Tell me about your best trip!

July 6, 2004 6:53 AM

Hopefully, the following question's not too taboo. My friend was reminiscing about trippin' and the activities during. What tripping activities do y'all remember that were phenomenally wonderful? How did you delight those senses?
posted by Gyan to travel & transportation (40 comments total)

I liked running across downtown at night, stopping whenever something seemed particularly noteworthy.
posted by majick at 7:06 AM on July 6, 2004

Watching a waterfall was pretty damn entertaining.
posted by bondcliff at 7:19 AM on July 6, 2004

Revolver/Sgt. Peppers was pretty cool (as was "Revlover", a tape my buddy made by setting up a turntable to run backward, and taping the whole album in reverse). The secluded beach on Kauai was pretty awesome, too.

We also used to sip Sprite around the "launch window". After a half-hour or more of just waiting around, when you realize the bubbles are percolating through your head, then it's a pretty good indication to start paying attention to the world around you.

Pretty much the point of the exercise, though, is that it makes everything totally cool. Some of my least enjoyable moments--aside from friends totally losing their shit, which is a whole other story--were just from people who were trying too hard to find cool things to do.
posted by LairBob at 7:38 AM on July 6, 2004

Pretty much the point of the exercise, though, is that it makes everything totally cool. Some of my least enjoyable moments--aside from friends totally losing their shit, which is a whole other story--were just from people who were trying too hard to find cool things to do.

Point taken, but let's assume an user who wants to actively engage interesting perceptual threads rather than just be amused at the novelty of perception or randomly pick a thread for observation and connections.
posted by Gyan at 7:46 AM on July 6, 2004

'shrooming on Halloween. Had a turkey carcass in the fridge (Canadian Thanksgiving), grabbed the turkey went out to the balcony and started waving the carcass in the air screaming "I ate my dog!". Happened to catch another group of people (who were also 'shrooming) who were walking through our parking lot all huddled together. They froze up and wouldn't move for about 5 minutes after my outburst.

I still get a chuckle thinking about that.
posted by smcniven at 7:47 AM on July 6, 2004

I loved staring at other people's eyes, of course.

I loved the anarchic thoughts that overtook my usually somewhat Puritan mindset: Me: What prevents me from obtaining the sign hanging in front of that dentist's office? Friend: A pair of bolt cutters? Me: Why are we not all naked? Friend: Because everyone is not as high as you are and we still have some sense of self and decency remaining, and we do not want to suffer the uncomfortable social awkwardness which would certainly result from such a breach of protocol?

I loved trying to find a physical way to imagine the fundamental thought process changes taking place . . . people = units, houses = storage, interaction between people = units++/--. Thoughts = arena with floating words, lesser-used words harder to reach for but all there. I had mad vocabulary skillz when tripping. Bullshit like that. Vocabulary games were the best, though. How many synonyms for transient can you think of? What would the style name of Jesus's sandals be if they were mass-marketed today? If you were of the opposite sex, what would you say about your sex? What's the craziest word you can think of right now? What is the first word you remember knowing/enjoying?

Mildly funny story: first and only trip, and I'm scared to death even though I have lots of friends around and several close female friends offering particularly strong support. I hadn't peed in what felt like forever, and I was worried about this. I kept trying to pee and just staring into the mirror instead of peeing because I could not seem to pee. Later I look at my hands and see that they are blue, and become convinced that I am suffering from kidney failure. My supportive female friends come over and examine the situation. Finally, the same grounding friend who recommended bolt cutters earlier says, "Go wash your hands." Then the other friend starts cackling madly. It seems the dye in my new dark blue jeans was coming off on my hands.
posted by littlegreenlights at 7:54 AM on July 6, 2004

Point taken, but let's assume an user who wants to actively engage interesting perceptual threads...

Granted--that's why I offered my recollections of the Beatles albums, etc. On more than one occasion, I've also enjoyed walking barefoot, and paying very specific attention to the various textures/surfaces I was walking on--without looking too much at the ground, of course. (The first time I did that, it was inadvertent--I had had a weird moment inside, and ran outside for some fresh air. I quickly found myself walking through the Upper East Side barefoot, marveling at the different textures of concrete, etc., until it struck me just what I was doing. Later, I've done it in other, much more sanitary environments, and really enjoyed it.)
posted by LairBob at 8:12 AM on July 6, 2004

God, those inane analytical games are why I never liked tripping that much. I over-analyze quite enough as it is. Anyway, I'd say that it matters less what you do and more whom you do it with. Make sure you're around fun people whom you trust. Whenever I make plans before I trip, I always find something else more interesting and ignore my original itinerary, anyway. I really only have one critical piece of advice:

Stay away from sober people. They are the enemy.
posted by ChasFile at 8:13 AM on July 6, 2004

Roller coaster in the afternoon.
posted by the fire you left me at 8:15 AM on July 6, 2004

In a city, stick to night time. Outside cities, it doesn't much matter.

My first trip: Sitting in a 4th floor window on Riverside Drive, NYC (at 110th Street), overlooking the park. Awesome! I ended up talking to the trees, and then listening to the complaints of the bedrock underneath the city.

Old advice I heard but never seemed to be an issue: Avoid looking at yourself in the mirror. Probably good advice, just in case you are one of those who would react badly.
posted by Goofyy at 8:34 AM on July 6, 2004

Stay away from sober people. They are the enemy.

Yes, but the real enemies are drunken people. Do not get corralled by a drunk, especially not when you're coming down.
posted by aramaic at 8:35 AM on July 6, 2004

Riverside park is an awesome place to trip but I wouldnt wander around much of the rest of the city without a guide thats not tripping.

I find that I have the most fun when I have plenty of stimulus ready to go. One of the most fun trips I've had was watching star wars episode 1 on opening day... (liam neeson is a GIANT! how can they fit him in there?)

for me trips only start to get unpleasant if i let the rabid introspection thing go on too long, so I like to have options available to distract me. yeah the mirror thing can trap you too. looking at big art books is awesome, but I think the best place to trip is in nature -- but DONT go out without someone thats not tripping - guides can definately make or break a trip. also, avoid tripping with people who are psychologically unstable.
posted by headless at 8:43 AM on July 6, 2004

The Rush/Primus tour a ways back was good. So was Nightmare on Elm Street 5, which was in 3D for the last 15 minutes or so of the movie.

That didn't stop me from wearing the glasses during the whole film, however.
posted by adampsyche at 8:45 AM on July 6, 2004

I thought acid and shrooms were the only reason people under thirty go to art galleries? I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned.
posted by geoff. at 8:48 AM on July 6, 2004

for me trips only start to get unpleasant if i let the rabid introspection thing go on too long

The exact opposite.
posted by Gyan at 8:49 AM on July 6, 2004

Many more experiences here.
posted by waxpancake at 8:54 AM on July 6, 2004

Depends on what your drug of choice is.
posted by beth at 9:32 AM on July 6, 2004

Pretty good trip.
posted by Gyan at 9:38 AM on July 6, 2004

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T

Randy Grief's Alice box set

A back to back Mary Poppins and Hard Boiled
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 9:44 AM on July 6, 2004

Try to get out into the country. We used to go to a friend's cabin on a lake and listen to this Hendrix album. IMHO communing with nature while listening to tunes is the way to go.
posted by vito90 at 9:45 AM on July 6, 2004

I found our local park fascinating after dark. Lake, trees, grass, deer, stately home/Dracula's castle. I couldn't get enough of it.
posted by squealy at 10:23 AM on July 6, 2004

Listening to the Art of Fugue is pretty damn good as well.
posted by Gyan at 10:54 AM on July 6, 2004

Art supplies, art supplies, art supplies. Especially really tactile stuff -- modeling clay, fingerpaints, papier-mache...

Not that I'm speaking from experience, or anything, of course.
posted by ook at 11:23 AM on July 6, 2004

I'll be contrary and say that looking at yourself in a mirror is actually pretty fun. You get to see yourself without recognizing yourself, so you can see what you look like without the filter of knowing what you look like. Er, or something like that. Also, check out the size and depth of your irises.

Other fun activities: listening to music, duh. There are the obvious choices (Phish's various live albums, just about anything by The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon") and the not-so-obvious (Bjork's album "Vespertine" is pure bliss, to the point where I don't/won't listen to it normally because I strongly associate it with the stoned/psychedelic experience; Hooverphonic's "Blue Wonder Power Milk" is also enjoyable). Also, if you've got a white, blank wall or ceiling to stare at while listening to the music--especially if your dorm room has a cheap-ass stucco ceiling, which therefore has a texture to observe moving--so much the better. And if the music is coming out of your computer through WinAmp or iTunes or something like that (as opposed to listening via a walkman/discman/MP3 player), turn on the visualizer, set it to full-screen, and watch the patterns shift with the music.

Not-so-fun activities: watching movies or stuff on TV. Never held much interest for me. Why watch other people's realities when you can generate your own?

I would strongly reiterate the link above to Erowid.org, which is a fabulous resource, covering everything from laws in your area/state/country to thousands of trip reports to non-hysterical and fact-based safety alerts for the (relatively few) chemicals that have been linked to serious health problems. Also, props to DanceSafe.org.
posted by Asparagirl at 11:40 AM on July 6, 2004

Art is always a great choice.
A party host once put poster board on the walls in the designated 'Art Room' and stocked it with paint, pens, pencils, etc... (normal, fluorescent and phosphorescent for each) and various forms of lighting (white, black, none). Needless to say it was an amazing experience.
Also, music works well. If you have access to them supply guitars, drums, and keyboards (sampling keyboards can really be fun).
posted by evilelf at 11:42 AM on July 6, 2004

I always toyed about the idea of turning a spare room into a "Hippie Den" like I remember fom the late 60's/early seventies. You know: beaded door, walls painted flat-black, black light & black light posters, stereo playing Hendrix, bean-bag chairs, pachouli oil or sandlewood candles, vintage underground comix, mini-strobe or one of those pulsing light projectors. Ahhh ... what a great place to relax and escape from the world.

As for my personal tripping experience ... I don't really recall the first year of Reagan. Something kinda snapped inside. I'm told by friends tht I used to collar total strangers on the street and ask: "No! Really! Who's president??? (But they might be pulling my leg.)
posted by RavinDave at 11:44 AM on July 6, 2004

nature! the more of it, and the grander it is, the better. Trees, rivers, oceans...
posted by chaz at 11:47 AM on July 6, 2004

Bach seems to be in tune with God.
posted by Gyan at 12:02 PM on July 6, 2004

Dark Star->St. Stephen->The Eleven


posted by John at 12:37 PM on July 6, 2004

i always found planning a trip to be mostly pointless...
staring at the sun (through your eyelids with your eyes closed) is pretty darned cool though.
posted by juv3nal at 2:01 PM on July 6, 2004

For reference, to complement and supplement evilelf's recommendations, developing musical structures via tuneblocks is neat.
posted by Gyan at 2:47 PM on July 6, 2004

SBAGen could wreck your brain.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:11 PM on July 6, 2004

Tell me about it.
posted by Gyan at 4:15 PM on July 6, 2004

Some of the best experiences have involved active outdoor activites. You get the obvious nature experience alongside the physical euporia generated by physical exertion. Sometimes the physical effects of things like mushrooms can be somewhat discomforting and staying active seems to stave them off. Things like riding a bike or climbing a mountain can make the experience truly wonderful. Best experience ever: Skiing on a sunny day after a snowstorm.

also: drugs are bad mmm-k?
posted by garethspor at 5:32 PM on July 6, 2004

Nature, yes. Hypothetically, I'd wholeheartedly recommend sitting down in a garden full of violets (on, say, the Tulane campus or wherever) to revel in the purpleness streaming off the flowers like some amazing searchlight. If you're already a hopeless literary geek this might make you think of Joyce's theory of epiphany. Whatever you do though, do not do it at the Superior Grill because the Frog People will get you.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:40 PM on July 6, 2004

If done around the holidays, and your town has a bunch of Christmas lights set up on the square, it's really neat to go for a stroll to see the lights at night. It's very odd.

Also, art books are quite nice. One a friend of mine had had a picture of a woman who was holding a raw steak on her face. Another friend of mine and I found this inordinately funny.
posted by geekhorde at 5:52 PM on July 6, 2004

oh btw if you're taking recommendations as to the pharmaceutical components of the outing, 2-cb and mdma in unison is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
posted by juv3nal at 6:08 PM on July 6, 2004

I took a ride on a ferry boat on the river Seine at night. That was pretty cool. Plus it had that whole "picture yourself on a boat on a river" thing going (but that's just a coincidence).
posted by bingo at 6:22 PM on July 6, 2004

some of my favorites: fantasia 2000, the animatrix, any wall with a little bit of texture.

music is good although it can DRASTICALLY effect your mood; very powerful when tripping.

walking through a city and marvelling at the buildings or painting on a large wall are very, very fun as well.
posted by untuckedshirts at 6:31 PM on July 6, 2004

The Hoberman sphere. Throbbing the thing in response to some trance that was playing, then gradually becoming aware of the fact that I had an audience.
posted by snarfodox at 8:21 PM on July 6, 2004