DOSE:

1 hit

buccal

25I-NBOMe

(blotter / tab)

BODY WEIGHT:

125 lb

Having never tripped on anything aside from acid, and always wanting to try various phenethylamines, my interest was piqued when a friend of mine told me that he had some 25I-NBOMe on hand. With a large festival-like concert coming up on campus, and having not tripped in some time, I figured, hey, no time like the present.

T+0:00 - I arrive at the concert midway through the opening act's set. I was very much looking forward to this day for months, and just the day before getting the NBOMe from my friend, I was noticeably excited as I popped the tab in between my gum and lip. I didn't know how strongly the tab was laid, but I figured it was of average potency. From a handful of mutual friends of mine and the guy with the NBOMe, I heard nothing but glowing reviews for the substance; I heard the headspace was gentler and the visuals were more intense, with a distinctive phenethylamine euphoria underlying the high. Needless to say, I was in the perfect mindset for the rest of the day: eager for the concert, eager for the trip, and eager for a new experience.

T+0:30 - After wandering around the concert grounds for a little while, I finally bump into some friends, showing off the tab in my mouth much to their amusement. It was bitter, much like any other (non-psychadelic) phenethylamine I've ever had, but the minuscule amount laid on the tab made it wholly bearable. There was also a distinctive numbing sensation, presumably in part due to the vasoconstriction associated with the substance. I noticed a distinct lift in my mood just as the first set closed out, and I sat and chatted with the friends I ran into, all on either MDMA, LSD, or a combination of the two. Apparently, the NBOMes have become quite popular around here after the scheduling of the 2Cs, and I was surprised when most of my friends guessed it after I told them it wasn't acid. They, too, all had glowing remarks about the substance.

T+1:00 - Part way through the second set, I began noticing closed eye visuals. Laying down on the grass, I closed my eyes and saw silhouettes of my friends who were surrounding me. I felt very lucky to have run into them, and even though I would end up not spending most of the day with them, it was a comforting feeling knowing that I had friends in almost any direction at the show. Getting up to wander the showgrounds aimlessly, I watched a gorgeous rope dancer perform high up above the ground, and was enchanted by the act. Even though I knew cerebrally how much strength and dexterity the act took, she made it seem so effortless and graceful. I wanted to talk with her after she finished; one of the few things about the trip I regret in retrospect. Aside from her, there were a smattering of other interesting displays; I stopped to talk with a couple of street artists painting large murals and compliment them on their work. It wasn't the compulsion to socialize like one would experience on MDMA, but I felt like I could approach anyone and strike up a pleasant conversation. The headspace was remarkably clear and my thoughts proceeded straightforward, which I appreciated after being frustrated by trip loops in a number of my prior acid trips. As I walked around, bumping into different friends here and there, I remarked to myself about the necessity of individuality. While I could simply 'go with the crowd' so to speak, but in doing so I would deny myself the pleasure of striking my own path and experiencing a unique adventure through life all my own, meeting different people who may be completely oblivious to my other friends' existences, dictated solely by myself. It was liberating, and I had a number of these realizations - not quite revelations, but rather things I had known and not understood - throughout the day. Spiritually, the trip was very fulfilling.

T+1:30 - As the trip intensified, I experienced some minor dysphoria. I can't entirely ascribe this to the 25I, since it was quite hot out and I had been drinking the night before, but I went to the bathroom to vomit. Immediately after, I felt fantastic once more, and I noticed how intense the open eye visuals had become as the shadows on the walls were shifting and bulging, and my puke in the toilet bore an uncanny resemblance to a cartoon fish. I cleaned up and laughed a bit to myself, and got back in the crowd for the first act that I was really excited to see. The music was fun and lively, and everyone in the crowd was enjoying themselves, which further amplified my own good mood. I quickly exhausted myself in the hot, sweaty crowd, and retreated to a forest of colorful cutout trees to find a little shade and a moment of relaxation before my most anticipated act of the day came on stage to play. I bumped into even more friends there, and made a couple of new ones with a stranger running through the forest with a set of Nerf guns to play with. It was a glorious spring day, and as I joked and chatted with friends old and new, it was here that I had my second major realization of the day: life can only truly be enjoyed from moment to moment. Each moment, we have the choice to view the world through a lens of either positivity or negativity. In that moment, I needed not worry about my upcoming assignments, or my student fees, or looming finals, or any other stressors in my life. I simply enjoyed the day for what it was: a good concert, on a good day, with good friends. It was simple, but the way it resonated deep inside my mind, I couldn't deny the truth it contained, like an elegant mathematical formula. Just simple, undeniable truth.

T+2:30 - It was here that I began my peak, just in time for the group I was most excited to see. As EDM filled the air, there was a mass exodus of everyone present in the crowd towards the stage, which I myself was inexorably drawn towards as well. I don't know if I ever understood the phrase 'good vibrations' before this day, but I certainly do now; when the first song's bass dropped, everyone lost their damn minds. I don't think I've ever seen a crowd go that crazy, and unable to contain myself, I jumped, shouted, danced, and crowdsurfed as hard as I possibly could for a solid 15 minutes. Wholly exhausted afterward - it seems that 25I-NBOMe is not particularly stimulating in a typical dopaminergic/norepinephrinergic sense - I retreated from the sweltering heat of the crowd to the comfort of the kaleidoscopic forest, and spend the rest of the set watching the grass oscillate and move in time with the music.

Here came my third and final, and possibly most profound realization. As the grass danced in blatant disregard to the laws of physics, I pondered what was truly real in life. Was this grass real? Who could say? Was I real? Who could ever possibly determine that? It wasn't ego death in the way I've read in description: I still had a concept of myself as separate and individual, but for the first time in my life I lent serious credence to the idea that my ego may just be a construct of my perception, no more immutable than the grass that moved to the sound of the music right before my eyes. What, then, was real? My experiences were real. My friendships and love for those dear to me was certainly real. The ecstasy in the air (pun intended), so thick it was palpable, couldn't possibly be fake, as tens of thousands of students danced together in unison and celebrated the joy of being alive. These immaterial things are what truly matters in life, and are what we as humans can rest upon as our rock, solid and unmoving. I sighed dreamily to myself, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

T+3:30 - The headlining act came on, and unfortunately following the absolutely stellar performance of the previous act, coupled with the collective comedown of the audience, failed to really get the crowd into it. Even though I liked the act, the performance was such a downer that I left early, cringing to myself as they tried and failed to excite the crowd multiple times over. I got dinner at the cafeteria on campus, which was wholly unremarkable and rather unappetizing, and while I had felt like skating for a little while as I came down off the tail-end of the trip, my back ached and I opted to instead lie down and watch a bit of television, chatting with friends over text sporadically and absorbing the day as a whole.

The experience of being on LSD is something that can be described in many ways. It can be intense, or exciting, or mindblowing, but 'pleasant' is not an adjective I would ascribe to it. 25I-NBOMe, however, most certainly is. I enjoyed the day at a leisurely pace, taking it in and experiencing everything in a way I dictated, and not the drug. LSD's ability to completely dominate a situation can be offputting to me, but 25I-NBOMe seemed more like a gentle companion, and rather than leading me around by the nose, built a rapport with me and asked my opinion on matters. Aside from the stomach irritation midway through the comeup and some vasoconstriction-related aching afterward, it was an entirely enjoyable day from start to finish. I most definitely plan on trying the drug again in the future, and would suggest it to any of my friends interested in a more relaxed and controlled psychedelic experience.

Exp Year: 2013	ExpID: 100252
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 20
Published: Jul 14, 2013	Views: 4,182
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25I-NBOMe (542) : First Times (2), Glowing Experiences (4), Hangover / Days After (46), Festival / Lg. Crowd (24)