this again”. <\/a> <\/a>I couldn’t afford to do it in Europe, but I was going to look into doing it once I got home.<\/p>\n