choosinglife wrote: I have always wanted to try sky-diving. Is it really as peaceful as it looks? How do you keep your anxiety in check? Have you done it a lot?
I've only gone once. 2 years ago for my 44th birthday.
The initial part of my jump was anything BUT peaceful. The plane seems to take forever to ascend to 13,000 feet and then I was the last one out (besides the pilot, of course!). By the time we drove up to the jump site and repeated the class and ascended in the plane I was pretty nauseous. And the first 6,000 feet of the fall is the biggest rush I've ever experienced. (Accellerated Free Fall). If I were to do it again, my preference would be to jump, count to three, and pull the cord. I liked the floating. The fast free fall was a little too much for my liking.
While the chute is open, it's so peaceful. But if that's all you are hoping for, parasailing is comparable. The main difference is that someone else controls you in parasailing and you get to skip the rickety plane ride.
Both are adventures that I'm sooo glad I took.
-Aude.