travel blog – Andrea M Jara

The TRUTH about our Italy Honeymoon|Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan

It has always been a dream of mine to go to Italy and specifically go with my husband! Movies always showed Italy to be Romantic and Rome to be the city of love. I found extremely cheap tickets to go after our wedding. So we booked our $150 ticket on Air Portugal from Miami to Rome and head off to Italy before our week in Greece.

I would recommend this airline and we paid for extra legroom since Ryan is 6’3 and needs all the room he can get! Luggages, Food and wifi were all included in the price for economy.

Our flight to Italy was a breeze! We had one quick lay over in Lisbon, Portugal and then landed in Rome, Italy. When we got to Rome, our luggages were in a whole separate terminal so we had to walk and try to figure out where our luggages were and after an hour we found them! We took our taxi to our hotel into the beautiful Vatican city. The hotel we stayed at was Suites Giulia and was in an amazing location.

Our first day we spent the day napping and getting adjusted to the time change. We went out for Dinner and Gelato and went right back to sleep.

The next day we started our Journey of exploring! We took an uber which I believe is now illegal in Europe but was the easiest way for us to get the train/bus station in the heart of Rome where we needed to get to our Bus. Which fun fact we found out even though it says you have to get on the bus for the first time at the Bus station you actually can start at what ever stop is closest to you. We got on the Bus went to the colosseum and waited for our tour time! We decided to do a tour because you can skip the LONG lines and when I say long it was hours long and we went during the end of season travel. So extra money is so worth it. We waited and we showed up 30 mins early to check in and found out you had to be there 45 mins early and they wouldn’t let us on the tour. They rescheduled our trip and we got an even better tour as they added the Palatine Hill and Gladiator Area and Walk through the Loser gate. We began to wait for the next tour time which was only an hour and a half later but I began to feel extremely sick. I have never felt so fatigue and sick to my stomach. I have never wanted to faint or felt dizzy in my entire life. We went to the check-in counter and explained to them how I felt and they reschedule us again for the next morning. We quickly called an uber and headed back to our hotel. We ate Tums, ate a meal and slept for hours. After sleeping I began to feel like myself again and we decided to continue exploring. We walked to our closest bus stop and headed to the Spanish steps, Fountain of Trevi and walking around the whole city before we went to Dinner.

The next day we spent going to the Colosseum and the Vatican. We did not do the Skip the line tour for Vatican or the Sistine Chapel. The line looked long but it was only because no matter where you go in Italy you will go through extreme security. Most places you have to be wearing proper clothing, can not carry weapons, can not bring in liquids, must take jackets off and go through metal detectors. We waited in line for 20 mins and the line moved extremely quickly. We then walked to the Sistine chapel to go and see the famous Michelangelo painting. Which is about a 20 min walk from the Vatican that turned into a 2 hour walk for Ryan and I as we got lost and because of the language barrier it hard to ask for directions. Once you enter the Sistine Chapel it was hard for us to get around the crowds and explore in our paste, also the Museum is HUGE!!! Bring your student IDs, yes even from America or any country, as you can get a discounted ticket. Once you make it to the famous painting at the end of the museum, You can not take photos of the famous painting and they will have security everywhere watching and yelling at people who do.

… Now for my favorite part of Italy Florence!

Florence, Italy

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Florence! It has romance, kind people, shopping on every corner. It is a city where you can feel safe walking around and exploring. Amazing foods and views! We stayed at Palazzo Alfieri Residenza D’Epoca Alfieri Collezione and they kindly upgraded us when they found out we were on our Honeymoon to the Executive Suite and gave us free Breakfast! I mean it when I say the SWEETEST PEOPLE WORKED HERE! The room had an amazing waterfront view and was the perfect location to be in it was directly in the middle of the city! We were able to walk everywhere!!! We also found out that Florence is where Gucci is made, which is the reason they have so many Gucci stores and the Gucci Museum and Cafe! Ryan and I obviously had to purchase and when I say that I mean Ryan convinced me that we deserved it for all the work we have done and as graduation gifts haha Gucci as it is also cheaper since it is where it is manufactured and since we are Americans we get our Tax money back as they include tax in all their prices.

No matter what you buy in Europe… SAVE YOUR Receipts! once you are at the airport about to leave any place in Europe to go back to the states you can go to the exchange desk and get back your Tax money. We got back $300 and we didn’t even save everything. Pro tip is though they will ask to see the items you want to receive money back on.

We decided to go on a Wine tour!!! The tour was a small group, on a small private A/c Tour bus and it was the best! The bus was comfortable, had wifi and the tour guide Leo was extremely entertaining and knowledgable! We learned that almost everyone in Florence speaks english and Rome is one of the only places that speak Italian. Every city is almost a different language speaking city.

We also visited the Duomo and the Accademia Gallery where we got to see the Statue of David!

The whole city is literally beautiful and filled with restaurants that are authentic and beautiful unlike Rome where you mostly eat outside under a tent.

Restaurant Recommendation:

Venice, Italy

We were only in Venice for a day. We got off the train and walked to our hotel (A/C Marriott) which was only a one big bridge and one small bridge from the train station we did not need to take a water taxi or walk miles of stairs and bridges to get there. I spoke to a friend before going to Venice and did not realize how it is not easy to get around venice. So be aware where you book your hotel because you will have to carry your suitcases up and down stairs/bridges for miles to get to your hotel. Venice is like one big circle as well! We arrived in the morning, checked into our hotel and walked around the big circle till we got back to the hotel and got ready for Dinner. We went to an “exclusive” reservations only restaurant called Hostaria Osotioosopra and it was delicious!!! We noticed it was raining which is why we bought an umbrella from Rome with us as it was rainy there as well. However, we noticed that earlier in the day we saw EVERYONE with bags on their feet and rain boots on and they have a portable elevated flooring kind of like a stage but literally throughout the WHOLE city. We did not realize, nor were we told by anyone, that the city was about to FLOOD! As we were walking back to our hotel, the same route we just took to get to Dinner was completely flooded!!! We had to take a different route with bridges and such and made it back but… We spent the next hour in our hotel blow drying our shoes dry so we didn’t have to pack wet shoes. So the next morning we decided okay the city is flooded we saw what we came to see.. besides go on a gondola which I was SO excited about until I saw it in person and realized it was nothing like the movies due to the weather the water was extremely rough and you can see the captains were struggling and no one seemed to be enjoying the experience so we decided to use the cash we took out to buy souvenirs for our family. We decided to book a last minute trip to Milan, Italy. We booked a stay at the Milan Airport which we were flying out of to go to Greece anyways so we decided let’s explore the city a little!

Milan, Italy

Milan is filled with stores you would see in America. It was a little bit of fresh air. Starbucks and Uniqlo and the beautiful Duomo !!! We ended the night of shopping by getting gelato and then headed to the Hotel which was an hour train and bus ride back to the hotel. While we got on the train I was randomly selected by Italian police, 4 Military members and a cop approached me and asked for my passport and questions of where I am from and where am I going and what I am doing in Milan. Once they got word from their boss that I was cleared they got off the train and we were off to our stay at the Moxy Hotel in the Milan Airport! This is a Marriott hotel and was extremely clean, up to date with technology, modern looking and had good quick food that you can heat up and eat!

What I learned about Italy and would suggest to anyone going to Italy.

First tip: Study and ask anyone if they have been to Italy and ask what they suggest to eat in that city! Trust me you want to find these authentic restaurants. Do not waste your time just going into a restaurant to eat just because trust me it is not worth it!

Always carry your passport with you! They literally have military everywhere and like stated before I was randomly selected to be checked, don’t know why but I was.

Do the HOP ON HOP OFF BUS in Rome!!!

and Have Fun!!!

Hope you enjoyed the Blog about my trip to Italy!!! Hope it helps you on your next Italy trip!

Up next is our Blog about Magical Dream of a Trip to Greece!

MIAMI Museum of Ice Cream

January 10th, 2018 My brothers, Ryan and I all traveled to Miami to visit the famous Museum of Ice cream! Okay so let’s first start with what I did not like about this place! We first encountered a rude employee who told us to go walk 4 blocks away to a Starbucks until our time came which was in 30 minutes and she did not even let Ryan use the bathroom even though we had tickets to this event and the bathrooms were right behind her. The lighting sucked in all the rooms. It was not worth the $45 for the experience. DO NOT GET ME WRONG I HAD A BLAST but if I am going to be honest I wiSh there were more rooms, more ice cream and a more upbeat friendly environment throughout the whole museum.

In some rooms they served Ice cream!!! WHO DOESN’T LOVE ICE CREAM!!! In this room they had Chocolate ice cream with Pink whip cream and a PINK cherry!!! I kinda question if a pink cherry is good or not for you but YOLO! Deff my favorite Free ice cream in the whole place!

In another room, they had a room filled with Ice cream windmills! In this room the employee was very entertaining and dancing the “Ice cream” Dance!!!

We of course had to take a pic on the Banana swing! This room also had a cherry swing which kinda reminded me of Miley Cyrus!

“I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL!!!!”

In other rooms we got Melted Ice cream which LITERALLY brought back childhood memories of the ice cream machines you would get at like Toys R Us to make at home ice cream! YUM! Frozen Chocolate bananas, and Key Lime Pie ice cream were also served for free!

We can not forget the famous sprinkle pool! I did not know the city was actually fined for getting the plastic sprinkles into the city water and potentially harming animals until I got home from the event or else I would of not had gone in as the Sprinkles really do follow you home! You get like 3 minutes in the sprinkle pool to take as many photos as you possible can and are timed by an employee who is literally counted out loud and not to mention was sweeping behind the pool too so like you could not get the perfect picture during the anxious count down! Thankfully, I was able to capture this photo as soon as we jumped in!!!

Over all I am just always happy to spend time with my family!

If you are looking to go to this Museum, I say if you have the money deff go and have fun! However, we were a little disappointed with the cast members, lighting and the limited amount of ice cream for the money we paid!

A DAY IN THE BAHAMAS

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset — Nassau, Bahamas Photo/Edit: Andrea Jara

Last month my family and I went on a Royal Caribbean Cruise and the first stop was Nassau, Bahamas! So since we visited the Bahamas through a cruise that meant we only had less than a day to explore the island. My family and I decided to take a Taxi to the world Famous Atlantis Resort!

Processed with VSCO with hb2 preset — Atlantis Resort

As soon as you got off the boat, as per usual when you go on a cruise, all the excursion companies and all the taxis drivers get all in your face!

There is also usually loads of shops where residents of the island make homemade souvenirs and sell food/water. Before we got in our taxis we bought loads of $1 water from one of the shops outside, as that was probably the cheapest water we would find on the island.

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset — Shops outside the boat on the port of Nassau, Bahamas

So after we bought water, we loaded up a taxis bus and drove to Atlantis resort! Also, since we were on an island they do not drive on the same side of the road like we do in the States, which made things SUPER SCARY. So we arrived to Atlantis and we had to pay for a day pass which allows you to just walk around the aquarium, beach and Resorts of Atlantis. The pass cost around $42. We received our wrist bands and we entered the resort, where the first thing you saw was a huge ROLEX store… I guess when you go to the Bahamas you go for some ICE ha ha ha (am I funny I think not lol.) My family and I decided to make our first stop in the Casino! In the United States you have to be 21 to Gamble but since the Bahamas is not part of the USA you are legal at 18! So we all played, I lost all my money (Don’t worry, I won back my money on the cruise ship.) Jovani and Ryan won money on the Wheel of Fortune machine, LUCKY!!!

P1220693 — Jovani after he won on this Machine.

After we played all our money. We decided to walk around the water park area. Which was not included in our day pass but no one stopped us haha. So we walked around and honestly… I was so disappointed when I saw the slide that you see in EVERY ATLANTIS COMMERCIAL!!! It’s literally such a small drop and they make it seem like you are falling from space on TV!!! I WAS LIKE…ARE WE IN THE RIGHT PLACE…? After being disappointed, we decided to go to the Atlantis Aquarium!

The aquarium had all the fish you would normally see at an aquarium. I would say the displays around the aquarium were super cool to see though! After the aquarium we just walked to the resorts private beach and walked across a rope bridge that dangles above HAMMER HEAD SHARKS!!! So then we finished up everything we could do with our Day pass, so we went back to the port but before we got back on the boat we went to a bar since again we were all LEGAL!!! We went to a bar called Twisted Lime and we all had our first family drink together!!! We drank BAHAMA MAMAS!!! WHICH HAS OVER 4!!!REPEAT 4!!! DIFFERENT LIQUORS IN IT!!! WHICH ALSO MEANS WE WERE ALL TIPSY L O L (besides Julian my little brother who was in my opinion being a hard ass.)

So then as you could imagine any semi drunk or “tipsy” person, we were all laughing, singing and SMILING WAY TO MUCH ON OUR WAY BACK TO THE BOAT. We then got on the boat, ate lunch and crashed for a few hours. Bahamas was short but a short good time!

Hope you enjoyed- Watch my BAHAMAS VLOG HERE

HERE ARE SOME MORE PHOTOS FROM THE TRIP

Processed with VSCO with a5 preset — THE CRUISE SHIP

Thanks for reading(:

A WEEKEND IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

HOW TO HAVE THE BEST WEEKEND IN THE CITY GUIDE BY ANDREA

I went to Chicago, Illinois February 3rd, 2017 and immediately fell in LOVE with this beautiful city. Chicago is nothing like South Florida. It was 25 degrees with a -14 wind chill. We could walk the whole city rather than have to drive every where and the city was filled with amazing architecture every where you turned.

My boyfriend (Ryan) and I stayed in the city for 3 days and I would suggest having 3 to four days in the city to really be able to experience and take in the whole city.

We were able to do almost everything possible from eating Deep pan pizza and hot dogs to laying 103 floors above the city in Willis Tower.

Chicago is perfect for anyone that has a stomach for food and love for art.

OUR FIRST DAY:

We arrived to Chicago at 10am Friday morning and took the train from Chicago O’Hare International Airport and took the blue line train to Jackson where we were able to switch to a Red line train to Harrison. The total price for both my boyfriend and I was $10. Once we arrived to Harrison we were able to walk to Michigan Ave. where our hotel was located. We stayed at the Hilton hotel on 720 S Michigan Ave, Chicago IL, 60605 USA.

OUR HOTEL:

The 4-star hotel gave my boyfriend and I the best stay in Chicago. The hotel had restaurants, gift shops, Starbucks, high security and amazing views from all rooms. Someone is always there to open the door and greet you with a Hello. Before anyone can enter the elevator they ask for a key to validate you are a guest at the hotel. The location of the hotel is what my boyfriend and I loved the most. Located on Michigan Ave it is on the same road as all the major parks like Millennium Park, Grant Park, Maggie Daley Park, food places, and shopping centers.

Here is the link to the Hotel we stayed at:

https://www-andreamjara-com.filesusr.com/html/45e05e_ac50b8181b3ad52c0f246e1b83e3121f.html

AFTERNOON DAY ONE:

We began walking down Michigan Ave and ate lunch at a sandwich place called Fontano’s Subs.

The subs were fresh and delicious. They had lots of hot and cold Sandwich and snack options. It came out to $20 for two subs, chips and two drinks which is not bad for a shop in the city.

After we ate our subs, we walked down to Millennium Park and saw the Bean for the first time.

The bean is a beautiful place to take photos and make silly faces in the mirrors. You can walk under the bean and also see hundreds of you as well. We were at the bean around noon and it was not overly crowded and was easy to take any photo I wanted to take with the bean. In the same park you can shop and go ice skating. Right next to the bean you can also take photos with the blue wall located directly in front of the Bean.

The Blue Wall is perfect for modeling photos or Instagrams and is always available for people to take photos in front of it.

JAY PRITZKER PAVILION is the park and stage where famous performers have performed and where lollapalooza is hosted every year. This is also located behind the Bean and is Beautiful to take photos. During the summer Chicago also offers a lot of free concerts here to enjoy on a daily.

The BP Bridge is a huge bridge that connects the Millennium Park to Maggie Daley Park.

Maggie Daley Park is the most creative, beautiful, fun park I have ever been to. If you have kids or are playful adults I100% recommend making a trip to this park.

The Park also has a amazing view of the city. We went on a Friday afternoon and only very few people were there. This Park has slides, swings, crazy mirrors, and views of the city. It can make any adult feel like a kid again because that is exactly how my boyfriend and I felt at this place.

OUR FIRST NIGHT:

We started our night and went to Willis Tower Sky deck at 7 pm we had a whole hour with very limited people and no lines to take as many photos as we wanted in the Sky deck. When you enter the building you go through what I would consider a mini museum and then head into an elevator to the 103rd floor where you oversee all the amazing city lights of Chicago.

After the Sky Deck we wanted to try Chicago’s Famous Deep Dish Pizza. We went to Lou Malnati’s which was highly recommended to us by friends who lived in Chicago and by uber drivers. You can dine in or call for carry out at any of their locations. Would highly recommend for anyone visiting the city.

DAY TWO:

We started the morning early and around 9am we walked to a cafe called Wildberry Cafe and was told we had an hour wait for a table. Being the travel prepared person I am I had a backup cafe to go to just in case this situation happened and it worked in our favor as Kanela Cafe was AMAZING!

I ordered the Crunchy French Toast and loved it so much! It was like a cinnamon Roll in a cake form so good and so recommend.

Ryan ordered the Nutella S’mores Waffleand had the sweetest Breakfast of his life.

Right by Kanela Cafe is the River walk and Navy Pier. The River walk you get this amazing view, that makes you never walk to leave Chicago.

After our walk with a view and a sweet filling Breakfast we headed to the Wrigley Field where the Chicago Cubs play Baseball. The field is currently under construction but is still a cool experience to walk around and explore the baseball team’s field who won the world series in 2016.

DAY TWO AFTERNOON:

After the baseball field we decided to try out the Shedd Aquarium.

The line was at least an hour wait to just get to where you buy your ticket to enter the aquarium. Then you had to wait in line inside the building. We did not want to waste that much time just waiting in line in this beautiful city. Instead we enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL city/river side view the Aquarium had.

Both of these photos were taking right next to the aquarium and were an unforgettable site. We even witnessed a proposal next to us. Would recommend a picnic or just visit the view it has to offer.

After enjoying the view we wanted to try Chicago’s Famous Hot Dog. We went to Devil’s Dawg which was a cute shop with every hot dog, shake and onion ring you could ever imagine.

DAY TWO NIGHT:

After we ate hot dogs we headed back to the The Bean to meet some of our friends and viewers. Then right by The Bean is the famous Chicago Theatre.

Ryan and I then went to PORTILLOS WHICH YOU MUST GO TO! We had the Chocolate Cake Shake and Fluffy was right it is the best thing ever. Inside is a two story restaurant, and has five different ordering stations as if you were in a baseball stadium ordering food, it was the coolest place ever.

DAY THREE:

Day three was our chill day as we went to my brothers’ performance for the majority of the day. We began the day with a quick Starbucks run and may I say the double chocolate pound cake is THE BEST. We then wanted to visit the United Center where Dwanye Wade our ex local Miami Heat player now plays with the Chicago Bulls.

At this Arena they used to have a huge Michael Jordan statue where people would come from around the country to take a photo with just like us. As we were there and we were with other tourists looking we were informed that when the Blackhawks, a hockey team who also plays at this Arena, won they replaced MJ with a BlackHawks statue.

After the Arena Ryan and I went to watch my brothers perform in Lincoln Hall. My brothers are part of a tour called Part of my Story Convention. My brothers are also Youtubers, Younowers and inspiring DJs. They are well known as 99goonsquad. After, the performance we hoped back on the road to the O’Hare airport to come back to sunny south Florida.

I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHICAGO IF YOU ARE A CITY LOVER, EVEN IF YOU ARE UNDER 21 THERE IS A LOT OF FREE STUFF AND ADVENTURES YOU CAN TAKE.

Thank you for taking your time to read and hope you enjoy and take a trip to Chicago

HOW TO HAVE FUN IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

I went on a last minute 2 and a half week trip to Houston, Texas and here is everything I did and suggest you to do as well!

WHAT TO DO AND EAT IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

We flew to Houston, using the airline Southwest and arrive to the city early morning. We booked an AirBNB to stay in for the first 2 nights of our 2 week stay. We stayed by Rice University and after the two days we moved to the Galleria area and stayed at the Derek Hotel for the rest of our stay. While we were in Houston we were able to attend a family friend’s Dulce and Wedding. Houston is the perfect place who can literally shop till they drop as there is lots of shops to go to.

WHERE TO EAT:

SWEET PARIS WAS HONESTLY THE BEST CAFE I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IN MY LIFE. It was so good we made sure to go twice before we left to come back to Florida. They had the BEST Nutella Hot Chocolate! I also ordered The Waffle with Nutella, Chocolate and Strawberries. Ryan ordered the Crepe with Nutella, Strawberry and Bananas. I would suggest going to Sweet Paris on a week day or early morning as there is limited seating and long lines. When you walk into the Cafe you can grab a menu and choose from any of their crepes and waffles or make your own. You will not regret going to this sweet place!

Le Peep was walking distance from the hotel Derek and it is a cute little mom and pop looking brunch place. We ordered the LumberJack Breakfast and it came with 2 eggs, 2 sausages or bacon, LOTS of potatoes, and 2 pancakes. We got 2 blueberry pancakes for a few cents more. My boyfriend and I spilt the meal and it filled us up! We loved this place, it really makes you feel like you are at home away from home. We also had the nicest and quickest waiter as well! I almost forgot to mention our bill only came out to $14.75!!! IT IS SO CHEAP AND DELICIOUS!

SPRINKLES CUPCAKE sprinkles offers an indoor shop with a selection of cupcakes, cakes and other desserts. However, the COOLEST part about Sprinkles Cupcakes is the outside vending machine on the back side of the store. You can order up to 4 cupcakes and it comes out with each cupcake individually packages and ready to go! It is so convenient for the on the go Houston, travelers who just need some sugar.

My mom and I also stopped into a nice Italian restaurant that was literally in front of our Hotel. Grotto Ristorante was a super romantic date night restaurant. My mom and I sat night to an open fire and a lit Christmas Tree. We ordered the Raviolis and a Triple chocolate for dessert!

Other food suggestions:

EMPIRE CAFE- Cafe of Drinks, Sandwiches and Desserts

PF CHANGS- Chinese Food

SMASH BURGER- Burgers and Fries.

FIT FUEL – Energy Food, Smoothie Bowls and Protein meals.

WHAT TO DO IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

Visit the WaterWall by the Galleria Mall! This wall is perfect if you want to take a cute Instagram picture, pop a question or want to see something new. I will say it is a little cold being by the water but is totally worth a visit.

Visit Discovery Green Park, this park is FILLED with Instagram background walls, Ice Skating Rink and a foot court.

VISIT SKY HIGH SPORTS this trampoline park will make anyone a tired happy person. It has a foam pit, dodge ball court and trampoline walls.

If you will be in Houston during the winter season, I would highly suggest going to theHouston Zoo to see their christmas lights. It takes about an hour to 2 hours to walk around the whole zoo and walk and see all the Christmas lights and decorations. No animals are outside besides Giraffes, sadly, but the lights make up for it! I would also suggest purchasing your ticket online as the wait in line was about an hour wait. Also, on the first Tuesday afternoon of every month the zoo admission is FREE.

VISIT THE HOUSTON DOWNTOWN AQUARIUM, the aquarium also has rides, tigers and stingray feeding and petting station. It is perfect for a cute date downtown or fun for the family.

Visit the 3 story Galleria Mall, you may need a few hours and get a little lost but this mall is perfect for the person who loves to shop.

ABOUT OUR HOTEL:

We stayed in the hotel called Hotel Derek. This hotel is super close to restaurants, Galleria mall, Target and a little shopping center that has an IPIC, HORSE CARRIAGE RIDES THAT ARE FREE, AND GELATO! The hotel also has elevators that require a key to enter all floors for safety. They have a super cute outdoor pool and bar. A fully equipped gym with color water bottles. Starbucks and a restaurant downstairs and friendly customer service. The room were also a good size for a family of 4-5 as next to all windows is a twin size couch. The hotel will be linked and can be food by clicking the bold Hotel Derek above.

Photo courtesy of Hipmunk.

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps you with your trip to Houston, Texas.

I FACED MY FEAR AND WENT SKYDIVING

I faced my fears to inspire others! Read my blog to find out how my experience with SKYDIVING went!!!!

If you asked me a year ago if I would go skydiving I probably would’ve said Heck no! But Let’s go back in time. When I was around 14 years old, my Dad brought up the idea of going skydiving for my 16th birthday and his 40th birthday. At the time I was like YES, YOLO! LET’S GO! Then I thought to myself “shit, what if I die?” Then I began to think stuff like “What if the plane falls from the sky, what if I die from natural causes on a plane, what if the plane crashes”, and way more other stuff. I then took a flight to NYC and that flight was my first time EVER! Having an anxiety attack on an airplane… it was so weird… Like I knew it was anxiety because I have had attacks before, but I lost feeling in my body, I could not breath, I went numb in my lips and hands/feet and I could not concentrate or think. I was panicking. I thought I was going to DIE!!! I remember my dad telling me to breath in a bag. After that flight I told myself I WOULD NEVER EVER EVER GET ON ANOTHER AIRPLANE EVER AGAIN!!! My parents knew this was serious that I became fearful of something I used to do.. Like this was not my first flight why did I panic??? So I went to a therapist! In Therapy, I learned how to stay calm, control my breathing and to distract myself. My lady would put calming music on and read out step by step the experience of getting on an airplane and being on airplane… for example, “You are entering the airplane, the door has closed, seatbelt sign on, takeoff.” This helped me a lot to realize that the only way to really get over my “fear” is to do it. So June 2016, I took my first flight in years… Ryan and I went to Maine with his family!!! I did it!!! After that I went to California, then Europe and so many other places!!! LIKE WHAT HOW! Anyways back to skydiving… the day that we finally decided to go skydiving was September 12th, 2017.

I was scared but SUPER EXCITED! Super excited because I knew how far I have come and no matter what I will always know that I did it! So the day of, we drove about 2 hours to Clewiston, Florida. It was my brothers, dad and I who were jumping. We arrived to Spaceland Skydive and I was like crap but at the same time I feel like I was completely numb from feeling any type of emotion. So when we got there, we had to sign contracts stating you would not sue for the 100 reasons they listed for you to sign off. You then had to watch a video that said something could go wrong and they were not liable. You then went outside and met the person who will be attached to you and will be jumping out of the plane with you.

My guy was super cool and nice, which gave me a sign of relief because I was super scared I would get a cocky jerk who would spark my anxiety. So i’m putting on my suit and I am thinking shit am I really doing this? And I was also thinking, WOW I look good in this suit, WE LOOKED LIKE POWER RANGERS!!!

I was the green ranger, Jovani was the red ranger and Julian was black!!! Haha I am a dork… I know. Anyways, so the Jumpers also have cameras that video taped us the whole time and so they were getting our reactions for before we got on the airplane and at the time, like I said, I WAS SO EXCITED!!! I was all like yayaya let’s go!!!! YOLO!!! Then the plane got here…

you can hear the propellers running super LOUD! It’s like errrrrrrrrrrr….. And you hear the Jumpers yell, ALRIGHT READY LET’S GO!!! So they also said because Julian paid to have a camera person jump he had to jump first, which I was like man I wanted to be first because It was less time for me to get nervous lol Instead I went second. So we loaded up the plane…

I remember getting in, the Jumper strap us up in the plane and clips you to the plane because they fly with the door open. Everyone including myself is wearing an altitude watch which measures how high you are in the sky, we were jumping 14,000 feet so the watch had to go around 2 times. So we are on this plane and it starts to FREAKING MOVE… of course I am like yayayayay and I am laughing and having fun.

The plane even had a “No farting sign” lol Then I look over and see Julian, he looked like he was going to poop his pants. He did not want to go first. At this time, The plane keep getting higher and higher and at one point, one of the jumpers opened the door that we jump out of and scared the hell out of Julian and I!!! Julian even grabbed the wall with fear, but we still had like 5,000 more feet to go… this is when I realize “OMG I AM JUMPING OUT OF THIS PLANE” I stopped breathing for a second caught my breath and showed no fear because it can kiss my ass.

Then it was time, Julian jumped first… it looked like a cartoon, you jump and become a little ant in the sky. After Julian, was me… My jumper picked me up, walked me to the door and IT WAS MY TIME TO SHINE. We stood sideways and we shook our hips side to side and said 1, 2… JUMP…!!! And I WAS IN THE SKY!!! I COULD HEAR MY DAD AND JOVANI SCREAMING… I WAS FLYING…

It felt so cold and it literally felt like you were floating… I was so like omg I can not stop smiling, but how do I breath with all this air blowing in my face.

I WAS SO OVER THE MOON HAPPY THOUGH, LIKE, I FLIPPING DID IT, I WAS SKYDIVING!!! I then felt so sick to my stomach, we pulled the parachute to open and we floated our way down… the world NEVER LOOKED MORE BEAUTIFUL!!! I still felt super sick and thought I was going to puke mid air, which is normal because of adrenaline… so my jumper took it smooth and we did some spins in the air and we were on the ground in minutes. I landed 3rd out of the 4 of us because I was so light haha but we landed and

I WAS NEVER MORE HAPPY!!! LIKE I WENT FROM BEING SCARED OF FLYING TO FLYING IN A SMALL AIRPLANE AND JUST JUMPING!!! OUT. OF. IT!!! LIKE WHAT??? I reunited with my family and could just hear Ryan and my mom screaming of joy that we made it and how proud they were. Like I was never more proud of myself… ever. You can LITERALLY DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TOO!!!! When I realized that I started living… so live your life and do new things! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

TO WATCH MY VLOG OF THIS DAY CLICK THE LINK- ANDREA M JARA SKYDIVE VLOG

Florence, Italy

Venice, Italy

Milan, Italy

What I learned about Italy and would suggest to anyone going to Italy.

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