Just starting out...alone.

[usedtajump 1]

Didn't know a soul there that Sunday afternoon I went to the drop zone alone to find out about a first jump static line course. Signed up and that next Thursday night, went to somebody's house, who I didn't know, in a bad part of town, met five other students and sat through the first jump course in the living room for five hours. Went back to the DZ on Saturday morning, by myself, made the jump that afternoon and had many friends that evening. Don't worry about starting out by yourself, you won't be that way long

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[Nightingale 0]

Thanks, everybody! you've made me feel a lot better about this.

I just finished posting all the photos from my tandem on my website...

www.nightingalesnest.net

Today I found myself staring up at the sky thinking "I want to be up there..."

[aneblett 0]

Hi,

I haven't read all of the other replies to your post but I just thought that I would let you know that as a skydiver, even a student, it is pretty hard to actually be alone. Once people see you at the dropzone a time or two you will quickly gain a family...

keep your head up, and keep jumping.

oh and if you are nuts.. I don't know what they'd call me.

Age

S.E.X. party #2

..It is far worse to live with fear, than to die confronting it.

[Casch 0]

I gotta say, your tandem photos page is an AWESOME little walk through of your first dive

[skymick 0]

I think you'll find most people here would of started alone, dont worry about it just have fun

[Nightingale 0]

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I gotta say, your tandem photos page is an AWESOME little walk through of your first dive

thank you! I had fun making it.... AFF photos will be up next week.

[Fast 0]

I like your site, the graphics are pretty cool, design is nice. Not to mention the pics are cool.


Oh and as always leave it to michele to put words down on paper(screen) so well.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[atsaubrey 0]

i live 15 minutes from perris and start AFF next friday (oct 3) but am flying to point moss, ms to do it. (300 lbs and need military gear) i would love to come up and watch you/meet you on saturday if you dont mind. im getting nervous and i think seeing/hearing someone after they do level one would make me feel better. message me if you wanna hook up.

"GOT LEAD?"

[Nightingale 0]

[email protected]

[Fireflyer 0]

Quote

I did a tandem with a friend who swore he was gonna do AFF with me... and just backed out.

I really want to do AFF and get my license and all that... but I feel weird about doing it alone! I don't know anyone else who skydives... and my other friends all look at me like "jump out of a plane?! you're freakin nuts!"

sigh.

I started alone and now have many super friends at my DZ. It takes awhile, but I never was truely alone there!

[Dagny 0]

What an awesome website! I wish I knew how to do that. Your tandem looked awesome, glad you had a great time!

Don't worry about being out there alone, you're going to find that there is always someone to talk to about anything and everything. And you won't be ignored on the plane ride up - people will be smiling and chatting and giving you thumbs up and trying to help you relax. That's the great thing about skydivers...they love what they do so much, they want you to have a great time, too!

Enjoy AFF!!!

Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic.
-Salvador Dali

[Nightingale 0]

thanks.

the website stuff isn't real difficult...

I use Xara for my graphics. www.xara.com
the program is called webstyle 3.1

an easy hint for web stuff is under your "view" menu, there's something that says "view source." and that lets you see the code of the site, so you can see how other people do stuff. that's how I learned.

[bdev 0]

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Hey there, girl...

I did it that way - alone. I didn't even have any friends who'd ever done a tandem, let alone AFF or had their license...and I started with AFF! LOL...

I tell ya, the first person you will meet when you land from your first aff will be your best friend - it will be someone you recognize, but who is bigger, badder, more utterly capable of handling whatever gets thrown at her. She will be you, but you on the other side of fear. You, on the other side of challenge. You, but on the other side of flying. You! You will meet yourself again, not in a mirror, but alive. More alive than you've ever been. You will see things differently, think differently, feel differently...and it will be wonderful. I promise you that.

And you will make friends along the way. But you don't need anyone else with you to do this. You just need you, the best friend you will ever have, and the only one who will be with you all your life...you, girl. You.

Go to it, go fly. Go learn how amazing this world is...and then come back to the ground another person.

Ciels-
Michele

Great post ! So true! - made me shiver!

I did AFF on my own...you'll be fine...ok, it might feel strange at first - intimidating almost.

Just know that it'll all be better once the course starts - you meet others on the course, and on the plane rides!

All the other skydivers know what you're going through, and you'll meet some super cool people with passion for life!

Have fun!

---
One life...Use it.

[rjackson 0]

Quote

I did a tandem with a friend who swore he was gonna do AFF with me... and just backed out.

I really want to do AFF and get my license and all that... but I feel weird about doing it alone! I don't know anyone else who skydives... and my other friends all look at me like "jump out of a plane?! you're freakin nuts!"

sigh.

I did my AFF by my self. You'll be amazed how many people you'll meet and new friends you'll get.

Go for it!

---------------------------------------------

Randy

[WrongWay 0]

Dude forget the whuffos back home for now.

You'll make LOTS of friends around the dz just by showing up and proving that you want to keep skydiving. They'll come to you, but you also have to make yourself known. Ask questions, be eager to learn, and you'll gain respect quickly.

Oh, and one more thing, as crazy as it sounds, anyone you date in the whuffo world, DONT tell her you're a skydiver. TRUST ME. They won't take it as well as you'd think........

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[Rdy2skydive 0]

Don't let that stop you. I did my first tandem alone and then AFF by myself. My friends all thought I was crazy and wanted nothing to do with my skydiving. It didn't matter, I've met so many new people, and I've made a lot of new friends. I'm glad I didn't wait until someone went with me or I'd still be waiting to make my first jump. Now, the only time I'm alone is when I'm in the car on the way to the dropzone.

[Nightingale 0]

Quote

Dude forget the whuffos back home for now.

Oh, and one more thing, as crazy as it sounds, anyone you date in the whuffo world, DONT tell her you're a skydiver. TRUST ME. They won't take it as well as you'd think........

hehe... LOL. I am a GIRL (see pic a few posts up). Why does everyone assume I'm a guy?

[WrongWay 0]

Wow, I feel sheepish!! OOOOPS.........

Sorry sweetie.............

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[Nightingale 0]

Ok.... I just called Perris Valley and made my AFF appointment... 7:30 AM tomorrow.

I'm scared.

But VERY excited.


um.... how hard is it to steer a parachute? I didn't get to when I did my tandem.

[bmcd308 0]

I went to AFF alone. Now I have a circle of new friends with whom I share something that none of my other friends understand. Just go on and do it, if you want to. The dz is an easy place to make friends.

----------------------------------
www.jumpelvis.com

[canopycandy 0]

That's so exciting. I started AFF in July ... and getting out the door on that jump took more courage than anything else I've ever done in my life. I was so nervous, I gave myself an upset stomach. I felt dizzy. I stood in the door and thought, "I could still ride the plane down, and nobody would think less of me."

My jumpmasters thought I wasn't going to do it. They asked if I was ready to skydive -- and I just stared blankly back at them.

Somehow I made it out the door. After a few seconds of initial terror, everything was suddenly all right.

To this day, I'm still shocked I did that jump. In fact, I'm surprised I continued jumping -- there were many times I felt discouraged and too nervous and awkward. Luckily, I had a really great coach who got me in the air as often as possible, even when I told him I didn't want to go.

And now ... well, this Sunday I do my A license check dive.

[bkdice 0]

Looks like there are a lot of people who did this alone. I did too. My ex bought me a tandem and thought it would be out of my system. Ha! He was VERY unsupportive of my jumping, so he just had to go. You'll make a lot of friends fast. Skydiving and the new friends it will bring you, will change your life - for the better. Good luck. You have LOTS of support!

• Quote

[jumpingjoe 0]

I went and did it alone, in fact this girl I now know went and drove two hours to do a tandem by herself, loved it and signed up for AFF that day. She is now on level 6 and has been doing alone....well not alone any more with all her new found friends....and me her new found boyfriend.
Good luck with it.

Blue Skies
Jumpingjoe

[jas8472 0]

I was at work oneday and I was board out of my mind. Ah surf the web, umm skydiving, I always wanted to do that. I live in the UK and less than one month later I was in Spain at Empuria (sorry about the spelling) doing AFF.
I knew no skydivers and in two weeks I made lots of new friends and came home with my A licence.
When I came home I found a good dropzone about an hour from where I live, and now a year on I've got 60 jumps and my B licence and even more. Ever since I came back from Spain all my non skydiviing friends keep saying they wabt to give it a go but none have as yet and that's not a problem for me either.

Sorry for the rant but I feel quite strongly that if you want to do it then do it, dont feel weird about going on your own.

[fool 0]

A quote from one of the tandem masters at our DZ, is "17 years ago I started skydiving, and I lost all my friends. That's ok though... I made better ones."

S.E.X. party #1

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "f*#k, what a ride".