5 minutes with our manifester Floor

What’s your name and where are you from?

Hi, my name is Floor and I’m from the Netherlands.

When did you start working at Skydive Algarve and what’s your position here?

I started working for Skydive Algarve in September 2019. I’m working in manifest.

How and when did you get into skydiving?

I got a tandem jump for my birthday, about 3,5 years ago. When I landed from that jump I was SO excited that I decided to sign up straight away for an AFF course.

Explain a bit about your progression in skydiving?

I had to rush my AFF, I did 6 levels in one day because the week after I was going to Canada and Finland for my study for a year. I couldn’t jump in those countries, but I went to the Christmas boogie in Eloy that year, to join a group of Dutch people to make jumps. When I came back I started working for the dropzone on Texel (Netherlands), I worked there for 3 seasons so I pretty much did all my jumps there. I did around 100 jumps a year and was mainly doing freefly. But I also loved to do a bigway FS or join a tandem jump when someone I knew was going to jump for the first time. I didn’t really care what I did during the jumps, as long as I was with nice people! In those 3 years I also spent almost all my savings on tunnel time, because I was eager to learn new skills in the tunnel to take them outside after.

What’s a typical day like at SA for you?

There’s not really a typical day at SA, but the days I love the most are the days when there are big boogies going on. Blue skies, happy faces, 3 planes flying and smashing jumps for everyone! It makes me happy when I see that people are enjoying their jumps.

How many jumps do you have? 

Around 400 jumps.

What’s one of your most memorable skydives? 

It is not a specific jump but right before I came to Algarve in September, I went to a boogie in Zeeland (also in the Netherlands) that was organised by a friend of mine. The nicest people were there, the weather was amazing and I was doing some fun jumps with my closest skydiving buddies. The whole weekend was amazing, we ended the boogie with a good party (of course) and the next morning I took my flight to Portugal. It was good to be with those people before I left for a new adventure.

What do you like about being a manifester at Skydive Algarve? 

Most people call me crazy, but I love doing the manifest. Especially on busy days (and that happens a lot at SA) when we have so many things to do within a small amount of time and at the same time the planes flying. It gives me energy to see how happy people are and I’m always trying my best for them. And at the end of the day to hear people talking about their great jumps they did when we’re drinking a small beer outside with everyone. It’s nice to be able to contribute to that, and that’s what I love the most about being a manifester. And oh yeah, the weather is amazing here!

What do you do outside of work, in your free time? 

I like to keep myself busy, I can think of a new hobby and will be obsessed with that for a while (got my scuba diving license in January for example). I’m most of the time with people to hangout, go for dinner or go for adventures. I love to travel and being abroad and every once in a while I like to go to a good party ;).

What makes SA such a special dropzone for tandems and students? 

Of course the weather and the view, but I also love all our instructors that work for the dropzone. And the area is amazing, you’re 10 minutes away from the beach and there are so many other things to do around here.

Try to describe skydiving to a non skydiver. 

It’s hard do describe because there’s not really a comparable feeling that you can get from something that’s similar as skydiving. From the moment the door opens, you’re only focused on your jump and having fun with friends and you don’t think about anything else.

Leave us with a life lesson from Floor.

That you have to live now, not in the past or the future. And you should be the boss of your own life!

What’s something you’re proud of?

I’m proud of all the life experience I have right now and how much I’m totally living my life (in my opinion). I’m always up for new (big or small) adventures and I’m always thinking about how to change things in my life to make myself happier than I already am.