If you follow me on Instagram, then you probably saw me post about this. But it was one of the craziest things of my life, so I wanted to share more about my experience here, in a blog post! With an extra pre-skydiving story included.?

A couple of months before our trip to Oahu, I was talking to a friend whose family had gone to Hawaii recently, and she said they almost went skydiving but ended up not having enough time. Now, if you know me, you probably know that once an idea like this is planted in my head, it usually ends up being something I make happen. Like this whole Hawaii trip in the first place – in November, I had this idea in my head that I could go for a week in January. So I bought tickets about 24 hours later?I researched a couple different places on the island, and then honestly forgot about it until the DAY before we left for Oahu. I started researching again. My roommate told me I was crazy. Then I made my reservation.?

SADLY, neither of my friends wanted to do it with me.?And the airfield where the company was located was across the island from where we were staying (about a 1 hour 10 minute drive, with traffic). So the morning of my reservation, I prepared to drive my good friend Kaitlyn’s boyfriend’s truck across the island, knowing very well I’d be jumping out of a plane soon enough (with no friends there to console me?). 

Ohhhh but wait—can’t travel to a new place & drive another person’s car alone without a mishap along the way!?I left a little early just in case I got lost, and so I could get gas before getting too far away from Kaitlyn’s house. I arrived at the nearest gas station, filled up the tank, and pulled the door handle. And what do you know? It was locked. With the keys AND my phone inside the truck.???‍♀️ Immediately I started crying because I was PANICKING that I wouldn’t be able to make my reservation, and I had gotten so hyped up for it?So I started trying to get the back window open, pry the door open with a stick, unlock it with a bobby pin that I’d gotten from a store next to the gas station, and finally asked the guys in the truck next to me if they had anything I could use. Nope. So I called my dad on my Apple Watch (the only time since buying it that I have REALLY felt it was worth it?), and after a while of calls back and forth with him, holding my watch up to my ear, him calling USAA (where we have our insurance through), and me calling Skydive Hawaii to try and push my reservation, USAA finally sent roadside assistance to the gas station, and they were there to get the truck open for me within minutes. Luckily, Skydive Hawaii was able to push me to the next reservation time, and as soon as I was back & on my way, I just started laughing. Because of course that happened.?

I finally made it to the airfield and my nerves were gettin’ high, but I was still excited. I checked in, got all geared up, and waited for a while, watching all these groups go up and come down, while I sat there, just chillin’ by myself.?I think going up in the plane was the scariest part. We were all hooked up to our tandem instructors in this tiny plane going up and up and up. We literally just KEPT GOING UP. And they opened the door a couple times so the instructors with GoPros could get footage of the climb. All of a sudden, we started leveling out and I knew it was almost time (I’m getting anxious writing this and replaying it in my head again?). I was going to be the third to go. I think my brain had shut down at that point and it was such a blur as I watched two people jump out before me, and then my instructor jumped us off the plane, and we were doing it. We free fell for a few seconds before falling with our stomachs facing the ground with the small parachute open, which is when our photographer/videographer tried to get me to do hand gestures for the photos, and I was ALL OVER THE PLACE. I kept trying to pay attention to the camera but my body was having a sensory overload?In the video, you’ll see my instructor keep having to move my arms and legs because I kept not positioning them correctly, and me trying to awkwardly gesture at the camera. He then opened the second parachute, which is when we went into a sitting position, and is when I could pay a little more attention to the beauty of the island, but I was still in shock. As we turned and maneuvered to get down to the airfield, my stomach started feeling awful, and I nearly threw up after we landed.

But I DID IT. My favorite photos to put next to each other are the ones of me before I jumped, all excited and ready to go, and me after we landed, about to throw up and all over the place?

In all seriousness, I’m so glad I did it. I went with my gut and chose to do something that I was absolutely terrified of. I did it alone, without any friends there to console me before the jump. I’ll probably never do it again, but I freaking DID IT. So now, please enjoy this video of the experience, and I hope it makes you laugh at me AND makes you as ANXIOUS as it makes me.??