Licensed skydiver Hana Terrell has shared how important her skydiving hobby is to her, and how it’s much cheaper than a class of pilates.
Videos by Suggest
The airtime enthusiast spoke to PEOPLE, where she explained her hobby’s surprising origins and how it’s done wonders for her confidence.
Hana Terrell explained how she always believed she was too anxious to ever do something to death-defying as skydiving. “I remember when I was younger, my sister went skydiving for her 18th birthday, and I was so jealous because I was like, ‘I’ll never be able to do that,’ because I thought I’d be too scared.”
She continued, “I was the most anxious person of all time. I would never think that I would ever skydive ever.”
Some force unbeknownst to her got her to sit with her feet hanging out of a plane in a 2022 trip to Hawai’i. Stepping seriously out of her comfort zone, she performed a tandem jump, and has since been “obsessed.”
And obsessed she was.
She told the outlet that she immediately began researching how to become an instructor. You may not believe it, but all you need to do to become a licensed skydiving instructor is jump out of a hell of a lot of planes.
Experienced Skydiver Says The Hobby Is Cheaper Than Pilates
After one class, seven “coached jumps,” and a total of 25 skydives, Hana Tarrell became a licensed skydiver. The course took her only a few months to complete.
“You definitely build confidence because you understand, first of all, the gear really, really works. It’s really much more safe than people think it is,” she said. “Then you just trust yourself that you know what you’re doing and that you can handle a high-pressure situation.”
“Jumps are only about $30, and I mean, Pilates classes these days are going for $50,” she continued. “It’s more cost-effective for me to jump out of an airplane than to go to Pilates.”
The equipment can prove costly, but after initial expenses, it’s pretty smooth sailing. Or, rather, smooth piloting?
“The cost really never goes away, but you pick and choose what you spend your money on, and I think it’s the best thing that I could be spending my money on.”