Where is the parachute

Okay, the good news is it seems that you get full access after the second mission (Franklin and Lamar) - which was under 30 minutes of gameplay for me.

After the mission I stole the nearest car and circumnavigated the game map. I didn't come across any barriers at all. Or ate least barriers I could find.

Here's the kicker - it took me 40 minutes to circumnavigate the map by car - that did include a couple of dead-ends, off-road excursions in a hybrid, and a head-on with a train. But still - this is one big playground for us. Cheers Rockstar!

I went to Lago Zancudo, there is a gas station where I fortunately found a tanker (what trucks use to carry gas). I parked the security van next to it and I shot the tanker from a distance. Four shots later it blew up and open the backdoor, dropping a brief case with $7,000!!!!