Did you know that my husband was able to convince me to go skydiving with him in 2020?! Like what the actual heck?! I had gone back and forth on wanting to go for years and one day he just decided he wanted to go and we were going lol. In all honesty, I never would have committed to it had it not been for his decision making.
I’ll be honest, I was SO nervous!!! So I did a ton of research and read all the tips for first timers and how to handle the anxiety. And thank goodness I did because some of the tips I learned ended being essential for me to remember! These are the 3 things I found to be most crucial for me personally before our skydiving experience and I hope they will help you too!
Research Skydiving Companies
To be honest, I wish we would have done a little bit more research on the companies available in Florida but considering we kind of just booked one I am very happy with the way it turned out! Now, obviously you want to pick an accredited and legit company that is going to keep you safe. That is like DUH! Of course. But what I quickly learned is that the company you go through can make a huge impaction your over all experience throughout the day and even your keepsakes of it.
Pre-skydiving Courses
Depending on what you think you want you can pretty much find a company that will provide the experience you are looking for. Some of them do extensive classes on what to do in the air while others do a quick crash course and get you up in the air before you can over think it! That is how our experience went and I am honestly glad we didn’t have to take the two hour class or whatever that many people had talked about on other reviews of different companies. That would have psyched me out way more than just doing the dang thing.
Pictures & Video
Another thing to look at is how they record photo and video. This is the one thing I would have changed about our experience in hindsight. Our company had each instructor set up with a wrist GoPro so they filmed the entire thing while strapped to you! Other companies have a separate jumper that records so it is more of an outside looking in view if that makes sense. Not that this is a huge deal but when spending the time and money you definitely want to make sure you are getting exactly what you want!
Clothing Provided
The other common difference I noticed when researching companies was clothing. Some will provide you with a jumpsuit while others basically have you wear whatever you want! We just wore whatever we want and I felt fine. But some people definitely said they felt safer in the provided jumpsuit that some companies provide. Again, this is totally a personal decision but something you should looking before jumping!
Eat Before You Go!
This was something I didn’t even consider much until reading into it. Many people do not eat before skydiving because of a fear of throwing up… which I totally get! But every professional skydiver knows how damaging low blood sugar can be when you are already nervous before a jump. Everything I read spoke of the importance of eating!
I had a hard time eating the morning of because I was so nervous and my stomach was in knots. That being said, I am so glad I forced myself to get some fruit and crackers into my system before we went. One thing that also happens is you end up waiting. You have a scheduled time for your jump but things change a lot because of weather and other jumpers so they let you know not to count on that time being to strict. Also if you take the class before it can drag your time out even longer.
This means that you may think a skydive will only take a couple of hours and you can eat after but it ends up taking much longer and by the time it is your turn to jump you are starving. So eat before going and bring snacks if you can!! Also, drink LOTS of water. Staying hydrated is important to feel your absolute best during the jump.
Do NOT Schedule too far in advance
Okay, normally I am all about planning ahead and being prepared. But there is such thing as over-prepared and that can defiantly happen when you are about to skydive. We scheduled ours 3 days in advance and honestly that was way too long. Basically I spent 3 days in complete panic and researching every single thing that could possibly go wrong.
If we were to go again I would 100% just book the day of. I may research companies in the days leading up as mentioned above but I wouldn’t schedule a time until day of or day before. Research is one thing but it completely changes your mindset once it is scheduled and actually happening! So I will not book that far in advance ever again.
After we had already booked ours I ended up reading a lot of blogs about people saying the same thing. Some people even said they ended up chickening out because they had too much time to think about it. And honestly that probably would have been me if it weren’t for my husband!
In comparison I read so many stories about how people had the absolute best experience when they went skydiving on a whim. Because it is definitely something you have to be in the mood/right mindset to truly enjoy. So if you get the feeling like you should go skydiving, GO! Go right that second before you lose your courage. I promise it will be worth it.
Okay y’all. Have you ever been skydiving or done any other adrenaline junkie stuff?! I want to know your tips and suggestions so that I can be better prepared next time we decide to do something crazy!
