It had been a while since my last trip. I wasn't sure I wanted to trip that night at all, but I was tempted. I was at a largish rave, with a bunch of friends. I had brought along one of my last doses of 2CB, just in case. I knew taking LSD wasn't a great idea for several reasons. Not only had it been a while since my last trip, but it had been a stressful and intense period, full of things I hadn't yet processed and wasn't sure I was ready to deal with just yet. I had a feeling that taking acid would set off a devastating psychic timebomb. I wasn't up for that, I just wanted to dissolve my boundaries a bit and get my groove on. Ecstasy is mild enough, but it doesn't do the right things for me at parties. Luckily I have access to exotics from time to time. 2CB seemed like it would be mild enough to do the trick and still let me function.

I spent the first several hours at the party trying to decide whether or not I would imbibe. I didn't want to trip unless I was already having a good time. There are times when taking a drug can help make the difference between not having a good time and having a good time, but I didn't think this would be one of them. I wanted my mindset to be right before I took the drug.

Around 2:45 am I decided that things felt right and went ahead and took my 25 mg of 2CB. I went back to dancing while I awaited its onset.

Half and hour or so later I started to feel the first alerts. It started off mildly, just a few twinges to let me know I was up. I ran into a friend who asked me to help him find something. I agreed and wandered off in pursuit of our quest. While I was walking around looking I started to feel the bees more strongly. The visual element started to kick in. I felt like I was walking on clouds and everything was starting to waver and vibrate in my field of vision.

It didn't take long for me to decide I was rapidly becoming too inebriated to find anything. I made my way back to where my friends were waiting and told them they were on their own. I sat down to catch my breath and make the transition into the full 2CB effects.

It came fast. One minute I was still fairly present, the next fireworks were exploding in my head. It came on as strongly as 2CB ever has, even at higher doses. I was glad I was sitting down and wanted very badly to lie down. The visuals were impressive, overlaying and obscuring nearly everything. I felt separated form my surroundings. I very much wanted to just go inside and find a quiet center. All the psychic pressure was desperately trying to be released. Unfortunately I didn't feel that I was in the appropriate time or place to let it loose.

I felt ill. This was probably a combination of the crap I had eaten that day and the incredible psychic tension I was experiencing. There were a couple of times where I thought for sure I was going to throw up but I never did. My friend E came by while I was in the midst of trying to keep it together and I asked him if he would guide me to the bathrooms.

The walk to the bathroom was surreal. I saw all these people walking by me, but I felt confined in my own head, separate from them. The world was shivering, colors running into one another, trails exploding off the lights and any movement. I was really high, almost uncomfortably so.

We found the bathrooms and I managed to use them. It is never fun utilizing a portapotty while tripping, let me tell you. I stumbled out and found E. I asked if it was OK if we just waited outside for a while before heading back into the party and he agreed it was fine.

The night was a bit chilly but I barely noticed. All the lights had fantastic halos around them and the sky was a mass of writhing patterns morphing fractally into one another. I remarked several times on how high I was. I was really surprised to be tripping as hard as I was. I generally consider 2CB to be a mild psychedelic, but it was definitely manifesting fully psychedelic/entheogenic effects.

Twenty minutes or so outside away from the chaos of the party was enough for me to get my head together enough to face it again. E and I walked back inside.

Going back in was fully as weird in its own way as our walk out. As we penetrated deeper into the party it was like being immersed in some strange atmosphere. Before long we were back to where we started. We sat down and continued chatting. A young girl and her boyfriend came up and started to talk to us. She was rolling for the first time and was talking a mile a minute. She wanted to know all about where we were from, what we did, etc. She was very nice and her presence somehow helped ground me a little more and bring me more into the moment.

By the time she left I was feeling pretty good. I was about halfway through the trip, still going hard but back in the driver's seat. I finally laid down for a second to just relax and let the party wash over me. E told me he was going to walk around for a while and I got up to go find a place to dance.

I had been dancing earlier and felt pretty loosened up, so it didn't take me long to find my groove and get moving. As usual, 2CB was pretty good for dancing. It gave me the smoothness and spontaneity that come form letting go of some of my rational mind in exchange for something deeper and somehow more primal. I just let the music take me where it wanted to go.

I watched a few people dance and took the time to tell them they were good. One young Asian guy was incredible and I probably watched him dance for close to forty minutes while dancing nearby. Dancing felt fantastic, I feel like I managed to work off some of the tension I have been dealing with lately.

The rest of the night was good. Most of my friends left until only J and I were still around. We stayed until the last DJs were finishing their set. It was nearly 8:00 am and I was still feeling significant residual effects (stimulation and a mild euphoria) from the 2CB. J and I had a great conversation on the way home, catching up on old times, discussing the meaning of life (or at least the meaning of our lives) and just generally yacking it up.

After I arrived home I stayed up with my daughter until early afternoon. She was delightful to be around in my opened state and I really enjoyed hanging out with her. I smoked cannabis on and off until I was ready to sleep. Sleep was undisturbed and restful.

I enjoyed this trip, even given the overly intense onset. I should have known better than to expect otherwise. I knew very well that I had a lot of psychic tension backed up and that after almost two months I was going to have lost a little familiarity with altered space. It worked out without too much difficulty but I have definitely learned that one always has to be careful even with substances that are usually very manageable. As conventional psychedelic wisdom says, set and setting are far more important than the actual drug you are using, and I definitely saw this principle in action.