So I did my skydive (item 11) this month - probably the most "out of my comfort zone" item on the list - and what an amazing experience that was. It still hasn't properly sunk in.
With only two months to go, I know for a fact I'm not going to finish everything now by 6th November. For example - I wanted to walk the Jurassic Coast in the height of summer, but, as you know, we didn't really get a summer, so that's never going to happen this side of Guy Fawkes. With that in mind, I've decided to cheat and extend my 30 Things into my 30th year now that I've got a little part time job. I already have a 30th year list of things I want to do too... I have got most things in varying states of progress. It's finishing them that's proving a problem. I've also changed item 24: Interview 3 Indie authors from Twitter to Take a trip to New York because the interviews will be part of my marketing strategy for item 25 - and I've booked a warm up 30th celebrations trip to the Big Apple!!!!! Talking of booking, the dinner party (item 20) will be taking place next month... Another unofficial 30 Things happened a few days ago... I finally visited the British Music Experience at the O2 Bubble. Been wanting to go for ages. There are no words to describe it, but if you're a music lover, you have to go. I will try my best to talk you through it in my next blog post. This visit was linked with two of London's newest attractions - the Emirates cable car over the Thames and walking / climbing the O2 roof. Both great experiences mixed with Paralympic London 2012 build up. I do love our Capital in the sunshine and when there's a buzz in the air. 1. DONE - Fly First Class long haul from anywhere to anywhere 2. DONE - Take a photography course 3. DONE - Experience the Caledonian sleeper train to Scotland & ride around Edinburgh in a funky Billy Connolly style Trike 4. DONE - Visit 1 of the countries in my Top 3 “before it changes forever” list - Cuba 5. IN PROGRESS - Sort out proper storage for my favourite belongings 6. DONE - Try 3 new variations of foods 7. IN PROGRESS - Walk the beautiful Jurassic Coastline (planning done) 8. DONE - Complete a family tree with at least 50 people on it 9. DONE - Fun family photo shoot 10. DONE - Fly in a Tiger Moth 11. DONE - Tandem sky dive 12. DONE - Bake a marble cake just like my mum’s 13. DONE - Make a decent curry 14. IN PROGRESS - Finish writing the Dalton Trilogy 15. IN PROGRESS - Self publish an informative eBook or a children's book on Amazon 16. IN PROGRESS - Publish a paid article 17. IN PROGRESS - Feature photos on shutterstock.com 18. Catalogue my last 10 years of travels 19. IN PROGRESS - Lose 14 lbs 20. BOOKED - Host a dinner party from scratch (3 courses) 21. IN PROGRESS - Build a new desk area for the office 22. DONE - Do 1 presentation to an audience 23. DONE - Ride the London Eye 24. BOOKED - Take a trip to New York 25. (Market and) sell 100 copies of Little Child 26. IN PROGRESS - Take a weekend TEFL course 27. DONE - Achieve 3000 unique visitor hits on my website in a month (Feb 2012 was 2816) 28. Make some serious progress on my Writers Bureau course 29. Local book signing 30. IN PROGRESS - Walk parts of the Thames Trail
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This sunshine is divine! Made all the more sweeter by the fact that I'm finally in the right place at the right time to enjoy it :D Catching up on gardening after two weeks of full time training for my part time job, reading about Clouded Leopards which have never been photographed in the wild (makes me want to go back on safari), and identifying bees and submitting reports to Bee Conservation (we now have five bees nesting (is that the right word?) in our bee house. Oh, and I did a skydive too!
That's what I'm going to talk about today. The accomplishment still hasn't properly sunk in. I can't quite believe it was me jumping out of a plane even though I have a whole roll of film and a video to prove it. Mine was a hormonal dive complete with an off camera tear or two once we'd parachuted safely back to earth. That was the pressure of the last 12 hours releasing. We got up at 4:30am and didn't jump until 4:30pm. Sea mist - when the rest of the country was in beautiful sunshine (story of my year really, isn't it) - and re-bookers held us up, but when we were spiralling upwards in the plane to reach 12,000 feet, I knew there was no turning back and I just wanted to do it. We had someone diving from 3,000 feet, then three or four other people jumping alone or with each other just before us at 12,000 feet, and finally it was our turn. I wanted to be last out of the plane (some kind of superstition thing going on there) so Mike my brother went first, then my sister Hev and then it was my turn. When you sit on the edge of the doorway looking out over the clouds and knowing you're diving no matter what (largely because the bloke on your back will push you anyway), many different thoughts race through your mind. There are the obvious ones like Will I die? Will I break a limb? Gosh, that's a long way down... Wow, isn't it beautiful... I feel like I'm on top of the world... etc etc And then I was thinking about my shoes flying off and having to land in my socks... A kind of distraction I guess! When you fall before the first mini parachute opens, it goes so quickly you don't really have time to think about anything. It's just a matter of seconds and because I never have trouble trusting in the equipment or provider of that equipment, would it sound believable if I said I just took it in my stride? I really did though. I'm good at relaxing in a situation when I know there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Then came the 40 seconds of 120mph free fall. I never let enough air into my lungs before we jumped so I hyperventilated just a little and thought I was a goner but still miraculously managed to smile for the camera and video shoot. When the second, larger chute opens, you get flung back high into the air. I was so looking forward to being able to relax my breathing, this bit for me was a godsend so I didn't freak out when it happened and actually found myself screaming weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Parachuting at a lovely, calmer 30mph back to earth was the most enjoyable part for me (aside from the ear ache and harness cutting off the circulation to my right leg). I like to "sit back" and take it all in rather than be adrenaline pumped to near death and hands on. Yet, I didn't know it until this point - which is why I try out new experiences to discover these things. And landing was hilarious. I was damned if I was going to ruin my shoes so made sure the softest part of my anatomy touched ground first. Yep, my butt cushioned me a treat! Would I do it again? I said "no way" on my video but I was hormonal and I always say things I don't mean when I'm hormonal. You know, I think I would if only because I'm a perfectionist and I would like to experience the free fall without hyperventilating (and experience the whole thing without being up and down emotionally). The fact I have BPA membership (British Parachute Association) for a whole year which entitles me to 30% discount on the next dive is also quite a tasty proposition, so, we shall see... Check out my soon to be uploaded video on my Home Page! Ok, I'm three quarters of the way through and things have pretty much grinded to a halt. So much for trying to get most of the outstanding items in a state of progress...!
I did complete another unofficial 30 Things - to get some interviews, to be more confident in the interviews and ultimately get the job. Went for two; got two which I was thrilled to bits about. Then I had to make a choice - go back into full time employment in the travel biz and abandon my project/s, or work locally part time. I chose the part time position so I haven't completely given up yet. I also saw more parts of the UK in July travelling the furthest north I've ever gone in England to Arnside in Cumbria. For what it's worth, here's a 30 Things update for July and I expect full service to resume after I've completed my full time training somewhere around mid August: Still "in progress": Storage (5) The children's stories (15) Shutterstock (17) New desk area (21) TEFL course (26) Thames Trail (30) New "in progress" and in the planning stages: Jurassic Coast (7) Dinner party (20) I did fly my Tiger Moth (item 10). Wasn't the best weather but I made the best of it and still got amazing views of Gatwick, the very green English countryside and London. I highly recommend open top flying! And considering the restrictions placed on all local airfields within x miles of London throughout July and August due to the Olympics, I was lucky to do what I did when I did it. Also presented about travel to the Juniors at my old school (item 22). And last but by no means least... the tandem skydive (item 11) is imminent!!!!! 1. DONE - Fly First Class long haul from anywhere to anywhere 2. DONE - Take a photography course 3. DONE - Experience the Caledonian sleeper train to Scotland & ride around Edinburgh in a funky Billy Connolly style Trike 4. DONE - Visit 1 of the countries in my Top 3 “before it changes forever” list - Cuba 5. IN PROGRESS - Sort out proper storage for my favourite belongings 6. DONE - Try 3 new variations of foods 7. IN PROGRESS - Walk the beautiful Jurassic Coastline 8. DONE - Complete a family tree with at least 50 people on it 9. DONE - Fun family photo shoot 10. DONE - Fly in a Tiger Moth 11. BOOKED - Tandem sky dive 12. DONE - Bake a marble cake just like my mum’s 13. DONE - Make a decent curry 14. Finish writing the Dalton Trilogy 15. IN PROGRESS - Self publish an informative eBook or a children's book on Amazon 16. Publish a paid article 17. IN PROGRESS - Feature photos on shutterstock.com 18. Catalogue my last 10 years of travels 19. Lose 14 lbs 20. IN PROGRESS - Host a dinner party from scratch (3 courses) 21. IN PROGRESS - Build a new desk area for the office 22. DONE - Do 1 presentation to an audience 23. DONE - Ride the London Eye 24. Interview 3 Indie authors from Twitter 25. (Market and) sell 100 copies of Little Child 26. IN PROGRESS - Take a weekend TEFL course 27. DONE - Achieve 3000 unique visitor hits on my website in a month (Feb 2012 was 2816) 28. Make some serious progress on my Writers Bureau course 29. Local book signing 30. IN PROGRESS - Walk parts of the Thames Trail Until the next time... |
AuthorBlogging is an amazing concept so here I am giving it a whirl. You'll get words. You'll get pics. Sometimes a vid or two. You'll get tongue in cheek, the odd humble opinion and an honest insight into my travels and writing life. Maybe even a few gems along the way. I'll be musing on home turf as I see more and more of the UK and sharing my experiences further afield on holidays and adventurous trips across the globe. Archives
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