adventure tourism and skydiving

[samanthacullen 0]

I stumbled across a thread discussing skydiving careers, but not wanting to divert away from the initial question im looking for info on a different one..
Im a kiwi in uni at the moment and totally disheartened with it, at the end all i will have is a HUGE student loan and an average teaching job that only earns around 40k a year.
iv been looking into careers in adventure tourism and was wondering if there are any skydivers who work in this area (outside of skydiving, or perhaps even as well as) who could shed some light on the realitys of this life.
I figure it would be better to be doing something that i love and that I can travel with, without spending the rest of my life paying for it. I would love to work in the skydive industry but dont want to turn something that i love into "just a job". is there anyone that works in adventure tourism and does parttime work in skydiving? how does it work out?

[JerryBaumchen 1,354]

Hi samantha,

Shoot an email to:

rcontel@airpress.com.br

Or write to him at:

RICARDO CONTEL
AV. JOAO FRANCISCO DE OLIVEIRA 2710
PQE DAS ARVORES, BOITUVA SP BRAZIL
18550

He has a company called Air Loft. He is a jumper/rigger/etc but has gone on to do just what you are thinking of doing. I believe that all of his business is strictly in South America. Not close but he should provide some good info for you.

Best of luck,

JerryBaumchen

[mccurley 1]

Are you Gary's daughter?
If so then I think you should be talking directly to him and to Kelly. Both of them are very intelligent and pasionate about what they do. From what I've heard about the other sister, this sort of life style realy seems to run in your family.
I have no doubt, with your family backgroound, and a bit of guidance from them, you will find a way to do what your'e thinking about and be successful at it.

But do finish your Uni. Even if you have to change courses. It's always good to have something to fall back on.

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[samanthacullen 0]

yea i sure am and as you say they provide some awesome info for me, dad is really helpful! im trying to get it from as many sources as poss... see what people have to offer from different walks of life.

[riggerrob 643]

Definitely finish university.

A university degree opens so many doors.
For example, I just showed my degree and a letter (from an American parachute factory) to an American Immigration Officer and forty minutes later had a visa!
It helped that my degree was in history/journalism and I had been offered a technical writing position, but far more important was having the attention span to complete a degree.
The US INS figures that university grads - with long attention spans - are far more likely to hold jobs and a much less likely to end up in welfare lines.

As a drunken skydiving instructor/office manager/very capable woman friend told me - at a party last weekend - "It is amazing how much more people will pay you if you have a piece of paper saying that you are smart."