Regrets? Would you do it differently?

[nael 0]

I got to talking with my boyfriend the other day about jumping and other parts of life taking a back seat because of lack of funds.

He told me how his uncle (a jumper for many many many years) told him not to start jumping until he had finished his uni degree. He took the advice and held off jumping while he was at uni. He's been jumping for the past 4 years now, and told me he doesnt regret waiting to start except that by now he would probably have a few thousand jumps if he had started when he first decided to.

Then the conversation turned to the future and buying a house and how there's no way in hell either of us could afford to do it and keep jumping at the rate we are. I want to know what some of the jumpers who have been around for many years did, and if they would do it differently if they could.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[Andrewwhyte 1]

My friend Tom Pfeiffer once gave me this nugget of wisdom:
If you really enjoy doing something, get a good job so you can afford to do it. If you can't afford to skydive and buy a house, get another degree.

Here's another one:
Never take advice from a pennyless DZO

[Guest]

Do what lets you sleep best at night.

My .02

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[nael 0]

For the record, I'm not talking about taking a break now. I'm currently in a 4 way team that is planning to compete at the Nationals this year and putting every cent I have into it, which is fine for now, but is not sustainable if I want to do other things.

This thread was just as a matter of interest to see what others had done when it came time to make a decision. I am pretty sure I will be taking time off from the sport, but not for another year or so.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[CornishChris 5]

hey Nicole

Hope your well and that Picton is missing me.

For me it is all about perspective and priorities. i love jumping and want to keep doing it for many years but it will never be the most important thing in my life - up there but not the top. I am happily married and started jumping after I got married. i also have a kid on the way (8 weeks 1 day and counting down..), so whilst jumping is important it is also important to provide a home for my family. If you have none of the above and are in a position to spend every cent on jumping then go for it. however do you want to be the guy who lives in the trailer at the DZ or do you also want a nice place?

In short I don't think you need to be as absolute as your last statement - you can continue to jump, and jump safely, just not as much - it doesn't need to be skydiving or not skydiving. The same with things like drinking - when you are younger every time you drink (generic not you specifically), you get pissed, as you mature and manage your life better you can handle things in moderation. Skydiving can be a part of your life and not all of it if you want it to be.

Blue Ones.

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[slotperfect 7]

There's a phrase I use all the time . . . "choose from what's important."

Different people have different things they find important in their life, and have different priorities. You should take some time away, maybe a mountain hike or time on the beach alone where you can get very clear about what's important to you in your life. Then you can share that clarity with your wife and both of you can prioritize the things that are most important to focus on financially.

I am blessed to still be married to the same woman after 18 years and have enough "stuff" and hobby time to make me happy. I give a lot of myself to other people, which I have never regretted. Many times I have made a decision in favor of my reltaionships with my wife, my kids, or others rather than what I wanted. There are some of those I would do differently if given the opportunity, but overall my choices have resulted in a hapy, productive, stable life.

Arrive Safely

John

[tombuch 0]

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Then the conversation turned to the future and buying a house and how there's no way in hell either of us could afford to do it and keep jumping at the rate we are. I want to know what some of the jumpers who have been around for many years did, and if they would do it differently if they could.

My goal was to get my commercial pilot license, something I couldn't afford to do while also jumping hard-core. The solution was to teach skydiving as an extra weekend job. I loved teaching, and the money I made over the summer was left on account until the end of the season. I used those funds to pay for flight training over the winter. It was a great program that kept me jumping and left enough money for a pilot license.

Balance your priorities now and in the future, and you will find a way. It sounds like you are already on the right track by at least thinking about the issues.
.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[DanglesOZQld 0]

I left school and went straight into an apprenticeship and gained a trade as a qualified printer. During my apprenticeship I also gained my private pilot's licence and then got involved with skydiving at the same time. (Flying yourself to a dz is sooo much fun!).

I had to give flying up eventually (Apprentice wage!) and went full throttle at skydiving happy to be doing it on weekends around the small "family" that so many dropzones become.

Eventually I moved interstate and decided to teach others and gained an Aff instructor rating to do some more jumps on weekends as well as put back into the sport. Unfortunately I had a whuffo wife who did not appreciate me not being at home on weekends and also wanted other things in life like kids (which I did not) so we parted.

Once the house was sold and there was only rent and no mortgage I decided to take the leap and get my TM rating and start getting as much work as possible (I.e - doing jumping full time with Printing to fall back on if the poo hit the fan.)

I was also in one of the places that made it possible to make a living full time skydiving, and believe you me there are not that many Dz's in Australia where you can *reasonably* expect to do this.

I am not going to be able to afford to buy a house in the near future with what I make skydiving but I am happy with what I am doing on a daily (7 days a week) basis and would not have it any other way.

A big part of why myself and my ex split was because every single day when I was printing I knew that it was going to be another grind and I HATED every minute of it. This loathing of work was taken home and I was to be honest rarely a happy person.

When you say as your profession "Professional Skydiver" some people treat you like a person who is on the dole or like a full time surfer and look down on you but I think it is they who are the fools.

Just like the folks who say that oh so original line "so why do you jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane?" They simply do not fathom what they are missing out on!!

I look at what I do as something I love now, have in the past and hopefully will in the future until the day I retire. I am happy now every single day with a few small exceptions and will be doing what I do at the moment as long as I possibly can.

I WOULD RATHER BE HAPPY THROUGHOUT MY WORKING LIFE AND POOR AT RETIREMENT THAN HATE EVERY LIVING MOMENT WORKING AND HAVE MAYBE 5-10 YEARS MAXIMUM TO "LIVE LIFE" AT THE END - By which time as well you are probably a little too old to do some of the things most people can do when younger.

Don't get me wrong though ; we do have a few older guys who work with us and I think that skydiving has kept them fit and with a much better outlook on life than an office or factory-caged monkey ;)

I also went into the sport full time once I had been in the sport for 8 years plus so knew what I was getting myself into. The sport has nearly killed me on more than one occasion but what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. I admire those people in the world who go after what they want no matter what other people think and have goals that some others cannot see or will not understand.

-Such is part of our sport.

Sorry for the ramble guys and girls, just needed to say that. Blue skies no matter what you do as long as you jump when you can!!! ;)

-Mark.

"A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

[tigra 0]

My skydiving has taken a back seat to home ownership for the past 2 years. Its OK, I stay current, I just don't get to jump my ass off every single weekend- maybe one weekned a month instead! Even though I'm making fewer jumps, I find I'm getting more out of them. And I'll get more financially "solvent" eventually, and the skies will still be there! But my house? If I were buying today instead of 2 years ago, there is no way I could afford it!

[airtwardo 6]

there's no way in hell either of us could afford to do it and keep jumping at the rate we are.

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Of course there isn't...

But things will change, and WHAT EVER it is...if you want it bad enough, it WILL happen!

Time...it's only time!!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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[nael 0]

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i also have a kid on the way (8 weeks 1 day and counting down..)

Congratulations Chris! I bet you're excited!

Thanks everyone for the insight. I'll probably make about 500 jumps before I have to make this decision, but maybe I dont have to make it as big as I am thinking. I may pack and spend the money I make on jumps or something - we'll see!

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[Ron 7]

If I could start over. I would have waited till after I got a degree.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[tetra316 0]

If I could do it over again I would have started jumping sooner. Sure I wouldn't have been able to do the number of jumps I did since I was in college but the experiences and being around it I think would have taught me even more.

[tumbler 0]

what an interesting paradigm we are in here... jump early with no money and have it get in the way of getting other things (your degree) or jump later once you are stable and can afford to do what you want....

For me it is easy, I cannot go back so I jump now, in the time i have chosen. I am rather well off and have done all the schooling I am going to do ( I got my MBA a couple years ago). I wouldnt change a thing.. I can jump when I want, on gear I want and bought outright.. I dont worry about jump tickets or how to afford my sport as I established myself first.

Is this the most Fun way to do it? maybe not, but it sure is paying the dividens now!!

[airtwardo 6]

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what an interesting paradigm we are in here... jump early with no money and have it get in the way of getting other things (your degree) or jump later once you are stable and can afford to do what you want....

For me it is easy, I cannot go back so I jump now, in the time i have chosen. I am rather well off and have done all the schooling I am going to do ( I got my MBA a couple years ago). I wouldnt change a thing.. I can jump when I want, on gear I want and bought outright.. I dont worry about jump tickets or how to afford my sport as I established myself first.

Is this the most Fun way to do it? maybe not, but it sure is paying the dividens now!!

(dividends)
***

Conversely...I started jumping right after school....

HIGH SCHOOL that is!

And because I was motivated and loved the sport, found ways to pay for both my jumping and higher education.

If there is a will there is a way!

I wouldn't have done anything different because jumping a lot when I was younger exposed me to a lot of things that made me mature in some ways faster than I might have, had I not been in the sport.

I found a way to use skydiving to actually PAY for a lot of my college...And I still maintain that my 'education' came from the people I met and the places I went as a result of jumping.

You have to 'follow your heart' even though it sounds cliche...you'll always be a much happier person if you do, and life is so much easier when you're not grumpy!

My wife, who has a gift for languages...was in a masters program at UCLA in linguistics...but ALWAYS loved flying.

Everyone she knew gave her 'advice' as to the senselessness of spending money on anything to do with airplanes....it's expensive...a waste of time...will never 'lead' to anything positive...

But it was her PASSION....the thing she loved most about life and finally made the decision that she's rather be happy than 'rich'...


She went with her heart, and is now a 767 Captain for a major airline. She's been flying jets for over 20 years and STILL gets excited just talking about flying!

If she would have taught school with her degree... and invested in California real estate back then...
$$$$$$$$$$$$$

But she would NEVER have been the person she is now, because she took a chance & 'went for it'

In some way.... the same as me...


>Is this the most Fun way to do it? maybe not, but it sure is paying the dividens now!!<

We're not ON this rock long enough to do it any other way BUT the fun way....

It's often been said, on your death bed you never regret the things you did...but instead the things you failed to do.


Of course that's just MY opinion...but it's worked out okay so far!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Witelli 0]

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My skydiving has taken a back seat to home ownership for the past 2 years. Its OK, I stay current, I just don't get to jump my ass off every single weekend- maybe one weekned a month instead! Even though I'm making fewer jumps, I find I'm getting more out of them. And I'll get more financially "solvent" eventually, and the skies will still be there! But my house? If I were buying today instead of 2 years ago, there is no way I could afford it!

Things like this are great to hear. I just dumped a crapload of money to complete AFF. Now I enjoy the sport so much, but I know I can't be as hardcore as I'd like to be. Now that it's somewhat affordable I hope to just take a day here and there to enjoy my time skydiving. Because I would feel really guilty taking money and time away from my wife and 3 kids. I'm happy to see others out there enjoy the sport in the same way I do.

[riggerrob 562]

If I had to do it all over again, I would have stopped wasting money on booze and spent more on winter vacations in Z-Hills.
All the time I wasted drinking would have been better spent sleeping.
I would also have spent more money on flying, earning my night rating 20 years earlier and have finished my commercial pilot rating a decade or two earlier.