Skydiving at Skydive Spa was on my bucket list for a very long time, but for some reason I never actually planned to do it. Maybe because it scared me a little. But after becoming more adventurous by traveling solo, and being at home not having my next trip planned yet, ideas started popping up in my head. I needed more new experiences and adventure in my daily life. And what could be more adventurous than skydiving?

Those who are following me for quite some time, know that I live by the principles “get out of the comfort zone” and “live a fearless life”. Life is too short to not do things, because you are afraid something bad is going to happen. I just go for it in every way, every aspect of life. (read more about it here) So I decided to start a project to inspire others to do the same and make daily life more interesting and adventurous, while in your own country. Because, let’s be honest, traveling full time isn’t possible for most of us. Skydiving was the first activity on my “Jolo” (Joëlle only lives once) bucket list. Here’s the story of my first skydive jump at Skydive Spa.

Skydiving at skydive Spa, Belgium

After I received an e-mail from Skydive Spa confirming I was welcome to do a tandem jump, I couldn’t be happier! I informed them about my project and they were so nice to agree to collaborate with me. So a week later I found myself in the car on my way to Spa. It was the perfect day; sunny with a clear blue sky and a pleasant temperature of 25°C! During the road trip I knew I had made the right choice to contact Skydive Spa first. The closer I got to my destination, the more beautiful the surrounding nature became.

The arrival

Arriving at the skydive club my heart already started pounding faster with excitement! Especially because I had no idea what to expect. I soon met my contact person Gabriëlle Hubert, a nice friendly lady who showed me what forms I had to complete. I was allowed to film everything, except during the jump itself. So while I was waiting for my turn, I put on my skydive outfit (a bright yellow overall, which made me look like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill) and explored the club a little.

The club

I soon discovered that they organize a LOT of jumps in one day (if the weather allows it). Planes were arriving and departing every 15 to 20 minutes. It was amazing to see all the instructors and video people arriving back and preparing their parachutes again for the next jump. They handled it with such ease! But I’m sure it ain’t that simple.

Meeting the people

I talked to the ladies behind the desk, always willing to help and inform me. They introduced me to the editing guy named Said, who was so kind to make sure that beside his video edit, I would also receive the original video footage after the jump. I met with Heike Roschanski, the lady who would film my whole experience and my instructor Ronald Emonts. I was so lucky to meet all these nice people!

Ronald or Ronny was an enthusiastic funny guy, full of life, always in for a laugh. But also very experienced and professional. He was good at calming me, even though he was as energetic as I am! Heike was the kind of woman I admire; with a radiant appearance, sweet and cool, doing this awesome job and having a spark in her eyes that showed me she absolutely loves what she’s doing. These were the people I was going to jump with and I was truly happy about that!

Instruction time

Then it was time to put on the harness and to listen to the instructions what to do while hanging out of the plane right before the jump and while landing. I was glad Ronny told me the harness would be much tighter up in the air, because now it seemed as if I could loose it. Heike and the other camera man with 45 years of experience, named Jean-Pierre, were already filming everything.

All aboard!

Then it was time to go outside and board the plane, a Cessna Grand Caravan, along with another lady, named Ruth, who was doing a tandem jump and about 8 guys jumping solo. On the plane we were sitting in 2 rows. My instructor behind me preparing the harness, talking to me about the nice views (you could see Spa Francorchamps) and that we would become best friends. Then Ronny became a bit more serious explaining what to do once more while exiting the plane. When he tightened the harness I understood why they wait until the last moment. It was tight as hell! Heike sat in front of me, filming and smiling. Before the door opened everyone shook hands and then the moment of truth was there!

Jump!

The door opened and wind filled the airplane. Ronny told me to breath in and out to get used to the cold air and to open my ears if necessary. In front of me I saw all the solo skydivers jumping out of the plane as if it were nothing. It looked as if they dived into a pool or something. Some by themselves, others holding each other’s hands. I was a little nervous not knowing how it would feel once falling out of the plane. But I didn’t feel scared at all. Not a single emotion of fear went through my head. Which I thought was so weird being afraid of heights and knowing it’s not normal to jump out of a plane at a height of 4 kilometers and at a spead of 200 km/hour!

I was pushed to the door and without hesitating I put my legs outside underneath the plane, hanging out of the plane while Ronny was sitting on the edge telling me to look into the camera. I crossed my arms in front of my chest like instructed, saw Heike disappearing into the depth and then we were off!

Freefall!

First it seemed as if we were flying/floating and then the wind started to blow really heavy along my ears and I could feel some pressure. We were definitely falling straight down at 200 km/hour! Not the most comfortable feeling, but all I could do was thinking “this is awesome!” and smiling at the camera and Heike in front of me. Ronny tapped my shoulder and then I knew I could spread my arms in skydive position.

Ronny made us spin a few rounds in the air and kept instructing me what to do to make sure I would have an awesome video and pictures. He kept checking his altimeter to make sure he would open the parachute in time. Some say those 50 seconds you’re falling down seem endless. I thought they were over too fast (except my ears and eyes, they didn’t like it that much 🙂 ). I saw Ronny signing a countdown to Heike. That’s how I knew the parachute was going to open soon after falling about 2,5 kilometers straight down.

Parachute!

And then you get sucked back up into the sky. You can really feel the force of the wind that blows into the parachute. Awesome feeling and experience while your legs jump into the air because of the shock. And then you’re floating on air… and you realize how high you actually are. The sight and silence were amazing. It’s so peaceful up there. I could see the woods with the trees turning into different colors due to fall. A view I will never forget.

Ronny was awesome and even let me steer the parachute for a while. At a certain point he steered left and right, which made us turn around horizontally, causing tingles in my belly which made me scream of excitement. This was too much fun!

Landing

Then my instructor told me once again how to hold my legs while landing. In no circumstance I was allowed to touch the ground first. I would break my legs. So approaching the ground I did what I was told and landed smoothly on my butt. All I could say was “This was amazing! I want to do it again!” I was super hyped, adrenaline still rushing through my blood.

The aftermath

Then I jumped on something that looked like a luggage transporter with all the others to return back to the club on the other side of the landing strip. The guy next to me was one of the people who jumped by themselves. He was really friendly and said I should join the club if I liked it that much. I’m still considering this!

It took Said only 20 minutes to edit the video which you receive on an USB stick. I hugged Ronny and Heike and said thank you probably a hundred times because I was so grateful for this wonderful experience. Their presence and attitude only made it more amazing and fun! While saying thanks and goodbye to Gabriëlle Hubert and the other ladies behind the desk, I also met “the boss”. He told me he really liked my pictures. Of course I thanked him as well for this collaboration and awesome experience! You can be sure that I will return to Skydive Spa with a bunch of friends. Because I really think everyone should do this at least once in their lifetime!

Thanks!

I want to thank the following people again to make this such an unforgettable experience:
Gabriëlle Hubert
Ronald Emonts
Heike Roschanski
Said, Jean-Pierre, Arnold, Martine & Raymonde
Werner Delges

Probably see you all in Spring!

If you decide to go skydiving at Skydive Spa after reading this article (which I really hope you do!), please let them know you were inspired by this article!

All the non tagged photos are made by Skydive Spa or screenshots from their video material.

You can book your tandem jump at Skydive Spa here.

World Wanderista experienced the Tandem Skydive as a guest at Skydive Spa, however my opinions are as always my own!