iFLY (way up high) but not the conventional way…

When my husband asked me to join him in jumping out of a moving plane at 13,000 feet above sea (or cornfield) level – I quickly replied “not a chance that happens”! However, a funny thing occurred as I sat there and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited (you get the drift…). I saw everyone that went up, safely come down to earth and have huge grins plastered upon their faces. I was ready to do it!

As fate would have it, they couldn’t fit me in with my husband’s scheduled jump, so I had to stay put and wait for him to fall from the sky at a rate of 100 mph or more. I figured this was a sign from the heavens above that I was not intended to skydive…ever. Even though I saw how much fun the crazies were having free-falling from the sky, reality kicked in and there’s a fat chance in (you know what) that I ever skydive. In my opinion, it’s just not necessary to put myself at risk like that, but being human, the inevitable (and literal) dream to fly still lingers to this day. If I can do it in my dreams, it must mean I can in real life!

So, what’s a scaredy pants girl to do?  Last year I heard of this place near Chicago where you could skydive indoors -iFLY. That sounds safe enough – no free-falling from a plane and no risk of having a panic attack immediately prior to launching off into the abyss. Sign me up! And they did. My husband and I went to the Lincoln Park iFLY indoor skydiving joint, popped on some skydiving gear (I felt pretty bad-ass I must say), watched a quick “how to” video and jumped into a wind tunnel!

Okay, it didn’t quite go down that seamless for me. I did have some anxiety going on before jumping into the skydiving simulator, aka wind tunnel, but once I got going, it quickly vanished. I WAS FLYING FOR REAL!!!!! It was so much fun! My husband, the “pro-skydiver” enjoyed it as well. You can check out my flying video below. Be sure to watch until the end because I look like a real tool.  You’re welcome – I figured you needed some comic relief today.

Go try iFLY indoor skydiving out for yourself. They have 3 locations across Chicagoland and many more globally. It is a lot of fun and definitely less scary than the “real thing”, plus you can even bring kids along – 3 years and up. They have party rooms and offer classes so you can continually improve your indoor skydiving skill-set. Prices start at $69.95 for first time flyers: you get 2 flights that are a little over 1 minute each (this is what I did). 

Are you ready to try indoor skydiving at iFLY?