When I was 14 I went to Chicago with my grandfather to tour the city. The most memorable experience from that trip was going to the top of Willis Tower, the second tallest building in North America right behind the One World Trade Center.

Walking up to the tower, it was a good thing there weren’t any birds immediately overhead because my mouth was open to the sky in awe. It was like walking up to a man-made mountain with a narrow base. It looked to me like someone had stacked skyscrapers on top of each other like legos.

Once we were done gaping at the sheer size of the tower we went inside to take the elevator to the top. When the elevator started upwards, the acceleration surprised me. It was like I had suddenly gained 20 pounds (About 1/5th of my weight at the time). Still, despite the rapid acceleration of the elevator it seemed to take an eternity to get to the top.

When the elevator doors finally opened at the top of the tower, I was treated with a fantastic view of the city below. On the walls, there were glass boxes projecting out over the edge that you could walk in to for an even better view.

Unfortunately for me, this was the trip where I discovered I have a bit of a fear of heights. I say it’s more of a healthy respect for gravity, but whatever. Building as tall as Willis tower need some degree of flexibility in their construction to remain stable, so they end up swaying a bit with the winds. I expected a little bit of movement when I got up to the top, but despite my conscious mind saying everything was alright, I still felt immensely unnerved at the swaying of the tower. I felt like it was going to fall over any minute. I did my best to stifle that fear, and instead tried to focus on the view. I looked over lake Michigan, curious to see whether I could see the other side from up here. I walked closer to the glass walls to see over the crowd of people, and realized quickly that moving so close to a ledge was a big mistake. I looked down and was immediately overwhelmed with vertigo, so I had to take a few steps back. I had briefly entertained the thought of standing in one of the glass boxes, but if couldn’t get close to a normal glass wall there was no way I would step inside something with a transparent floor.

My grandpa could tell that I wasn’t having a good time, so we took the elevator back down a bit earlier than we planned. I was relieved to be back on solid, unswaying ground. Despite the tower triggering my new-found acrophobia, I still think the view was worth it. Still wouldn’t go back though.