Travelling for trippers

1. If you are going to travel with drugs, even OTC, read up on the country's drug policy before you pack.

Even though it seems like we are the ones that live in a fascist police state, some people really do! the last thing you need on your maxin' and relaxin' international vacation is to be thrown in jail, and potentially have your hand cut off. Also, many of the places that have reputations for being wacky drug dens are also the most strict about their policies. See: Thailand.

2. If you are going to do any mind altering substance - even cold medicine - in a country where you do not speak the language, make sure you are with somebody that does.

Three days after I arrived in Argentina, I came down with some evil upper respiratory plague. Encouraged by my cursory understanding of Italian-sounding Castillian Spanish to that point, I thought I was
totally capable of going to the drug store by myself to get cough drops while on Mucinex. You know what looks a lot like cough drops and is kept in the same section? Laxatives.

3. If you are out in public, maintain. If you can not, GO HOME.

This is true everywhere, but doubly so in a foreign place. I'm a firm believer in adventure tripping. Psychedelics are kind of wasted if you're just going to sit in your living room and not see or do anything new. That said, in a foreign country, you already stand out like a sore thumb. Even if you think you don't. And if you're American, everybody already assumes that you are an asshole, to boot. If you are a high American, and you are acting like a high American, people will not have any patience for your sorry ass. Some people will just give you stink eye, but some people will have no qualms about kicking your ass. Others will think you might rob their boats, and half-threaten you with stories about swat teams descending on their tiny island hotel to apprehend theives. No lie.

4. Talk less.

Personally, this is another one I think is true everywhere, but unfortunately not everybody agrees. Again, this is more true if you don't speak the language, but even if you do, the first obvious sign that a person is high (unless they're so bombed that they're nodding out), is that they won't shut the fuck up. The less you talk, the more likely you are to not attract notice. And you'll have the added bonus of potentially experiencing and enjoying your trip more, and not annoying the shit out of the people around you. Obviously, there are exceptions to this. Some people thrive on spastic cracked out chatter, and that's how they bond. If you're with somebody that is up for that, by all means, tell them about your childhood artistic ventures and theories about politics. But if you are surrounded by sober people, and you don't want to attract too much attention, remember that the more you talk, the more obvious it is that you are high.

5. Do not ever ever ever ever EVER take drugs from someone you do not know.

I don't have an out of country story for this one, but I have a lot of New Orleans stories to back it up, which is sometimes a lot like being in a third world country. Obvious, yes, but I can't even list how many jackasses I have known to get held up, arrested, beaten up, whatever, after following some stranger into a dark corner to get some weed. Don't be that guy!

I feel like anybody reading this blog has a responsibility to society to help disprove stereotypes about drug users all being clueless wasteoids. Whenever one more person gets jumped in an alley for trying to score coke, they have performed the drug user's equivalent to sleeping with their boss to get a promotion. And frankly, they deserve to have their ass beat. Please do not set us back another 20 years.