Well today I ended my trip with the most extravagant thing I could think of - skydiving over the Swiss Alps! I am currently in Lauterbrunnen, the most beautiful town in all of the Swiss Alps, home to the highest point in Europe and some of the most breathtaking scenery that this good earth has to offer. I decided to celebrate a wonderful, soul-searching, fun, challenging, inspirational trip by jumping out of an airplane from 11,000 feet in the air.
The first question everyone asks is, "Were you scared?" and the answer is a solid, resounding, "No!" I kept waiting to get scared, because everyone acted like I should be. But I was only excited. The peace I found in Nice is still with me, and everything has just seemed magical lately. Skydiving felt like the most natural, safe, thing to do. As we ascended for 15 minutes, gliding over the jagged peaks and green valleys of the Alps, some of my fellow jumpers started getting scared, but I was just smiling. I felt so connected to everything and so grateful to be up this high, about to plummet with nothing but a thin piece of nylon between me and death. (Ok, that was a little dramatic, but this is a pretty dramatic activity, you have to grant me some license.)
When they opened the door, the air came rushing in and you could no longer hear anything. My tandem jumper and I were the last of the 4 partners to go. There was a split second as I looked down out of the plane, noticing my feet dangling, that I started to think "What am I about to do. . ." but then he jumped, and my stomach flew up through my body and out of my mouth. We didn't just jump either, we did a backflip from the plane! I screamed and screamed and screamed with joy for the entire 45 second freefall, which felt like at least a year. I couldn't feel my arms or legs, my ears were completely blocked, and my mouth was so dry from all the screaming and the air flying in and down my throat. Then, he opened the chute and we smoothly righted ourselves. We could hear each other now, and I was allowed to take my camera out from under my jumpsuit and start to snap photos. (It was secured around my neck, too.) I just shot photos without stopping in every direction. My guide asked me if I was ok, and I yelled, "I feel so alive!" He laughed. I think he got a kick out of me because I wasn't trying to hide my excitement at all. He asked me if I wanted to do some tricks, and I said "Yes! Do everything you can! Give me the full treatment, like you would with an experienced jumper!" So he flipped and twisted us in every which way, sending my insides flying again. I kept begging him not to land, to let me fly longer, but he laughed and said, "There's nothing I can do to stop gravity!"
The second my feet touched the ground, I wanted to go up again. But I stopped myself from indulging that desire, because I didn't want to make the experience seem less than perfect in and of itself. I don't need to go again for it to be wonderful. I had those few moments, and they were exactly as they should have been, and I was present and aware and exhilirated for every one of them. When they took off my harness and chute, I gave Dave (my guide) a big hug and did a running cartwheel in the landing field. All the other guides were laughing at me. I haven't been able to stop smiling all day.
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