Skydiving for a living, living the dream.

[grimmie 173]

Not all DZ's come with drama. You can either be the entertainment or watch the entertainment.

If you don't go for it now, you never will. Do it.

[skydivah1 0]

I wouldn't do it. I left my job with benefits and became a full time tandem instructor for a few years and it sucked the joy out of skydiving in a hurry. I had to to be at the dz on days that I just didn't want to be there. I was making jack and broke all the time. I barely got to jump my own rig and when I did it was usually at the end of the day; most of the fun jumpers had already left for the day.

Now that I'm employed off the dz, my passion for skydiving has been reignited. Yes, there are a lot of days that I can't be at the dz. Yes, my schedule bumps me off demo jumps. Yes, I'm constantly juggling work and family just to get an afternoon of jumping in but it's just that more sweet when I finally do get to jump.

The grass always looks greener on the other side. Do I wish I could jump more? Yep. But when I was able to jump all the time I was wishing for more cash in my pocket, a 401k and health insurance.

I like where I'm at.

[monkycndo 0]

grimmie

Not all DZ's come with drama. You can either be the entertainment or watch the entertainment.

If you don't go for it now, you never will. Do it.

Sounds like you are looking for an indentured servant.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[grimmie 173]

Well, I do need some new DZ lighting wired up

[Doug_Davis 0]

hillson

Pick up your rating. Become the weekend guy. Every day, every weekend, every week, every month. Sit on the deck waiting for the student that never shows up while your friends fun jump and you don't get paid.

^ This x 1,000.

After military and NYPD I pursued my "dream" job which was teaching white water kayaking and owning the largest paddle sports retail facility in our region.
Within 3 years I loathed it.
I ended up hating retail with a passion, due to spending an hour with a client picking out the right style, model, size and color kayak for them and their needs only to have them pull up Amazon on their smartphone and nickle and dime me to death.
I ended up not having fun paddling, because as much as I enjoy teaching and instructing it, spending EVERY weekend (because people dont learn to paddle in the middle of the week, they are working) teaching while my friends got to spend time with their families, or tailgating, or paddling the rivers they wanted to...killed the passion in me.

So as Hillson says, start off on weekends. Do it ALL day, every day, EVERY weekend, rain or shine for six months. Sacrifice EVERY weekend, as if your life (ie living expenses) depended on it. Then see if its still for you.

[andym148 2]

Doug_Davis

***

Pick up your rating. Become the weekend guy. Every day, every weekend, every week, every month. Sit on the deck waiting for the student that never shows up while your friends fun jump and you don't get paid.

^ This x 1,000.

After military and NYPD I pursued my "dream" job which was teaching white water kayaking and owning the largest paddle sports retail facility in our region.
Within 3 years I loathed it.
I ended up hating retail with a passion, due to spending an hour with a client picking out the right style, model, size and color kayak for them and their needs only to have them pull up Amazon on their smartphone and nickle and dime me to death.
I ended up not having fun paddling, because as much as I enjoy teaching and instructing it, spending EVERY weekend (because people dont learn to paddle in the middle of the week, they are working) teaching while my friends got to spend time with their families, or tailgating, or paddling the rivers they wanted to...killed the passion in me.

So as Hillson says, start off on weekends. Do it ALL day, every day, EVERY weekend, rain or shine for six months. Sacrifice EVERY weekend, as if your life (ie living expenses) depended on it. Then see if its still for you.

I envy your choice in life, i sometimes i wish i had made the choice your deciding on now. How ever as said before hind sight is a wonderful thing, would i give up everything now at 35 and a wife to support to do it, not a chance.

I can't recommend enough being a weekend warrior, it gives you the best of both worlds. Financial security to live and chance to get your freedom on a weekend. But i guess it depends if your materialistic? If you don't care about things like possessions and money then i guess it could work for you?
I worked part time at a DZ every weekend Fri to Sat and Weds afternoons, from January to September to help pay for my wedding. There were days when all i wanted to do was stay in bed as i heard the wind and rain on the windows, knowing nothing was going to happen at all, all day. It didn't matter i was being paid to work, so i had to sit in a cold damp hanger till they decided to call it for the day.
Friends want to go out on a night for some beers, sorry can't drink due to working in the morning. Want to do family stuff when the rest of the world are not working, sorry you can't; you have to be on the DZ to earn money.
If your paid on a jump by jump basis, then start to forget all the wonderful feelings you get about teaching and seeing tandem students faces on landing. You've got to get back in the plane and earn some more money, its a very cynical way of looking at things but if the DZ don't make money, you don't make money.
I love teaching, and love to see the enjoyment of students faces after beating their fears, but i could never truly spend enough time with them due to been manifested and on a quick turn around. And it burns you out, it burned me out to the point that i could have quite happily quit. But i couldn't, i had a wedding to pay for. It took me to stop teaching to reignite my love of the sport, i can now go up on a lift without having to check students out, and remember why i got in to the sport and why i love spending my weekends at the DZ. I see my friends more as I'm not running around after students, i can do the jumps i want to do when i want to do them. At 500 jumps id jump in any weather no matter how cold, now with a few thousand i can quite happily take it or leave it. My attitude of jumping has changed, and so will yours.
Before you commit think about this-
1- Who's going to pay your wage when/if you hurt yourself?
2- What you going to do when your back gives out doing tandems everyday?
3- What you going to do when you wake up one day and don't love the sport as much as you once did?

But on the flip side, i had 4 of my former AFF students compete in the UK Nationals and medal this year. That makes everything worth while!

At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

[dzswoop717 5]

I chased the dream from age 16 to age 40 and loved almost every minute of it. Now at age 52 and a 12 year lapse in my ratings, but a 12 year climb in my income, I don't miss living the skydiving dream one bit. I am now making up for lost time to secure my retirement, something I don't see offered in the skydiving world.
Keep your job. Get all your ratings and instruct part time for a year or two. If you still have the passion after that I say go for it. Right now you are only seeing the good part of being a full time skydiver. Give it a couple of years of part time instructing and you might see things differently.
Good luck with what ever you choose.

[hcsvader 1]

Do what makes you happy. Fuck what everyone else thinks.

My story is pretty similar, except that I have little interest in ever working full time as a jumper. I had a 6 figure job at the age of 23, as a welder. I wanted to jump all the time and travel more. So I did it.
I just chose to work less, live within my means, and do whatever the hell I wanted.
Having a trade makes it easy to pick up short term well paying contract type work to keep the finances somewhere above zero. In the past 12 months I have travelled around the world jumping and doing other fun stuff having only been employed for 4 months total. I can't afford to do as many jumps as I would like to do but thats part of the sacrifice. I am also homeless, have zero financial liabilities, no car, no rent, no student loans.
I am very happy with my lifestyle choices, I have a lot of fun and have experienced a lot of things I would never had the chance to do if decided to stay in northern alberta working in the oil patch.

ONE thing I really wish I did differently when I was young and stupid was to set up some kind of a passive income, like having a rental property. MY advice to you would be to do everything you can to get you house paid for in full, destroy all of you debt. When there is no money coming out of your bank account every month you don't really need to be putting much into it.

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[billvon 2,400]

Go for it. Just beware that skydiving can turn into a soul-sucking job as well, so as others have said, don't burn any bridges. Skydiving full time and consulting part-time can keep you current in your area of expertise and also keep contacts in the business world. (And will give you something to do on Monday and Tuesday.)

Also - get your rigger's ticket. It's not that hard and it's a valuable skill to have, both to maintain your own gear and to make a little extra money when you need to.

[skyfreek 1]

get your ratings, and try part time first.there are a ton of dzs out there, so find one that feeds your needs.don`t be afraid to move to a different dz. worst that can happen is that you don`t like it, and can always find a job back in your real world work. it is not all about $$ , it is about being happy with your job, and the people you work with and for.
i cutaway from my construction job 8 years ago. i like my skydiving job. give it a try dude!

[gunpaq 1]

It is not just a job it is an adventure.

If your are focused, strong willed, and disciplined with a solid positive attitude then skydiving for a living is your dream career but if not you may end up living in a van down by the river.

www.geronimoskydiving.com

[demon4o7 0]

Research the hedonic treadmill. I think if you quit your job and move to another you'll reach the same mental state. Although I agree. Construction sucks. Oh and I accidentally hit the little red symbol next to the reply button. Sorry.

[theplummeter 14]

demon4o7

Research the hedonic treadmill. I think if you quit your job and move to another you'll reach the same mental state. Although I agree. Construction sucks. Oh and I accidentally hit the little red symbol next to the reply button. Sorry.

I too am obsessed with jumping. Before I started jumping I was obsessed with flying, which I now do for a living and no longer love. I don't want to end up disliking jumping like I do flying, so I'll keep my job and jump to the best of my ability. Think about long term goals before you make a decision, hating a good job and dreaming about jumping could be a better place than hating jumping with nothing to dream about. Skydiving might be the most fun you'll have (maybe for a while, maybe forever) but it isn't a complete life.

[chuteless 1]

I made my living at skydiving, which also got me into hot air balloons for corporate sponsors. I made money at both, but I was willing to take risks that others would not take. I was on the air show circuit as well, and I had many corporate sponsors. They all helped. I did HALO jumps plus other stunts that others would not do. It got me lots of press coverage, and television interviews.
I do not think a person could do those things in today's world. Since 9/11, the air shows have got fewer, and there is so much skydiving, ( and fatalities) that the " sport" is lost to the general public. It is over exposed to the public's view. My type of jumping was not over exposed in the 1960s 1970s and 1980s, and I was able to bring the sport ( or my activities within the sport) to the public's view. If I hadnt done so, skydiving would not be recognized as much as it now is.I suggest that if you try to do skydiving as your only means of financial support, you will not be able to make a living at it. Keep your electrical trade, and try skydiving as a means of money slowly, and see how it works for you. If you go the route I took, you will have hard time, especially if you are living in the USA and have to bow to USPA's rules and regulations. I felt that the rules were made to be bent or outright broken, and that got me into the public view even more. I didnt really lose anything by not belonging to CSPA who suspended me for life ( twice). As a matter of fact, CSPA's attitude was a great help to me getting publicity. I took the air shows right out of the backyards of CSPA member clubs, which they didnt like, but it all helped me.


Good luck .

Bill Cole D-41, aka chuteless #2 and #3