the thing that freaks the shit out of me, is that i'm pretty sure that the whole incident was fabricated in my own imagination, but does that make it any less real? i mean, it felt pretty real at the time?
But do you truly know if it was fabricated? Who is to say when we are dreaming we are not experiencing reality but when we are awake we are? The "insane" man experiences dreams while he is awake, so in turn they are his reality. Who is to say when we are awake we are dreaming and when we are dreaming we are experiencing reality?
"Though this be true, I must nevertheless here consider that I am a man, and that, consequently, I am in the habit of sleeping, and representing to myself in dreams those same things, or even sometimes others less probable, which the insane think are presented to them in their waking moments. How often have I dreamt that I was in these familiar circumstances, that I was dressed, and occupied this place by the fire, when I was lying undressed in bed? At the present moment, however, I certainly look upon this paper with eyes wide awake; the head which I now move is not asleep; I extend this hand consciously and with express purpose, and I perceive it; the occurrences in sleep are not so distinct as all this. But I cannot forget that, at other times I have been deceived in sleep by similar illusions; and, attentively considering those cases, I perceive so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep, that I feel greatly astonished; and in amazement I almost persuade myself that I am now dreaming."
~ Descartes' Meditation 1
Reality is a false word with no meaning because it means everything. Reality is what we make of it, and is relative in every situation. I consider all trips as "reality" because they took place, just because they might have taken place in your mind does not make them any less real. Your mind is a portal to other worlds, that in turn exist in what we call and attempt to comprehend as "reality".