Still alive

We do what we must, because we can http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI

Bungee jumping was one of the scariest things I have ever done. Possibly THE scariest (and hardest) thing I've ever done. There's something grossly masochistic about stepping to the edge of a rain slicked bridge and jumping off; especially if you do it for no other reason than getting your rocks off.

After a short shuttle ride with a nice Swedish girl, we got to the bridge. When I looked down at the river 265 feet below me, I suddenly had second thoughts. That shit was high. We were given a two minute briefing then strapped up. Matilda wanted to go first, so like the gentleman I am, I let her go. She hesitated only for a little while before charging it. She didn't make any noise at first, but halfway down she started to scream. I did the same thing, for some strange reason, you don't start screaming until halfway down.

I was pretty calm until I stepped onto the platform. Up to that point, I had done a really good job of not thinking about what I was about to do. But once confronted with the reality of the situation, I felt the intense fear and hesitation I was expecting. I made the mistake of looking down. The operator told me to look up and I did, which helped a lot. Then the operator gave me a countdown. I passed on the first "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump!" But I did it on the second try.

The hard part is overcoming the fear and making the leap. Once you're in the air, it's cruise, there's no fear. You don't think in the air, only a sense of exultation that you actually did it. I thought I would be scared until I felt the bungee rope holding, but once I was off the platform, I only felt relief and exhiliration.

There was a Zen lesson learned here, but I know you guys aren't interested in that.

Good times. It was one of the scariest and funnest things I've done. I want to do it again. There's a guy at the hostel I've gotten to know named Eric who is also in San Jose for a long time. He said he wanted to do the bungee jump too, but he had plans to visit friends this weekend. So I think I will try to convince him to do it next weekend and I'll go again if he goes. The second jump is only $30. Half off the first jump price.


Protips:
1. Use the countdown. The operator said that having a countdown prompt is a very effective pyschological aid for making people jump. And it's true, I don't know how long it would have taken me to jump without the countdown.

2. operator said about 2-3% of people totally back down and completely refuse to jump. These people still have to pay 50% of the price. So don't back down.

3. Don't look down. cliche advice, but it's true. Looking down makes it harder. If you don't look down, you can pretend there isn't 265 feet of empty air below you.