You thought skydiving was only for a select group of daredevils?
Think again.
What surprised me almost as much as the jump itself was how normal everything looked at Skydive Teuge.
Hundreds of people were jumping.
Every 20 minutes or so, another plane took off with around 15 people inside. People were chatting, laughing, getting their parachutes ready, grabbing something to drink and then casually boarding a plane to jump out of it.
It almost felt like arriving at a hockey club on a Saturday morning.
Except this is skydiving.
One of the most extreme sports you can do.
And at the same time, modern skydiving is one of the safer extreme sports. The equipment, procedures, checks, training and experience behind every jump are seriously impressive.
Of course, accidents can happen. That comes with every extreme sport. But what really made me think was that incidents aren’t always caused by technology failing. Human decisions, overconfidence and pushing limits can play a much bigger role.
That gave me a different perspective on fear.
Sometimes we are afraid of something simply because we don’t understand it yet.
Before my jump from 5,000 meters with Wim de Gier, my heart was in my throat. Then you see hundreds of people around you doing exactly the same thing. Professionally, calmly and with enormous respect for the sport.
And suddenly, fear turns into excitement.
Then the door opens.
You look down at the earth.
And you jump.
Around 1.5 minutes of freefall later, I understood why people get hooked on this feeling.
What an experience.
And once again, the best part was sharing it with amazing people.
Huge thanks to Wim de Gier for taking me with you, Erwin van den Braak, Arjan Musch, Demie Landsman, our amazing cameraman, the entire team at Skydive Teuge and everyone else who made this day unforgettable.
Challenge yourself.
Respect the risks.
Listen to the professionals.
And every once in a while, do something that scares you enough to make you feel completely alive.
