Skydiving was #1 on my Bucket List… and I ACTUALLY DID IT!

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Featured Writer: Chanel

I never would have imagined at the start of this year, that I would have won a contest and got a free skydiving adventure in San Diego.

But, life is unplanned and spontaneous 🙂 and that’s the best part about it!

Thanks to Bucket List Publications, I got to jump out of a plane on Easter and cross off the #1 item on My Bucket List.

I had what I call a “man-tourage” who all decided to join me on this special occasion- Josh White, Johnny Elsaesser, Alex Christ, and Mitchell Arvanites,. These are all good friends of mine that I either grew up or went to college with. Josh and Alex had been skydiving before, so there were only 3 newbies in the group!

Chanel and her Mantourage

Everything kind of all happened so fast, and next thing I knew we were strapped up and assigned an instructor and off we walked across the field to the plane.

The plane was tiny, and there were many of us..AKA we were sardines on a plane!

I was one of the last few to hop on board, meaning I’d be one of the first to jump out of the plane (EEEK). I had been told by previous skydivers that the plane ride is the scariest part, but I was unusually calm, and in kind of a zen mode. Even the instructor asked if I was alright. But I just felt really content..it was a nice feeling when you’re 13,000 feet in the air. There were a couple of “fun” divers who were doing some solo jumps that went before the tandem divers. Once they opened that door and those 3 people jumped- THAT’S when I started freaking out! That is what I WAS GOING TO BE DOING! NO TURNING BACK NOW…

THEN WOOOOO:

This really was an experience of a lifetime and I want to thank everyone (the 700+ of you) who voted for me as a Finalist to win this contest. And of course I can’t thank Lesley and BucketList Publications ENOUGH for this FANTASTIC opportunity. I will forever be grateful.

I can’t begin to describe the feeling after jumping, I was super relaxed and calm and in a “high” sense of overall happiness. Life was awesome-I hadn’t a worry in the world. I was surrounded by people I loved. And it was time for  a magnum of champagne that my mother had so kindly brought for us to celebrate after the jump 😉

Now, my man-tourage and I want  jump again ASAP 😀 We are thinking about going to Santa Barbara’s SkyDiving location where they have the world’s highest tandem jump at 18,000 feet…

Follow my blog and see what happens next : Photography + Science = Chanel

PS-here’s ^ a VIDEO I made of the stills from the jump- it’s really quick and fun 🙂 Enjoy!

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Submit your bucket lists to: inf[email protected]
Put “Bucket List” in the subject line.
Include your name, blog address, current city/town & country
See http://www.bucketlistpublications.com/2012/02/09/2012-bucket-list-adventure-awaits/ for an example bucket list.  

We are making bucket list dreams a reality!

We’ve already offered a free skydiving tandem jump with deluxe video package from Skydive San Diego. We also organized a complete vacation package at Revelstoke Mountain Resort with heli skiing, accommodations, and downhill skiing included. Matebele Limo delivered a Bucket List reader to the destionation of his dreams – the back of a chauffeured Rolls-Royce limo.

We’re aiming for at least one bucket list adventure recipient a month!

126 thoughts on “Skydiving was #1 on my Bucket List… and I ACTUALLY DID IT!”

  2. Congrats on accomplishing the #1 thing on your bucket list! Skydiving is also at the top of my list. I don’t think I’ll be as calm as you were beforehand, though. Thanks for sharing your experience. Love the pics! I can’t wait to do it!

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    • Thank you Carly!
      Ohhh you definitely need to go skydiving if it’s on the top of your list as well- definitely is a great feeling to have crossed it off already! I know you never know how you are going to react in those kinds of moments..never would have guessed I’d be so calm and in a zen state of mind. Glad you enjoyed the pics- can’t wait for you to experience it one day 😀

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  3. You should have had tom Petty’s song “Freefalling” playing on your iPod! What an experience, eh? My first time was when i was 14, my dad was a pilot in the RCAF (Canadian air force) – exhilarating and it never gets boring!!!

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    • There were so many songs that related to “falling”, or “jumping” that I wanted to play while I went skydiving! The song I put with my video of the picture stills is entitled “Mr. Blue Sky”- which was upbeat and appropriate I thought 🙂
      Wow your first time was when you were 14?! Holy cow. How many times have you been since then?!

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    • Glad you enjoyed the video! I’ve got the actual DVD from the jump this week in the mail..but still have yet to figure out how I can burn it to my hard drive to upload on youtube or vimeo. I love re-living the whole experience 🙂

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      • The first time was tandem in Australia on the Gold Coast, then second I was crazy and trained to do it by myself! I jumped out with 2 guys, but they let go before I was supposed to pull the cord…only thing was I was tumbling so much, they had to pull it for me. But I obviously survived(: Tandem is the way to go next time!

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  22. wow!! amazing and Congrats.. the pictures are great 🙂 I also put a check box on one of my bucket list item – I got my first permanent tattoo! and I was so scared of it first but now I’m already looking for inspiration for my next one 🙂

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  24. WOW! While generally fearless, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is NOT on my list! In fact, I think by the time I reached Terra Firma — all that would be left of me would be the former shell of a soul that left its body not the way down. Love your spirit though! How ’bout I live vicariously through your blog? Thanks for “Liking” my blog as well. GOLANSKIS TREASURES is a work in progress, but I’m 70% through my revisions, so hopefully the final draft can go to the copy editor so MY #1 Bucket List item can be achieved — publishing the novel I’ve been working on for 12 years. Blog on!

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    • It really is crazy once I think about it..but I mean you always put yourself in danger every time you drive on the road. So why not push the limit and jump out of a plane 😉
      Please live vicariously through my blog- I wouldn’t mind at all! Just makes me happy people read it 🙂
      I know you will publish that novel! Keep up the good work!

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      • You have most definitely struck a chord. More people seem to have bucket lists than might have ever been imagined. As for my publishing my novel . . . that’s not as distant a dream as it once was. After 12 years (but, who’s counting?) I finished all the research and first draft of the manuscript. I’m 70% of the way through revisions, then will hand it off to my copy editor, who will have her way with it before returning to me for MORE revisions. At that point (hopefully within the next few months) I will begin circulating it to the agents who’ve requested the manuscript (Yes,Virginia . . . things are moving forward). Then, it won’t be a question as to whether it WILL be published . . . just whether it will go the “traditional route” or be independently published and made available digitally. Check in with my blog to see how things progress. It’s been an amazing journey, and I feel blessed to have been allowed to fill my bucket with words!

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  25. OK, that sends shivers up and down my spine. I’m not sure if vertigo is the same thing as jumping out of a plane, but I am sure there’s an adrenaline rush in there somewhere.

    Thank you for visiting and liking my Utah 2 post. I hate to admit it, but ATV’ing through Utah was one of my bucket list item. I know it’s probably not quite as impressive as skydiving, but it was pretty darn awesome.

    I think I’d better check up on my list and see what else we’re going to do next. Scuba diving the Blue Hole in Belize?

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    • Lots of adrenaline!

      I’ve ATVed in the middle of Montana where the forest parted and there were these endless sand dunes- it was fantastic!!

      Scuba diving the Blue Hole should be on my list too…First I want to dive the Galapagos 😉

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  26. Wow – in one month I’ve “met” three people who went sky diving! I am much more of an earthbound being and have no desire to dive the sky – my bucket list “adventure” would be to drag-race my Mustang! 🙂

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  31. WOW…. Just thinking about that makes me anxious, but I also think that that high feeling afterward could get addicting. I think you are so brave, and that is awesome!!! Congratulations on achieving your goal!

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  32. Just looking at these photos make me nervous lol. I would love to jump out of a plane but I don’t think my legs would actually allow me to do it lol. One day. I loved this post and the photos

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    • Yup my legs definitely were a bit unstable..especially because you have to squat for a couple minutes while the instructor hooks you on to him while you sit on his lap on the plane haha..But once you leave that plane you don’t have a care in the world!

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  36. Congrats! Skydiving is awesome. I did it a couple times myself a few years back and still love watching the video of it. Now you have me thinking of doing it again.
    Love reading your blog. Good stuff!

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  37. Amazing! I’ve done bungee jumping, but not sure I could bring myself to jump out of a plane! eek! It looks amazing though… the look on your face while you’re freefalling says it all!

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    • I crack up at my pictures everyday- that’s the face of pure excitement and no worries in the world! Where did you go bungee jumping? That seems more scary than skydiving to me haha..

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  43. Skydiving is freaking amazing, I did my first jump a few years ago and can not wait to go again. The adrenalin rush had me buzzing for hours, and that night I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live in concert from the third row. I had a new appreciation for Freefalling as you do now too.

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  44. I won a skydiving ‘jump’ 2 years ago, and it was AMAZING! I was on an absolute high for months, the pictures still bring a smile to my face. We had an amazing sunset, as we were the last jumpers of the day. Thankfully a friend brought my camara to take pictures! This was definitely a bucket list item, and so glad it became a reality.

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  45. Fabulous action shots that take me back to memories of when I took skydiving lessons–only at that school, you went solo on your very first jump. We did have an earpiece to communicate with the jumpmaster reminding us when to pull our ripcord–and there was a remote control to open the chute if the first-time skydiver actually passed out or just froze up. This method with going piggyback is so much safer, I think.

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  47. Pingback: Mother Letters: Rainbows and Lollipops – first day walking

  48. Oh my gosh I’m not sure I could ever do that! Although I’d love that calm peaceful feeling where there is no worry! Maybe people should just skydive instead of taking prozac. Probably healthier, lol. So glad you could make your dreams a reality

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