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17bd">One year later, in July 2016, I wasn’t allowed to do any more tandem jumps with my friends and had to sign the waiver. To do the course and learn how to jump on my own.</p><figure id="64a1"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*JCgJxsgqYNUVNBRP-n-aNg.jpeg"><figcaption>Credit: <a href="https://skydiveswakop.com/">Ground Rush Adventures</a></figcaption></figure><p id="1804">The same instructor and friend who took me on my tandem skydive, was now the one dispatching me on my first skydive.</p><figure id="9bcf"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*le_4f6MhTgstXGzksf0sqw.jpeg"><figcaption>Credit: <a href="https://skydiveswakop.com/">Ground Rush Adventures</a></figcaption></figure><p id="41e8">I landed that colorful parachute, and with that first jump, I was addicted. As expected.</p><figure id="dc9b"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*e22jXyPyJkQolCVwgMcI9A.jpeg"><figcaption>Credit: <a href="https://skydiveswakop.com/">Ground Rush Adventures</a></figcaption></figure><p id="ecdb">From then on, all my earnings went into skydiving. I built up jump numbers, progressed in the sport and worked my way up to the instructors level.</p><p id="58d2">In April 2021, I obtained my latest skydiving license. The one to do tandem skydives. Now, I am not only qualified to train students on how to jump on their own, but I can strap a person to my body and let them experience the exhilarating feeling of falling through the sky.</p><p id="28b9">And while since 2021, I have done a couple hundred tandem jumps, I hadn’t done one in Namibia. The beginning of my skydiving journey.</p><p id="1cc5">Until the last day of 2022. On the 31st, I did take up the pressure to do a tandem jump in a company and surrounding where most people thought only men can do that.</p><p id="9e0b">I did that jump being filmed by a girl, the only one I ever looked up to in skydiving. The same girl who was a good friend of mine and my witness at the wedding.</p><p id="e135">Yes, this jump couldn’t have been more special.</p><p id="597e">A bit over seven years after doing my first tandem skydiving, I did one at the same place but now I was the instructor.</p><figure id="16ed"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*R9pDENDsmSdCBNM0Rmf9Hg.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo Credit: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bianca_kros/?hl=en">Bianca Krös</a></figcaption></figure><p id="7952">Here my skydiving journey has come full circle but not to an end yet. As long as I have that passion for this sport, I will keep going.</p><p id="2c37" type="7">Thank you to everyone who was involved in getting me this far.</p><h2 id="aa77">More about my skydiving adventures:</h2><div id="99dd" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.c

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om/we-jump-for-fun-e7585e5abb4a"> <div> <div> <h2>We Jump for Fun</h2> <div><h3>More about the life of a professional skydiver</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*b5K7ljfvhnkmWXT4r3KC9Q.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="bb6c" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/@anne.bonfert/when-you-got-60-seconds-to-perform-3a70d2027e79"> <div> <div> <h2>When You Got 60 Seconds to Perform</h2> <div><h3>Office duties from a skydiving instructor</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*-qEaEQUsCJW7WpGzNmTfEg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="56f7" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/@anne.bonfert/the-complexity-of-my-job-78d7bf5381e7"> <div> <div> <h2>The Complexity of my Job</h2> <div><h3>It’s more to it than just jumping out of planes</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*AhtRl8-9dFGjmR1TTLesrw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><blockquote id="1163"><p>Join my email list <a href="https://mailchi.mp/9dd74c10ac6b/signup-mydreamofafrica">here</a> if you would like to read more travel essays or sign up for the <a href="https://medium.com/@anne.bonfert/membership">Medium membership</a> to receive unlimited access to my and other writers’ stories out here (I will receive a commission fee in return).</p></blockquote><p id="d5fc"><a href="https://mydreamofafrica.wordpress.com/"><i>WordPress</i></a><i> | <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Anne+Bonfert">Shutterstock</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mydreamofafrica/?hl=en">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjXOWGPFOVRSXu9-F14313w">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://mailchi.mp/9dd74c10ac6b/signup-mydreamofafrica">Mailchimp</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/-/de/Anne-Bonfert/e/B08PPD2Y41?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1668865050&sr=8-1">Amazon</a></i></p><figure id="b603"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*1GLv_xHjVW00Jn_Rq31T0g.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></article></body>

My Skydiving Journey Has Come Full Circle

It’s not been an easy one but which journey really is?

When I finished school in 2011, I had no idea what I wanted to become in life. When I finished my studies three years later I still had no plan in life and if someone would have told me back then I’d be earning my daily bread with jumping out of planes today, I would have asked the person what kind of drugs they take.

Me? Jumping out of a plane? Certainly not…

Fast forward ten years and you all know what my life is like. With the end of 2022, not just another year has come to an end, but a very special journey of mine has finished in a full circle.

After finishing my studies in 2014 I still didn’t know what I wanted to become in life because I was still so “lost”, it was more or less a going with the flow.

I moved from Germany to Namibia without really noticing it. What started out as a 6-month long journey of exploring the African continent and then continued as a 3-month-holiday-job became my new life.

I ended up living in Namibia for longer than anticipated and it certainly turned my life upside down.

That is exactly where my Skydiving journey began. While I was working as a sandboarding instructor in Swakopmund, I grew into a group of friends who all were either skydivers or pilots. So it was rather obvious they’d throw me out of a plane rather sooner than later.

In July 2015, I did my first jump. The first of 5 tandem jumps I would do within the next 12 months.

And no, I wasn’t scared. I trusted all my friends. And I had seen enough people go up in the plane and then land with the parachute safely again. I had no doubts about safety.

If I enjoyed it? I certainly did.

The only reason why I waited so long before starting to learn how to skydive on my own was my fear of getting hooked to it. I was adventurous, loved all kinds of sports and also enjoyed a healthy dose of adrenaline from time to time.

One year later, in July 2016, I wasn’t allowed to do any more tandem jumps with my friends and had to sign the waiver. To do the course and learn how to jump on my own.

The same instructor and friend who took me on my tandem skydive, was now the one dispatching me on my first skydive.

I landed that colorful parachute, and with that first jump, I was addicted. As expected.

From then on, all my earnings went into skydiving. I built up jump numbers, progressed in the sport and worked my way up to the instructors level.

In April 2021, I obtained my latest skydiving license. The one to do tandem skydives. Now, I am not only qualified to train students on how to jump on their own, but I can strap a person to my body and let them experience the exhilarating feeling of falling through the sky.

And while since 2021, I have done a couple hundred tandem jumps, I hadn’t done one in Namibia. The beginning of my skydiving journey.

Until the last day of 2022. On the 31st, I did take up the pressure to do a tandem jump in a company and surrounding where most people thought only men can do that.

I did that jump being filmed by a girl, the only one I ever looked up to in skydiving. The same girl who was a good friend of mine and my witness at the wedding.

Yes, this jump couldn’t have been more special.

A bit over seven years after doing my first tandem skydiving, I did one at the same place but now I was the instructor.

Here my skydiving journey has come full circle but not to an end yet. As long as I have that passion for this sport, I will keep going.

Thank you to everyone who was involved in getting me this far.

More about my skydiving adventures:

We Jump for Fun

More about the life of a professional skydiver

medium.com

When You Got 60 Seconds to Perform

Office duties from a skydiving instructor

medium.com

The Complexity of my Job

It’s more to it than just jumping out of planes

medium.com

Join my email list here if you would like to read more travel essays or sign up for the Medium membership to receive unlimited access to my and other writers’ stories out here (I will receive a commission fee in return).