So I’ve had a few people ask me about paramotoring since I was at AviatorPPG and took my first flights. What was it like, how does it feel, was it worth it, and so on are mostly the inquires that I’m sure all of us get.

These are simple questions and yet extremely hard to quantify. I would love to hear how the rest of you answer these questions and as such, I will share how I answer: The first flight you say to yourself, “Holy Sh*t! What am I doing?”. You have a case of tunnel vision, you’re sweating and your mouth might be a little dry. You are praying that your headset doesn’t go out because the only thing you feel that has you tethered to the ground is the strangely calm voice of your instructor in your ear.

It doesn’t matter how long the flight is, time has little meaning to you. Once you land you are filled with a sense of amazement at what you have just done, a mixture of elation to be alive, and a strong sense of accomplishment that you just did something superhuman.

This isn’t just something that affects only you. As corny as it may sound, your instructors are no longer just your instructors and your classmates are no longer just guys in the same class. There is a bonding, a brotherhood that is forged at that moment that you all shared in this amazing feat. More so than even the act of flyng itself, this will drive you to want to get right back into the air, dismissing any misgivings you felt from your first flight.

On your second flight, you say to yourself, “Holy Cow! I’m really flying!”. The tunnel vision isn’t completely gone, but your eyes open up to notice far more than they did in the first flight. The instructor in your ear isn’t just your connection to the earth, he is your bother who is sharing his knowledge so that you might sore as he does. You start to feel the wind, to notice how you feel the lift and the turns. You are more aware that it is you that is controlling this vessel and while you are far from its master you begin to believe it can be tamed.

Your third flight is your awakening. Sure, this is still a little foreign to you and sure there is still some trepidation, but the world expands. You see the earth from a view that few before you have ever experienced. Details of things you look down at will start to stand out, things that you didn’t even see when they were right beside you. Everything is a little smaller and yet takes on much more clarity from you set in the sky. Despite the fact that you did all of this so you could leave the earth, paramotoring doesn’t disconnect it from you, it just brings it more in focus. If this wasn’t enough, it is at this point that you will notice a sunset or sunrise and you will say to yourself, “Holy God! Why did I wait so long?”. It’s been said many times that this sport changes you. I say it changes you because first, it awakens you. It awakes you to your world and it bonds you with your brothers and sisters that, like you, were reborn from the sky.