With my upcoming birthday, I was having a hard time deciding how I wanted to celebrate my 30th. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do something big, something a little more low key, etc. In true fashion, we ended up doing a little bit of everything and most importantly, spending it with family and friends.
I thought this would be the perfect occasion to check something off my bucket list -- to go skydiving. Since we were planning on being in LA for my birthday, we decided to do the jump just north of Santa Barbara in Lompoc with Sky Dive Santa Barbara. I was so happy that two of my best friends were able to join too - Allie and Mica, and Jonathan (obviously). After we arrived, they showed us an instructional video and basically had us sign our life away, reminding us that this was a high risk activity and they weren't liable if anything happened. I'll admit at this point, my nerves were definitely going crazy and I was super nervous, but excited at the same time. **The first picture is the guy on the instructional video telling us the risks of skydiving -- so sketchy! But apparently, he's the guy that started tandem skydiving in the '80s and still jumps to this day.
At the last second, we decided to do the highest jump at 18,000 feet, which is supposedly the high jump in Southern California with 2 solid minutes of free fall time.
We suited up and up we went. We climbed higher and higher and then the instructors passed us oxygen masks due to the elevation. We were kinda caught off guard since no one told us and it wasn't in the instructional video! And then pretty quickly, the instructors walked us to the ledge and before I could even comprehend what was happening, we were out the airplane door and flying high above Lompoc. For the first few seconds, I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, what the heck did I get myself intoooooooo." But I took one deep breathe and enjoyed the rest of the way down.
It definitely was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done and can't wait to go again!
- Allie