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When I asked my boyfriend to go skydiving with me, he asked, “Why do you want to go?”

I told him, “Because it’s a thing I haven’t done yet. And there’s a Groupon.” Naturally, he agreed to jump out of a plane with me.

We were repeatedly forced to reschedule our appointment due to weather, so we actually visited Midwest Freefall three times in order to jump once. We finally got lucky with the weather on July 31st.

Prior to skydiving, I wasn’t nervous at all. I already said yes to doing it, so I was doing it! I felt 100% ready. I was impatient more than anything else, because I was sick of rescheduling our appointment. I wanted to jump out of that plane already!

We got harnessed up and loaded onto the plane. The plane took off and climbed to 14,500 feet elevation.

My boyfriend and his tandem instructor jumped first. Then it was my turn.

We duck-walked over to the door and my tandem instructor asked me, “Ready?”

I said, “Yup!” with no thought or hesitation whatsoever.

We jumped.

The biggest rush of adrenaline was immediately after jumping out of the plane when we first started to fall. I screamed and felt all the butterflies in my stomach. It was an amazing sensation and it was my favorite part of the dive.

The fall was cold and windy. I suddenly wished I was wearing sleeves! Breathing was different, but not impossible. I stared at the ground far below me as we plummeted towards it.

Once the parachute opened, the descent was MUCH slower. It was a beautiful view from our elevation. My harness started to feel too tight so my instructor loosened it up a bit. Then I started to feel nauseous. With every maneuvering turn, I felt a little sicker. I got through the rest of the fall by breathing slowly and steadily.

When we slid onto the ground, I just sat there for a while. I felt like my body was totaled and out of commission. My sinus pressure was jacked up and I felt like puking. My boyfriend helped me up and we got out of our harnesses. We took this photo after we got in the car:

And then I promptly stumbled outside and puked.

I continued to feel nauseous in the car on the ride home. My body felt pretty awful for the next several hours. I didn’t feel comfortable walking or moving. At home, I drank water, ate some frozen raspberries, and binge-watched some Dark Matter on Netflix until I felt well enough to go take a shower. After some time, my sinus pressure cleared up and I felt like a normal human again. After skydiving with my hair in a ponytail, I discovered the worst knots I’ve ever had and it was super painful to brush out.

So, would I go again? Honestly, probably not. My mind was proud that I took action and went through with it without fear or hesitation. I’m glad I went skydiving to have the experience. But my body was like, “What did you just do to me?!” My body was also a little proud that it did not puke on my tandem instructor. 😉

Should you go skydiving (if you haven’t already)? Trust your gut feeling and fully commit to the decision you make. For me, it was a clear yes simply because I’m determined to try new things. You can’t change your mind while you’re falling through the sky. If you don’t like roller-coasters, you probably won’t like skydiving. Even though I’m not a fan of roller-coasters, I decided to give skydiving a try anyway. 😛 If you do decide to go, I would recommend braiding your hair, taking Dramamine if you are prone to motion sickness, and not eating right before you jump.

Both my body and mind love ziplining the best! It is super fun and it gives me an adrenaline rush without messing with my sinus pressure or making me nauseous. While I don’t think I’ll be skydiving again, I’ll continue to go on every crazy zipline possible!