IS PARAGLIDING THE SOLUTION TO THE MID-LIFE CRISIS?

The midlife crisis hits everyone a little differently. For some, it’s like a ninja in the night—sneaking up on me only to turn a corner and find it standing there. For others, it’s like an ice bath; I casually look up in the mirror while brushing my teeth, only to see an old man staring back at me. That was my story. I was 49. I had always looked much younger than my age, but that guy in the mirror couldn’t hide the years creeping up on him (or me). The next thing I did was the math: years lived, years left (possibly) to live, not forgetting to subtract the years of limited mobility and faculties. The result was an astonishingly short period of active life in front of me. Panic, anxiety, and regret started to wash over me. Even though I’d lived a great life, I knew I needed to make sure these years were lived fully and exceptionally. I didn’t have enough for a yellow Corvette and still had kids and a wife, so I went to Costa Rica to do some surfing and think about what an “exceptional” life would look like.

After returning, over dinner with one of my best friends (who happened to be a paragliding instructor), he mentioned that he was going to Europe to learn and practice acro paragliding. In a moment of clarity, it hit me. It was January, and I asked him, “Can you teach me to paraglide well enough to join you in Europe this summer?” His answer was a resounding yes. I looked at my supportive and understanding wife, and she said, “Go for it.” And just like that, I had changed the direction of my life at a dinner party. It was a decision I would never regret and turned into probably the greatest adventure I’d ever experienced.

We began practicing kiting within a couple of weeks, and I had my first solo flight in March. The scary yet reasonably safe experience was just perfect. It made me feel alive and doing something profound with my life. I was flying! Not in a plane or falling under a parachute, but actually soaring like an eagle! The learning experience was immersive but fun. My motivations to stay safe and return to my family kept me on my toes but gave me an amazing feeling of being alive. The colors returned, the energy returned, and my passion for living returned.

I bought my ticket to Geneva, Switzerland, for a month, from June 15 to July 15. I would be going solo with about 35 flights under my belt by the time I got off the airplane. I would be meeting Jon (my instructor and friend) in a week or so, and we planned to do some flights together (which we did, and they were EPIC!). I had rented a small minivan in which I could sleep and roll from place to place.

My first stop was Lake Annecy. I was a little jet-lagged but managed one sledder flight there before heading up to Le Grand Massif at Samoens. I spent four days getting used to flying in the Alps and meeting super cool fellow pilots. Jon met me, and we headed off to Chamonix for an incredible couple of days of flying with Mont Blanc directly in my face the whole time. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. It was on par with visiting another world, being an astronaut, or a race car driver! The sensations were absolutely incredible! Then landing in the iconic village, sitting back and having a beer and hamburger (France makes the best burgers, I found out) while looking up at the incredible scenery that I had just experienced literally from an eagle’s perspective!

From Chamonix, I went back to Annecy and flew for 3.5 hours (see flight). Jon went to Spain, and I continued up to Switzerland, flying next to the Eiger and soaring the iconic Mürren valley off of the Schilthorn. After a quick trip to see my kids visiting their grandma in Italy, I drove along the French Riviera, visiting Nice and heading up to Dossard for a flight.

I continued to Spain to meet Jon at Oryganya, where the world’s best acro pilots gather for the flying season. This mountain has perfect steady updrafts all day long. You can literally fly for eight hours without coming down. We flew for a few days there, then I headed down to Barcelona and back to France. Before I left, I got to fly St. Hilaire for a couple of days.

I took daily baths in crystal-clear rivers and lakes, ate organic, grass-fed food, and felt safe and welcomed almost everywhere I went for the entire trip. It was a perfect adventure, and paragliding had taken me there.

I can’t say that I came back home and was finished with my “crisis,” but I felt I had seriously knocked a big notch off my bucket list. Paragliding had opened a new door on what was possible to experience in this life. I continue to explore new ways of traveling through this life experience, but paragliding holds a top spot when I really want to feel alive.