Might as well jump

It’s silly, but when my instructor told me to put my toes just over the edge of the open plane door, all I could think was, No way—I might fall! Yeah, I know: Falling—from 14,500 feet up, securely strapped to the front of a skydiving pro named Jeremy—was the point.

Even though this was my first time skydiving, I’d stayed cool as a cucumber through the hour-long trip to the Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Hinckley (about 60 miles west of downtown) as well as during the ascent in the very, very small plane. I kept waiting to get scared. Even with the overstimulated video-camera guy goading me to look out the plane window (I’ve been in a plane before, so…not scary) or telling me how far I was going to fall, I just wasn’t feeling butterflies.

Soon it was my turn to step to the open door. I looked between the tips of my sneakers at the patchwork of tiny cornfields below—and suddenly I was terrified. That horror lasted for all of three seconds as I tipped forward into thin air and tumbled down toward the clouds. Freefall lasted for a full minute, and Jeremy, per my earlier request, spun us. I thought it would be fun to spin, but it ended up being overwhelming more than anything else, and none too easy on the stomach. Over the roar of the wind, all I could hear was a tiny voice in the back of my head yelling, “no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO!” And then the chute opened and everything became uncommonly calm. Gliding smoothly over the landscape, I looked out on fluffy clouds and endless distant green fields for five peaceful minutes, and wished I’d never have to touch the ground again. 

Chicagoland Skydiving Center, 12637 US Rte 30 W, Hinckley (800-404-JUMP, skydivecsc.com). A first-time tandem jump costs $199.99.