It’s something you should do once in your life.

And I mean exactly that: Just once.

Because like hell I’m ever doing it again.

It’s gonna be fun, they said. And of course you think so too because, hey, YOLO!

Until you’re in the thick of it fighting for your life; standing on the edge of the cliff low-key panicking while looking down at the water you have to jump into 5 meters deep and you’re like, Yeah, nah… But take some bloody pictures of me, will you? (They did, but all mine came out blurry.)

You had two options on how you wanted to go about with your adventure: you can either

(a) trek all the way to the canyon jump-off point and then work your way back to do the whole canyoneering thing through the river trail you had already had encountered on your journey to the top; or

(b) hold on tight on the back of a motorcycle as the driver expertly maneuvers the vehicle like it’s the fucking Grand Prix — which I found just as thrilling — through a scenic uphill ride that snakes to the top of the mountain, zipline to the jump-off point, and from then on just try your best to survive the whole entire ordeal. Or adventure, as they call it.

The latter saves you time and energy for a little extra cost but it was an extra I was happy to pay because I LOVE ZIPLINES!!!

Cliff-jumping, not so much, but ziplines? 100% YES! Let’s go!

It was Raven’s first time to zipline and I was excited for her. I think she enjoyed it.

A little backstory: It was an adventure that could’ve not happened at all. We had scheduled it on a Thursday. Wednesday, we arrived in Badian, only to be greeted with the news that the canyoneering had been cancelled for the last two days on account of Monday’s heavy rain and the subsequent river flooding that made it unsafe for the popular tourist activity.

At that point, it was all wait-and-see. We would know our answer on Thursday morning.

Like the ever-organised older sister that she was, May-Ann had already formulated a back-up plan. And maybe even a back-up plan to the back-up plan, considering how tight our schedule was and how we had already booked our forwarding accommodations and all that. We were all pretty much hanging in there, slightly anxious as this was our our main itinerary. The one and only reason why we went to Badian in the first place.

Come Thursday morning, we were thankfully given the green light. Along with our respective guides, helmets, protective shoes, and life jackets that came with a chocolate bar and a bottle of water in its front pocket.

On the very first cliff jump, Raven’s guide had to hold her as they jumped into the water together, where more guides waited at the bottom to ensure a safe landing. I have to admit my heart was literally hammering inside my chest when my turn came. No amount of psyching myself up did the trick. All I knew was that I had to stop thinking about it and just.fucking.do.it.

And so I did.

And it could’ve been a bloody concussion because I felt — and Jeff said it too — that I jumped too close to the cliff. Something that I would tend to do in the next jumps because I’m a scaredy cat.

Unlike my 9-year old daughter who later jumped down cliffs and even swung on swings to jump into the water below — all by herself — because she thought it was fun. Some of the cliff jumps she did twice(!), just for the heck of it.

And there I was, wallowing in my cowardice on the riverside, watching my brave little girl do the things I barely could. A very proud Mama.

Microaspiration aside from having inhaled a bit of river water on each and every jump, I must admit that it was definitely a fun experience in a once-in-a-lifetime way. Very hydrating too, to say the least, because I also swallowed a lot of water as well that I didn’t need the emergency bottle in my life vest.

And the guides were wonderful! They really do go above and beyond, especially Raven’s one, who made sure to keep her safe all the time that I didn’t have to worry too much about her as I knew she was in good hands. Also because I was too busy worrying about myself and my eyebrows.

It was nice sharing that experience with my family. I mean, the canyoneering was a memorable experience in itself, but having them around me to laugh and joke around made it even more so.

It made my fears — and the river water — more palatable, to say the least.

*Raven at years old