How I learned about Stari Most Bridge
About a year ago, as I was engaged in the mindless browsing of Facebook, I came across a post from a travel publication that I follow. It showed people jumping off this beautiful bridge in Mostar, Bosnia as hundreds of spectators watched. At the time I didn’t think too much about it.
Six months later I was planning a trip to Croatia. And for some reason the bridge never left my memory. With a quick search, I noticed it was located in Mostar, Bosnia, which is only a short 2-hour drive from Split, Croatia. After some research I fit a day trip to Mostar into my travel plans. I wanted to jump off that bridge…
Preparing for the Jump
The trip was set for September, which gave me plenty of time to mentally prepare for this jump. It started to consume me. I even found a 10 meter diving platform about 4 hours from where I lived. The 10 meter platform is the highest platform in the Olympics, and they are pretty scarce throughout the US. Stari Most Bridge is 24 meters.
It wasn’t until I was standing over the edge of the 10 meter platform that I truly realized how high it was. Looking from the ground, it doesn’t seem bad at all. But it’s high…real high. The only thing I could think of, is this bridge being more than double that height. I would think about Stari Most Bridge everyday from then on.
Day Trip to Mostar, Bosnia
The day I arrived to Mostar, the first thing I did was go straight to the bridge to look over the edge. It was a perfect, sunny day with little wind. I had my friend from England fly over to jump with me so I had some encouragement. We walked around an hour and got food as we try to muster up the courage to do it. Finally, we stood in front of the Mostar Diving Club door and went in to start the process (learn about how to jump off Stari Most Bridge on this page).
One of the diving instructors take us to the practice platform down the road, which is 10 meters high. They helped instruct us on how to jump properly. After a few practice jumps, they said my friend wasn’t ready to jump, but my jumps were perfect.
I slipped into a wet suit and the diving instructors poured cold water over my head and into the suit. You’re jumping into the Neretva River, which is one of the coldest in the world (8 degrees Celcius [46F]). I slowly stepped over the railing, with all 10 toes hanging over the edge and looked straight down. There were over 100 people standing around with all eyes on me. They all had their camera out with the video rolling. I almost jumped two different times before they had me get off the ledge. They said I wasn’t ready. It was one of the biggest feelings of failure I’ve ever had in my life.
So now I have to go back and jump off this bridge.
Using the Bridge as Inspiration
I don’t know what it is about the Stari Most Bridge or how I came to this point. It’s grown to be a symbol of inspiration, motivation and overcoming fear. This isn’t about the actual bridge jump. It’s more about overcoming fear and doing things that put you outside your comfort zone.
While it’s literal, this “jump” can also be interpreted into just doing that thing, or personal change that’s been holding you back. Not only has the bridge inspired me to conquer it, it’s a symbol of inspiration for making changes in my life.
I’m a few days away from my 38th birthday and a firm believer, no matter what age, you can do whatever you want to do. You can change your life, modify your daily routine, and achieve any goals you want. The purpose of this blog is to help inspire and motivate people.
A big part of this website is the forum, which has the purpose of connecting others who are wanting to jump off the bridge. I’m also using this as a blog platform for those like-minded people who may be interested in things I’m actively pursuing. My goal out of this website is to get enough traffic to collect donations for the Mostar Diving Club and maybe one day, have a yearly organized jump!
If you’re interested with jumping the bridge with me in June, 2019, click here to contact me!