So one year has passed…

It’s been a year since I started having an interest in rollercoasters/Theme Parks and i honestly believe I’ve come a long way.

Ive written this story before but here’s what’s happened in the last 12 months.

A year ago I was terrified of big rides in general. I’m talking shit inducing fear but I wanted to push through and at least give it a go. It actually started July 2018 in Butlins, Minehead which is weirdly the same place I rode my first (and only) rollercoaster back in the early 00’s. Back to 2018 and that horrible/jolty Zamperla Dragon powered coaster has long gone and the main thrill I had my eye on was the Space Bowl flume at the Splash Waterworld pool. I’d never done a big water slide before (even though I was 29 at the time) and needed a sense of thrill in my life. I didn’t want to be ruled by anxiety anymore so I took the plunge and had a huge sense of accomplishment. It’s weird to think i wasn’t adventurous in my youth (except playing music and going to gigs) but when I settled down with a family It REALLY made me realise what I’d been missing. Life got stagnant with the same routine day after day and it was pretty grinding.

After the trip to Butlins I started watching water slide videos on YouTube to have something to work towards/get excited about, but along the way I discovered a channel featuring a geek from the midlands vlogging at theme parks. I was immersed from the start, taking in as much information as I could and next thing I knew, I was a fan of Theme Park Worldwide. At first I still didn’t have the bottle to ride anything but enjoyed seeing all of these fantastic places.

As the months went on I decided to break out of this fear and tackle it head on. I boarded my first coaster as an adult in October 2018 and haven’t looked back since. I set a goal in January 2019 to ride a coaster with inversions. This was something that wouldn’t even be considered 12 months previous, let alone get on The Smiler (which for those that don’t know, has the world inversion record at 14). It’s been nuts and a huge personal achievement. I know it’s nothing compared to enthusiasts but in 12 months I broke through anxiety and didn’t let it dictate my life for the first time.

I’m now close to 20 coaster credits (which I’ll get to next month) and I’m ready to lose the fear forever.