PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Traveling for Work — Greetings from Portugal
Week 98 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
It’s been a more than turbulent week for us. We had three big events at work and then packed our bags to fly to Portugal just to jump out of planes again. It might sound exhausting but we love action and new challenges.
A friend of ours had inquired if we could help her out with a student training course in Portugal for a few days and we didn’t hesitate for long. We handed in leave and couldn’t wait for the day to come.
But this week had started with big events at our airport. We had an international skydiving event with 5 teams of 16 jumpers who were creating formations in the sky. Later on, we had the German national team training and finished the week with a para-skydiving event.
Thursday was the last day of the big event and I had some time on the ground to take out my camera when two of our planes were doing precision flying in order for the skydivers to launch together and find each other in the sky.
Unfortunately, I struggled with my zoom and couldn't capture them in freefall but we could see the formation from the ground. And I did manage to zoom in on the planes just before the jumpers launched.
When two planes are full with 17 skydivers each, it means that 34 parachutes will all come down to land more or less at the same time. I didn't get them all in one shot but you can get an idea of it.
You need to look left and right before making a turn in the air. Just like driving in traffic, you need to know who is next to you.
Friday was quite a good day for us and we did six jumps each I think. I was filming my husband on two of the jumps and actually used one of his photographs for today’s challenge.
He took this picture of me in freefall with a camera mounted to his hand. I thought it would be interesting for you to see how I take all these pictures I share with you. If you look closely, you can see the two cameras mounted to my camera helmet.
Well, and this is how work often looks for us. Saturday was a busy day but it got very hot and heat means turbulences. Just like airplanes, we can feel the turbulences too but are a lot more sensitive to them.
As the wind got stronger and the temperatures kept on rising over lunchtime, we made a weather hold deciding it was too dangerous to jump. For over two hours we were on the ground waiting for the air to cool down a little and the turbulences to stop.
That was when I was lying on the couch taking this picture. You can see the small working spaces where we edit the videos of our customers and hang around when not in the air.
I used the waiting time to catch up with my reading list on Medium.
Being flexible and spontaneous is what you need in our profession.
Right after work on Saturday we packed all our skydiving gear into the suitcases and went to bed. It was late already and we had set the alarm at 3 am to catch an early flight on Sunday morning to Portugal.
This was when our new adventure started. We were flying out of the new Berlin airport which was a very disappointing experience. The waiting area, the way they designed the security check-in, all of it was just not efficient.
However, we didn’t care, we made it in time for boarding and were off in the air.
Sitting on my favorite window seat, I was watching clouds, other planes and the landscapes change over the flight time of almost 4 hours.
We landed, got the rental car, and drove straight to the local airport in Évora where our friend was already waiting for us with the students ready to go up on their first jump.
Unfortunately, the weather didn’t play along. Clouds and strong winds prevented us from doing any jumps that Sunday afternoon. First lesson learned for the new students. As skydivers, we spent lots of time on the ground.
Waiting.
And waiting some more.
Monday didn’t look much better and after doing some ground training with the students we headed off into the city to explore the historic center of Évora.
I know I’m always saying we’re not city people but it was kind of fun exploring this town filled with old churches, chapels, and historically interesting buildings. We even stumbled upon some Roman ruins from the 1st century AD.
But, that same afternoon the weather cleared, the winds calmed down and we did manage to get all our students on at least one jump up in the sky.
For us instructors it was also the first jump at this location and after letting go of the student I looked down and spotted the airfield. It is an easy landing area. Big and free of obstacles.
Great view as well.
Tuesday looked a bit better and the students were able to do 2–3 jumps each. They all progressed successfully and in the evening we chose to go to a sushi buffet for dinner.
I loved it. Since leaving Thailand in March I haven’t eaten any sushi and you all know how much I love it. They had a massive buffet and of course, we all ate too much.
Wednesday was another day of waiting. The weather forecast looked really bad and we didn’t think we’d jump but somehow all the waiting paid off and all the students still got 2 jumps in.
On the way up to altitude, I took this picture of the city of Évora. Great views from above. As always.
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian
Join my email list here if you would like to read more photo 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).
