Taking a trip after all those years

Hello all,

I have a quandry. I am now approaching my late twenties. I still enjoy taking ecstasy fairly regularly, however I have calmed down since my younger days. Back then, I tried pretty much everything including a six month period of doing acid fairly regularly. It was fun but ultimately the fun started to be eclipsed by the six hours comedowns and the wasted feeling for the next few days. The complete otherwordly feeling of vacancy didn't seem compatible with post-Uni life. Also, friends who had done that one trip too many led me to question whether the long-term effects of continued use were worth the short term reality transformation. Self consciousness began to creep into what had used to be an exercise in self-exploration.

Recently, a friend of mine put forward the idea of having a weekend away with a close group of friends and doing one more for the road. That got me thinking.

Part of me wants to. Another part of me wonders whether it will be worth it. Another part of me wonders whether, given my advancing age, it would be prudent to go there. Who knows? My concerns could mainfest themselves as a bad experience. I gave up weed after Uni because I no longer enjoyed the feeling of being a sedated moron (no offence to smokers, that's just the effect it had on me) and the mild paranoia and self consciouness that began to accompany my sessions (Did I act like an idiot there? Did I look stupid? Do my friends really like me?). I'm not sure that would be able to deal with the loss of control and "normality" with quite the same ease that I used to.

Has anyone else had the experience of taking a trip years after giving it the heave-ho? How did you find it? Was your mindset different? Did you enjoy it? Did you wish you'd done mushrooms (ie. easier dose control) after all?

I'd be interested in hearing about other people's experiences.

Cheers.

My suggestion would be to plan the holiday itself, if you want to have a weekend with your friends, rather than planning for the drug experience too much. Like, of course take a little something with you just in case you want it. Then, if you get there, and decide you all feel up for a half or whatever, then slowly work into it at your own pace. If you feel like it would be too much hassle, or the mood isn't right, or something else occurs, then you can just leave the drugs in your bag and forget them. Setting in motion plans of a 'drug weekend' can often lead to unrealistic expectations and unpredictable results, in my opinion.

With regards to the drug use, I'd personally say do if if you want to, but not because you feel like it's your one last dance, or because all your friends are going to give it a good hard punch before retiring from drugs forever, or any other reason.

At the end of the day there's really three outcomes I can see, if you get together, take things easy and make sensible decisions about drug intake: (each person makes their own decision whether to take drugs or not, regardless of what the others decide)

1. You personally decide against it, regardless of what everyone else is having.
You'll probably wonder whether you made the right choice, but if you've arrived at this decision, it's probably because you have enough personal misgivings that you've decided to opt for the safe route and just not. So if other people there do take drugs, then you get to see how it's affecting them, have a few laughs, and possibly play trip sitter and make sure people are ok now and then. It's not a bad option at all, being a trip sitter can be fun.

2. You personally decide to take it slowly, and test the waters bit by bit.
This will satisfy your curiosity about whether the experience will be anything like you remembered. You can always take more, but it's hard to get rid of drugs once they're in your system. By taking it slowly, using small doses, and cautiously working yourself up to a nice recreational dose, you should hopefully avoid getting yourself into too much trouble... plus you can stop dosing whenever, and just ride it out at a comfortable level of effects, without realising 'omg it's not like i remembered, and i'm going to freak out' and having 8 hours of trip left. Remembering what you know about acid, try to avoid redosing too quickly.

3. You personally decide to go for it, and munch a bunch of acid just like you used to in the old days.
This could be where you come unstuck - because your mindset is already pointing toward doubts and anxiety related to tripping that hard, particularly since you've had some years off, and your outlook on life has changed a bit. I'd recommend against this option, only because diving in the deep end can be a bit scary. However, if you get half way through Option 2, and realise it's going great and that all your fears were unfounded, then it's always possible to continue inceasing the dose until you reach a level you're comfortable with.

Either way, there's gonna be a comedown, that's what drugs do and you know it well - so if you're going to embark on this journey of rediscovery I'd suggest planning for the comedown in advance. Try to give yourself a day or two grace before you have to get back to work or 'real' life, that sort of thing. It might help to remember that when you first started out with drugs, as a younger person, you used to laugh at comedowns ... recognise that it is a normal part of the drug experience, because your brain has to recover, and laugh at yourself. It's hard to be depressed with a comedown when you're in stitches because you can't remember that the fuck you were about to say.

BigTrancer

top advice from BT.

if you do decide to go for it, i'd recommend taking precautions in having the optimum possible set and setting.

things such as -

A short period of meditation before the trip to settle your mind.
Keeping warm, comfortable clothing and a set of spare clothes.
Having several areas you might explore or find comfortable tripping in... if things get tough, change the situation you're in.

hope everything goes well,
jimbu

I stopped using acid for several years (think 200+ in a year) for almost 3 years and then tapered off. I then stopped for 6-7 years and had like 2-3 trips in between. I semi recently came back to using acid and it definitely is a lot better than it used to me. It's either my age, mindset, the actual drug that has improved because acid experiences these days, although similar, are a lot more visual - pronounced and all together, just a hell of a lot better. I wish I could type more at the present but I am soooooo busy at work and needed this 2 minute breather to stop my head from blowing up with all the work I'm doing at present. Start of financial year madness!

Anyway, I'm sure I will add more to this later in the day or week. Overall, acid experiences vastly improved for me!

I think that if you have had a break from something you really enjoy, when you go back to it, it will take you for the ride of your life.

I had a break from acid for about 5-7 years and although im only 23 I feel I enjoyed it more now.
I used to be the back seat tripper, always the one that would go na, that sounds too intense or lets go back inside or whateva.

Now I usually make the action, like at a Psy Trance party on the weekend, I bought some Mull Muffin with us in the car, once we were tripping, I wanted them. The only problem was my mates weren't up for the challenge of going out of the club and up the car park (which is next to the club) so we didn't go. A bit too intense for just me.

When we finally left and I was still tripping hardcore, I said who wants some muffins (and as we all know when your off your dial not much tastes good) especially my muffins. They piked but gave me the dare.

Anyway to prove a point I could eat it I took a big bite, and after about half an hour of chewing and near dry reaching, I swallowed.
I have never been more proud of myself.

Tripping rocks I think you will have the time of your life, if you take that path.

On the other hand I am now after this weekend having another break from it as one of my friends, doesn't want to except that what she tripped was part of the trip and thinks its reality.

When tripping let what happens happen, cameras are awesume if you think you need to prove something, but when they get developed it won't be what it was while tripping.

FUN FUN FUN!!!!!

Top advice chaps

I've never been in the same situation, so I don't have any advice to offer from my point of view... But, frankly, I think your curiosity warrants giving it a go.

put the emphasis on your friends and what they mean to you rather than the acid. celebrate what your group has derived from the substance, rather than trying to gain any more from it. you could discuss the enduring memories you all cherish, and where you are headed as a group.

i personally find the notion of a retiring trip is elusive, kind of like a dog chasing its proverbial tail. i think the trip you retire on is the one you don't expect to.

Hmmm. It's not so much a retiring trip, as I gave them up after Uni. I'd say a good metaphor would be a hippy who lived in Goa during the 70s wondering if he should go back there for a week's vacation or a guy wondering if he should go back and sleep with his crazy ex.

Thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated

I was in the same sitch a few years ago. I found one thing BT said really helped me and that was easing into it. I just had a half then a quarter then another quarter. As I got familiar with the experience again all my anxiety disappeared. I was coming back from about a four year break after the most intense bad experience of my life but I came back without any problems.

That quote that that smart cool guy said that time that people remember sums it all up for me. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

.

^ Tripper!

^^^
^^^One of my friends reckons on speed you can react quicker to punches coming at you but on acid you know when the puches are coming before they even throw them. He loves fighting on acid, Bloody Tongans.

stoobee said:

Hello all,

I have a quandry. I am now approaching my late twenties. I still enjoy taking ecstasy fairly regularly, however I have calmed down since my younger days. Back then, I tried pretty much everything including a six month period of doing acid fairly regularly. It was fun but ultimately the fun started to be eclipsed by the six hours comedowns and the wasted feeling for the next few days. The complete otherwordly feeling of vacancy didn't seem compatible with post-Uni life. Also, friends who had done that one trip too many led me to question whether the long-term effects of continued use were worth the short term reality transformation. Self consciousness began to creep into what had used to be an exercise in self-exploration.

Recently, a friend of mine put forward the idea of having a weekend away with a close group of friends and doing one more for the road. That got me thinking.

Part of me wants to. Another part of me wonders whether it will be worth it. Another part of me wonders whether, given my advancing age, it would be prudent to go there. Who knows? My concerns could mainfest themselves as a bad experience. I gave up weed after Uni because I no longer enjoyed the feeling of being a sedated moron (no offence to smokers, that's just the effect it had on me) and the mild paranoia and self consciouness that began to accompany my sessions (Did I act like an idiot there? Did I look stupid? Do my friends really like me?). I'm not sure that would be able to deal with the loss of control and "normality" with quite the same ease that I used to.

Has anyone else had the experience of taking a trip years after giving it the heave-ho? How did you find it? Was your mindset different? Did you enjoy it? Did you wish you'd done mushrooms (ie. easier dose control) after all?

I'd be interested in hearing about other people's experiences.

Cheers.

Click to expand...

After a period of not touching Acid for 5 years....I had a few liquid drops and it was like my first time!!!



It was like I was a lil kid again!!!