Monthly Adventures: June 2022
Last month, I attended a concert that for a group I've always wanted to see. This month, I decided to aim even higher with my adventures (literally) and spend a morning at iFLY!
Background
I've wanted to go skydiving since middle school, but my mom was not about to let that happen. To quote her, "You can't go skydiving until you're off my insurance". While I waited for that opportunity to come around, I did zip lining in high school and then again in Las Vegas for my 21st birthday. Zip lining was fun, but I really wanted to take the next step towards skydiving. I've actually been off my mom's insurance for multiple years and never made the move to skydive. There's a couple of reasons for that. First, many of my family and friends don't like heights. Second, I didn't want to go skydiving without a general sense of what it's like to be flying in the air with just your body.
So, I turned my attention towards iFLY! When I was in middle school, my mom and I took a trip to California to visit my aunt and cousins in the Bay Area. At one point, we passed by an iFLY location and it was my first time seeing one in-person. While I could have potentially gone in the Houston area growing up, I couldn't find anyone who would go with me. I finally got tired of waiting for someone else to join me after all these years and decided to spend this past Sunday morning at the iFLY location in Austin.
Booking the Flight and Checking In
Booking online was very easy! There's several flight package options and other add-ons for your experience, so I recommend going with whatever works for your flight plans. To cut down on some time checking in, you can fill out the waiver online before arriving. They send you the link in your confirmation email to be able to take care of that in advance. You can also fill out the waiver when you arrive at iFLY using one of their check-in kiosks.
Speaking of checking in at iFLY, I was really happy with how that went! The team at the desk and others who were coming in to start work were all so nice and seemed genuinely excited and interested in making sure I was reassured and set up for the best experience I could have as a first-time flyer. You can also get add-ons at the front desk and during your flight if you'd like. Because I had planned to blog about my time at iFLY, I got some picture, video, and flight add-ons. I found it helpful to hear from the iFLY team about how everything worked and it allowed me to picture what else I would want to do to make the most of my flights that day.
iFLY Experience
Once I finished checking in, I went upstairs to get ready to fly. I met my flight instructor, Hank, and a friendly family of 4 who were also booked for the same time as me. While everyone was getting flight suits on and settling in, Hank took time to get to know all of us and help take pictures. He gets photo credit for the photos of me before flying that you'll see on my Instagram! After some pictures, we went into the classroom for training and then back to the waiting area for a few minutes. The iFLY team was making sure all of the equipment was working properly and getting things set up since we were the very first flights of the day. While waiting, we all chatted with Hank some more before he provided us with ear plugs and helmets. Then, he walked us into the tunnel to begin flying!
So much thought goes into doing as much as possible to determine what everyone's comfort level is and providing reassurance. As a group of first-time flyers, Hank carefully explained all of the details for how to enter, exit, and move about the tunnel. The focus for today was finding and maintaining a neutral flying position. We all went into the tunnel together just to see how everything looks prior to going into the tunnel individually for each of our flights. Hank's job as the instructor was to assist us with finding our neutral positions (it's a little different for each person). We all chose to fly higher, so he also held onto our flight suits to bring us up higher and do some turns. After each flight, I was able to watch the replay video to see myself flying. I also had the option to add on an extra flight before Hank went into the tunnel to show off his skills to our group. Hank has been doing this for like 10 years, so flying, entering, and exiting the tunnel appeared to be second nature for him!
After flying was over, everyone went to the counter to return our gear, pay for final add-ons, and get photo/video vouchers and certificates. Overall, I'd say this was even better than I expected! The level of customer service was great and everyone working at iFLY clearly loved flying. Many of them have flying for many years in tunnels, jumping out of planes, flying actual planes, and even free diving! They're excited to see someone has an interest in flying and share so much knowledge about different flying experiences to really give you a solid idea of what you may want to do for your next flight. I don't exactly know how to explain the feeling of flying in a tunnel, but I felt weightless in a way. There's a different you can easily feel between the weight of gravity keeping you grounded and 165 mph wind pushing you up into the air. It was such a cool experience and I already have future flights planned because they have a nice return flyer discount you can purchase right after you finish flying. I think I'll use that as a way to celebrate my graduation since there's an iFLY location near the campus!
Check out exclusive content from this experience on the new Kimi's Travel Thoughts account on Instagram! On to the next Monthly Adventure!
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