Photo Friday: Roatan

I hate heights. It’s always been one of my biggest fears. I get this trembling in my legs, my stomach jumps to my throat, and I get so lightheaded that my eyes sort of gloss over and little stars twinkle and flutter around. And what makes this fear even worse? When the thing that’s high in the air isn’t totally secure or shake-free. Couple all of those things together and you’d quickly see that suspension bridges are basically the bane of my existence. When I was a kid, I loved them. I walked across the Mile High Swinging Bridge without so much as a second thought–wind blowing in my hair as I practically skipped and giggled my way across. Cut to years later. I was doing a tour at Gumbalimba Park in Roatan, Honduras, where my main goal was to cuddle with some monkeys, and part of the tour requires you to cross a suspension bridge. It’s not especially high or anything, but high enough, and it sways and shakes with every single movement. I never know quite how to handle these situations: walk as fast as possible just to get it over with or take it slowly as to not cause unnecessary movement. I stayed a few feet behind my sister and guide so that the bridge didn’t have quite so much bounce and I kept my eyes on my shoes and my hands on the ropes after snapping a few photos at the beginning. For years I’ve been dreaming of doing a canopy walk in Costa Rica, but after this short suspension bridge, I know I have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to overcoming my fear of heights.