When you’re a fluffy person, you automatically disqualify yourself from certain things.  Not in every instance, but at some point you stop imagining yourself doing things like skydiving, bungee jumping, zip-lining and even some amusement park rides.  If you’re still dreaming about them, it’s in a – “When I’ve lost my fluff, I’ll do that” – state of mind.  Keeping in line with the goals of this blog, I’m here to tell you that sometimes you CAN do something you thought was impossible.  And this realization came to me earlier this month when the owner of West Maui Parasail dropped by my desk and invited me out.  I said, “even ME?”,  and she smiled and said, “Even you!”.

I had my friends, Adrienne,  who you know as our guest “Foodventure” blogger and our friend,  Ana,  coming into town over my birthday weekend.  Once I confirmed they were down to fly 1200 feet in the air strapped to a speed boat – we were booked.  I couldn’t believe it… even though the owner said I could go… I still had crazy doubts that I’d get there and they’d not have a harness big enough for me or they’d deem it unsafe for me to go.  So,  even up to the moment before we got on the boat my stomach was full of butterflies of doubt.  Those damn butterflies have kept me from actually following through with so much in my life that I’d say it’s time to buy some bug spray!

Anyway, the girls and I had been having a fantastic and perfect weekend already, full of fancy restaurants, snorkeling excursions and 10, 000 foot volcanic summits.  It was, however, time to fly!  Adrienne had parasailed once before, but my friend Ana was new to the experience and a wee bit nervous about heights.  Therefore,  it was apt that Ana had brought along her Wonder Woman swimsuit with cape!  In fact, when we asked the boat crew if she could wear a cape for parasailing, they were so excited that they orchestrated a photo shoot of her on the front of the boat looking all Wonder Woman-y – it was so awesome!

The most challenging part of parasailing this particular day, was that it was a bit windy and it made the water rather choppy.  I’d made reservations to parasail for 2pm, but in reality it would have had far less choppy waters had I booked before noon.  The choppy waters made the transfer from the water taxi onto the actual speedboat challenging, but not impossible.  I wouldn’t, however, recommend anyone who requires a walking stick, or anything that prevents them from using both hands to hold onto the boat to go.  Not after noontime, anyway.  We all made it a-ok, after all, one of us was Wonder Woman.

Once on board, they suited me up first since I was going solo and everyone else was flying tandem.  Even as they were putting the harness on me I was spouting my doubt and told them I understood if it didn’t fit and it was ok.  The awesome crew member and my friends all just gave me a look that said, “STOP, you’re fine” and I relaxed a bit.  This was going to happen.  I had the gear on and moments later he was escorting me to the back of the boat and connecting me to the parachute.  I had one more fleeting moment of self doubt when WOOSH and I was in the air … floating, flying and reaching higher and higher.  I was finally Harry Potter, Peter Pan, Wonder Woman, Mary Poppins and Dumbo… I was flying!!!  I’m pretty sure I just kept saying, “wow… wow”.  The sensation and the unexpected quiet of it was just so amazing.  You don’t expect a thrill ride to be zen-like, but at 1200 feet you don’t hear anything except the parachute catching the wind.

After you’ve been floating and swinging a bit, they lower you ever so slowly to dip you in the water (my favorite part) before raising you a bit to then bring you back into the boat.  These guys are so good, you just land right on your feet light as a feather before getting unhooked and making your way back into the boat.

Next up it was Ana and Adrienne’s turn to go tandem and aside from a wee bit of fear from the swinging, the girls had a great time flying through the air.  Again, since I’d chosen a bad time of day to go we all got a little bit woozy from the motion of the ocean, but nothing some rice and Coke couldn’t remedy.  We’d also opted for the photo package, which was 100% worth every single penny as the pictures came out beautifully and really helped capture the pure joy that was this excursion.

So, while I’m still too heavy for a lot of big adventures, it doesn’t mean I’m too heavy for a few.  And I plan on doing ALL the fun things!!  In the meantime, here is another example of not-to-miss activities for the fantastically fluffy!!  I can whole heartedly and with exhilaration recommend parasailing, and again thank the awesome crew at West Maui Parasail for making this a birthday weekend I’ll never forget!

PSG Rating: 2-4