Chris “Webby” Webster
Hello All! My name is Chris Webster and I’m an adventure seeker. I love to travel and also love to get an adrenaline rush. I’m from a small town called Chingford that’s what an American would call a suburb of London. Chingford is a pretty cool place for such a small suburb. The soccer player David Beckham is from here. So is the motivational speaker Dr. Steve Bedwell. Steve’s a medical doctor who jacked it all in and became a motivational speaker. Wild, right? In addition, Jony Ive, the guy who designed the iPod, also called Chingford home when he was growing up.
The reason I mention America is because that’s where I currently live. I had the good fortune to come to the States for a few months whilst at University and had a wonderful time! As soon as life presented the opportunity, I was on the first plane over and haven’t looked back. Well, I have a bit…some things are better in England. Namely, fish and chips. You just can’t get the same thing over here.
As mentioned earlier, I seek out excitement and look for the exciting in the ordinary. Take going to the supermarket, for example. You can see some wondrous things in one of those super stores that sell everything. You can have a new set of tires put on while you get a haircut, do your banking, have a pedicure, buy a new shirt, get your prescriptions filled, have lunch AND do your grocery shopping all under one roof! How is that for amazing! The people of yesteryear that had to walk to the individual shops for all of that would be flabbergasted at the level of convenience we experience today. (We also experience an overwhelming level of sensory stimulation that they would never be able to handle, but I’ll save that topic for another blog post.
The biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever experienced was going skydiving. If you’ve never done it–DO IT! Wow! Talk about a life changing experience. It is not possible to describe the feelings of utter excitement and peace that I had that day. You may be wondering how a person can feel excited and peaceful at the same time. I’m glad you asked. The type of dive that I did was called a tandem jump. This is essentially you clipped onto the body of an instructor skydiver. You have to do it this way in many states unless you are certified to skydive yourself; if you’re just doing a one off, then you’ll be going tandem.
I had about an hour of instruction before the jump. They explained exactly what would be happening, how high we’d be going for the jump, how to jump and what position to take once hurtling toward the earth. The important items to remember were to keep your mouth closed, stay in position, keep an eye on your altimeter and pull the cord once you’d reached the right altitude. The thing they couldn’t possibly prepare someone for is the sense of exhilaration you feel once the parachute has opened and you have the chance to take a look around. During my jump there was about a minute of ‘hang time’ after the chute opened before you reached the ground.
I was so fortunate to have done my jump in Florida on a truly beautiful late afternoon. The sky was totally clear and the weather was just slightly cool. The sun was setting which made the sky many pastel colors all at the same time. And the two things I remember the most are being able to see both coasts of Florida at the same time and the complete sense of having no control over my fate whatsoever. It was a surprisingly peaceful feeling. I was clipped onto the instructor who was actually wearing the parachute, he had control over where we landed. My life was in his hands. (And in the integrity of the clips that held my suit to his!)
So, that’s what got me started. Encouraged by the keynote speaker I told you about, this blog is all about my life’s adventures–great and small. I hope you’ll enjoy reading them. But, mostly, I hope something you read here inspires you to see some of your life’s adventures in new ways! And, if you start to feel stressed, check out this cool app.
Chris “Webby” Webster
(Remind me to tell you how I started getting called “Webby”…)
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