I jumped, and found myself plummeting down 1,300 feet towards the ground. I thought I would not stop falling until I hit the ground. I was certain that my death was near.

My family and I were on a vacation. We were touring New Zealand  and our first stop was Queenstown, the home of bungee jumping. I really wanted to try bungee jumping because it looked very fun. My mom was very reluctant at first, but later let my brother and I do it. We finally agreed on the Ledge Bungy out of the five jumps in the city. I was very excited to go bungee jumping for the first time.

The jump started from a platform. That platform was situated on a mountain. My mother, father, brother and I walked from our hotel to the base of the mountain. From there we took a gondola up to nearly the top of the mountain. Before we went bungee jumping, we decided to to try out luging. It was very fun and my brother and I ended up going down the track about seven times. By then, it was time to head to the Ledge Bungy. My family and I walked to the Ledge Bungy office. We had to sign papers, get weighed and pay for the jumps. My brother and I, still very excited, made our way to the platform. I got there first, so the workers set me up first. They put a harness on me, then attached a bungee cord to the harness. I was finally ready to jump.

Before I could jump, I had to smile at a camera on the edge of the platform for a picture. At that moment, I felt a regretful feeling in my gut. I could not jump. I stood there, over 1,000 feet from the ground, thinking about jumping. I was scared of heights, yet here I was, standing a couple of inches from the edge of the platform, staring down at the ground 1,300 feet away. Should I do it? Would I survive? The worker at the platform said “Jump on my count, 3...2...1...GO.” I did not jump. I was too scared. Instead I said “Wait...so I just jump and your sure I’ll be ok?” “Yeah you’ll be fine.” he answered. At this moment I was starting to have second thoughts. What if the harness fell off and I was sent falling over one thousand feet to my death? I ended up bringing myself to jumping off the platform a couple of seconds later. The freefall itself only lasted for 47 meters (about 154 feet) and for just over three seconds, but it felt like much longer than that.

In movies, characters always seem to perform actions or be stuck in deep thought while freefalling. This was not the case with me. When I was freefalling, I was stuck in time. My mind was almost blank. My only thoughts were that I might not stop falling until I hit the ground. I was plummeting towards the ground at nearly seventy miles per hour, thinking that my fall would last longer than the three seconds it was supposed to last. Just as I thought I was going to die for sure, I started slowing down as the bungee cord extended itself. Relief suddenly flooded my mind. I could not believe that I had survived. The bungy cord bounced me up and down as I had a huge adrenaline rush. I realized I enjoyed it so much, despite my fear, that when I got back up to the platform, I begged my parents to let me do it again.