malooper

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  1. It's not a good feeling, right?! But hey, you got an accuracy landing and that's awesome!! I think that's a great idea, doing fun things for a few jumps. I told one of my coaches that I would like to just fall and try to maintain my heading next time. Throw some flips in just for fun.
  2. Haha, thanks Wendy! I noticed though that in the videos that I was smiling at times during the dive. I know I'm enjoying it, I just gotta learn how to relax more…! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  3. I was asked by one of my coaches what I was expecting and I said "a perfect jump!" Yeah, I do realize this, I just tend to be harder on myself. Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  4. You're absolutely right. This perspective really helped. Thanks! My coach said pretty much the same thing to me about bumping into others. In my mind, I know this is a team sport but this situation made it that much more real and showed me how my mistakes could potentially cause problems. Just a good learning lesson. Thanks everyone for the encouraging posts! I really appreciate them! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  5. I just did my 17th and 18th jump yesterday and boy it was a bit discouraging. The only improvement I recognized was that I'm slowly but surely becoming more aware in freefall. I'm actually remembering what's happening up there! Other than that, I continued doing my slow turns and couldn't track. The good news is that I realized in freefall that I wasn't tracking towards one point and attempted to correct…The coach I had for my first jump of the day recognized, along with myself, that I wasn't mentally prepared for the jump. I left too soon on the exit and bumped him, disorienting me a bit. Felt terrible after the jump since I realized how dangerous that could've been. I had a hard time relaxing too. It had been 35 days in between jumps and the last was a hop and pop so I know that was a factor. Although, the last jump I had freefall time in was after a break that long as well and I nailed my turns and had an awesome jump. One coach advised me to do tunnel time but money is limited and not sure it'd be the best choice for me right now. It's hard to put money towards tunnel time when it could be going towards the real thing, the way I see things. However, I realize that if I can't maintain my heading, I'm not going to advance and maybe tunnel time would help in that for me. I'm really just venting here but I'd appreciate any tips on relaxing or advice on tunnel time or anything you more experienced skydivers may have to say to a student like me! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  6. Thanks for the replies. I'd definitely plan to visit these infamous DZ's but I don't know if I'd be able to do it regularly. Are there places to crash overnight at Perris or Elsinore? Or close by? Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  7. It would depend on if she was responsible and has good judgement. She'll be in a foreign country experiencing new things and situations so she needs a good head on her shoulders. Once you pay the organization fee, you'll have access to a list of the farms giving you information about what type of farm it is and what kind of help they're looking for. It'll also have contact information where you can connect with them and ask the questions. Generally, someone there will speak enough English to get by but some places might be a bit more harder to communicate with. Depending on her German level, that might not be too big of an issue. I'm on the side of "better safe than sorry" so I totally understand. Like I said, it's best to get as much information before as possible and you still never know so that's why she'll need good judgement! I was 25 before I traveled internationally by myself so I was a bit more "mature." I think I would've been just as fine as a 19 year old so if you think she's ready, then let her go "Dad!" Hope this helps! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  8. My sister is working on me to move out here in California and I was curious to see if anyone has any recommendations for the area? I know Skydive Santa Barbara is within reasonable distance and that's where she did her tandem. Skydive Pismo Beach has just tandems that I saw...Any input would be appreciated! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  9. I have experience with WWOOF Italia…. I went last year and it was a good experience. I would recommend that she get as much information as she can about the family/people she'll be staying with. I would also be clear about expectations and see what they're looking for too. The two families I stayed with were very hospitable and welcoming. I'd just come from a farm in Germany (not through WWOOF) so to transition from Germans to Italians was quite a little shock to me! Germany is beautiful and I'm sure she'd have a good time should she go! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  10. Good to hear! Better watch out for that axe! They must've thought you needed it! Ha! Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll definitely be prepared when that time comes and I can travel with my own rig. Can't wait!
  11. Look at you!! Way to go! That's wonderful news and I'm so proud of you! Thanks for sharing your progress! Looking forward to hearing more!
  12. I'm scheduled to attend a canopy control course in November so I realize I may be jumping the gun on this but I was just curious if anyone is aware of a source that explains the different canopies out there? Perhaps I'm asking too much? Just thought I'd give it a shot! Thanks! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  13. Ha! We could! I'm in Texas so it's significantly warmer than in Germany during the winter! There's actually a German-influenced festival, called Wurstfest, celebrated not too far from where I live since some Germans made their way over here and settled around 150 years ago! You might get a kick out of the web site. http://wurstfest.com/ Interestingly enough, I was actually in Munich during Frühlingsfest last year! Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist
  14. This is a great question to ask that I hadn't really considered so I'm glad you asked this!! Maybe wearing my contacts has become so second-nature to me that I didn't really think about them falling out…but after reading this thread I'm now aware it's a real possibility. I'm the opposite and that I hate wearing glasses because I feel limited in the scope that I can see. I don't plan on getting Lasik either so I can understand that. So people are still losing their contacts with a full face helmet on? I've been thinking about what helmet to get and this is good to know. Is it better to get an open face and wear goggles then? Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. -Raymond Lindquist