Travel

Mattopia Jones and the Righteous Chi
12 December 2022 – 8 January 2023
Miles Walked: 107.86

Chapters:   Interview  •  Itinerary  •  Snorkeling  •  Parasailing  •  Koh Chang

“That’s one of the great things about these adventures: the opportunity to test my own limits.”
Mattopia Jones
(comment made to the Times while soaking up the sun at the Pattaya beach)

Parasailing: The Way of Air

During previous trips, while lounging on the beach at Pattaya with a Singha at his side, Matty would look out across the water and watch people parasail. “Not for me,” he says he would think to himself.

In certain situations, he has a fairly serious problem with heights; prone to a bit of vertigo. Loves to fly, prefers hotel rooms on a high floor; likes a room with a balcony and a nice view. But, there was a church tower in Porec, Croatia, which offered a splendid panorama of the surrounding coastal area; it was his undoing. He couldn’t make it up the spiraling staircase of wooden planks. He started to sweat profusely, he recalls, as he (with deep regret) would look down and through the open space between the steps.

Well, cut to this trip and he signed up for a day-long excursion that included snorkeling, a banana boat ride, a jet ski ride... and parasailing. There was a full menu to choose from and you could remove any options that weren’t of interest and pay a lower fee.

Matty went for it and got the full package, with the thought that it’d be easier that way; skip something that turns out to not be of interest rather than having to pay for it later if it is of interest.

So, while on that dock for parasailing, after watching how it was all managed and choreographed like an assembly line, he queued up and gave it a try.

It was a quick, 5-minute jaunt up in the air, but by the time he got back, he was so excited, he could not sit down. He was, truly, as giddy as a school boy.

“What a thrill!” he told us. “At that moment I understood the rush Tom Cruise must feel while he does his own stunts.”

He can’t wait to do it again. But next time, he wants to do it as a standalone activity, one which offers a significantly longer air time.

In the video, take particular note toward the end. When children parasail, they have an adult ride with them. Watching the adult hop on behind the child as the parasail takes off is fascinating. Those guys are fit.

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