Cliff Leaping Shipwreck Seaside with Loopy Russians in Zakynthos, Greece

Life on the Edge

Previous to arriving in Greece, I already had it in thoughts to leap off the cliff overlooking this explicit seashore. I had been watching the YouTube movies for years and, being me, knew this was one more mission I wanted to perform in my lifetime.

After which I received right here, and actuality gave me a kick.

I assumed that, like many different bungee spots world wide, I might be capable to pay an organization some exorbitant sum of cash to place me in a harness and throw me off the ledge. As a substitute, there was no person to greet me. No firm with a wonderful security document and a whole lot of 5-star evaluations on Fb. No waivers to signal. Nothing.

At first look, it appeared there was no manner for me—a novice jumper with no coaching (or gear)—to meet one in all my desires.

However that each one modified after I met Pavel and his gang of loopy Russians.

A Probability Encounter

I had simply completed climbing to the thin fulcrum that overlooks Navagio Seaside on one facet and an empty expanse of the Ionian Sea on the opposite. My selection of Havaianas flip-flops for this gnarly hour-long trek was lower than perfect.

As I stood on the skinny piece of boulder, trying down on the seashore, I noticed a pink bag fly over the cliff’s edge from one of many different vantage factors. On one finish of the bag was a rope, and that rope terminated on the opposite facet subsequent to a shirtless, pot-bellied man with a shaved head.

This was a person I wanted to talk to. Stat.

I hurried again to the primary path and climbed by the comb to search out him standing there, clipped to a climbing anchor, surrounded by a bunch of pals. Earlier than I even mentioned hi there, I acknowledged an all-too-familiar language being spoken.

“Russians,” I believed. “Of course they’re Russians.”

Pavel was there with 17 of his pals. Crammed 9 folks to a sleeper van, they’d spent per week driving from Moscow to Athens, they usually’d simply arrived on the ferry to the island of Zakynthos.

I launched myself to Pavel and the gang and requested their plan. “To leap!” was the plain reply —and I began getting excited. This was my ticket!

After which occasions took on a lifetime of their very own—and right here I used to be, hurtling over a cliff’s edge, with nothing beneath me however a protracted, horrible fall. My destiny lay firmly within the arms of full strangers who, upon reflection, appeared extra “enthusiastic” than “vastly skilled.”

It didn’t matter now. I’d made my selection. Now I used to be going to search out out if it was the precise one.

The Launch

For a second—a fraction of a second—the whole lot goes nonetheless, as if somebody presses the sluggish movement button and life performs at half velocity.

Suspended within the air, my thoughts goes black, as if to guard my reminiscence from what’s about to turn out to be a really traumatic finish to my life.

In accordance with the Splat Calculator, it takes round 7 seconds for a person of my weight to fall 650 toes. Underneath regular circumstances, the bungee wire would drag issues out, absorbing all of the vitality of my fall and pulling me to security.

There’s just one drawback—and it’s a giant one. These guys aren’t utilizing bungee wire. It’s rope. The sort that doesn’t stretch and doesn’t take up all of the vitality of your fall. They failed to say this element.

If the rope snapped, properly, I used to be going to hit these rocks going round 180 toes per second. Stay quick, die extraordinarily broad and colourful. That is the character of the deal I’ve made with Destiny. There isn’t any margin for error right here.

I hold within the air for what looks like a lifetime.

However an instantaneous (and an eternity) later, my coronary heart drops into my abdomen, my thoughts returns to consciousness, and I start to plummet, heading in the direction of free-fall speeds of 120mph.

First: Worry. The “holy shit” second. I can’t even scream. It consumes me. Every part is uncooked terror.

Then: Pleasure. For this reason I’m right here. “IT’S SO MUCH FUN!”

And shortly thereafter: Peace. Tranquility. A way of unbreakable calm steals over me in sluggish movement. The sort that solely strikes whenever you’re nostril diving towards the bottom in free-fall. I’ve transcended all different feelings, and all of the stress in my world vanishes. There’s solely acceptance.

It’s a heightened state of bliss far higher than something I’ve recognized earlier than.

But time is merciless. Just a few seconds later, it’s gone, and the tip of the rope snaps my physique—and thoughts—again to actuality. It’s unexpectedly violent. Solely now do I notice that it wasn’t a bungee wire wrapped round my physique, however rope. It’s okay, although—I’ve survived.

With the adrenaline nonetheless vibrating all through my being I swing alongside the face of the cliff, basking within the afterglow of the frenzy.

Lastly: relaxation.

The entire thing is over in eight seconds or much less. And as I hold from the rope, swinging alongside the face of the cliff, the feelings roar by me. The concern, the thrill, and the calm all meld right into a single feeling that solely has one identify.

It’s a sense reserved for the jumpers. For the risk-takers. For those who select to not let concern rule their lives. It’s a sense that transcends you from the bodily realm into one thing higher—one thing deeper.

It’s known as “feeling actually alive.”

It’s not about overcoming your fears. It’s about being with them.

There are two varieties of folks on this world…which one are you?