First Magic Mushroom experience - an inspiring and eye-opening journey

Our first experience with magic truffles was a life-changing experience. Read my trip report and gain some important information for your next or first psychedelic journey.

Hi Steemians,
on our last holiday in the Netherlands taking Magic Mushrooms ("Shrooms" or "Psilos") was a planned event we were very excited about. We already had some experiences with psychedelics but we never had the opportunity to try a 100% natural product like psilocybin mushrooms.
"Shrooms" are not legal anymore in the Netherlands but truffles still are.
Both should have the same effects but truffles are less potent. To prepare the trip we researched a lot about magic truffles, the different brands, varieties, effects and the strength. Beyond that we wanted to have a good set and setting. To be in a good mind state and to stay in an environment where you feel comfortable is very important to have a nice experience. The positive mind set was not a big problem: we were on vacation and therefore relaxed and happy.
To "prepare" the right setting we did the following steps:

• Checked weather forecast and selected a day with nice weather
• Before the trip we spend some days in the village and our holiday home to feel comfortable and secure
• We undertook some walks to find a nice trip spot
• Ensure we know the important spots and routes:
  • Way back to our home
  • The beach
  • A nice and lonely trip spot in the dunes
  • Good restaurants for the evening when the effects fade away
• Prepared a playlist with chill and "trippy" music
• Packing a backpack
  • Picnic blanket
  • Towels
  • Snacks (apples)
  • Enough water
  • A sugary drink (ice tea) because sugar reduces the strength of the trip
  • Handkerchiefs
  • Portable speaker
    
    

How to get truffles

On our second holiday day we took a short drive to the near town "Haarlem". We knew that there is a good and well-stocked smart shop. Aside from that, Haarlem is a very beautiful city. I wrote a seperate article about the city: https://steemit.com/travel/@thecoach/haarlem-a-lovely-city-full-of-cute-alleys-shops-and-places-holidays-wijk-aan-zee-part-3
The shop itself was really nice, bright, clean and good organised.

Hint: Click on the images to enlarge them. If you use "Strg+left click" the picture will open in a new browser tab so you can continue reading here.

They also had a nice collection of interesting books:

...And a friendly and competent shopkeeper. We got a helpful advising about the amount and the brand we should buy. We decided to acquire 10g of Atlantis truffles each - a good dose for first time users. Since we already had some experiences with other substances the shopkeeper ensured that a trip sitter will not be necessary. Then we spend some hours in the city and drove back. We planed our trip to happen in two days so we put the truffles into the fridge.

Trip

To start our "big day" we had a delicious and healthy breakfast. About noon we took the truffles on a more or less empty stomach. We chewed each bite for some minutes before swallowing. This way the mucous membranes are able to absorb the active ingredient effectively and faster. The truffles tasted neither good nor bad - towards the end of chewing they produced a sour taste.

Than we grabbed our backpack and walked to our chosen trip spot. The weather was beautiful: sunny with some clouds, around 23°C and a gentle breeze blew from the sea. The light was exceptional beautiful on this day and left a golden glance on the romantic village. Especially the dunes, the beach and the ocean looked incredible - and we weren't even tripping yet.

After 20 minutes we reached our spot: A plateau on top of a dune with a wide with across the dunes, the beach, the oceans and some WW2 bunkers.

We put the blanket on the grass and made ourselves comfortable. We enjoyed the view and the light breeze for some minutes and began talking about the beauty of this place. I think it was after 30 to 45 minutes when we noticed the first effects. We felt very talkative and recognized a light body load, especially in the stomach. It's normal for many people to feel a bit queasy or sick in the beginning. Luckily we had no such problems and the strange feelings disappeared after 10 or 20 minutes.

We were talking a lot and had to laugh about some silly jokes. Overall we felt very relaxed and happy. At this moment we realized that our thinking and talking has changed. I even had a feeling of something tries to pull my ego out of my body. That was strange but interesting. I already know a similar phenomenon from meditation or other psychedelics.

We expected strong visuals (because the shopkeeper told us that these truffle brand is famous for strong visuals) but there was no morphing, fractals or moving shapes. Maybe a higher dose would have been necessary. But we noticed that light and colors were more intense. Everything looked so alive, fresh and beautiful. We really enjoyed this moment and didn't think about the future or past. We simply enjoyed being and appreciated the beauty of nature. I never felt such a strong appreciation for nature in my life before!
After an hour after taking the truffles we reached the "high peak". We felt that we were under influence of a entheogen but still were able to move and behave "normally" if we wanted to.

In the meantime some unfriendly teenagers appeared but they decided to leave after realizing that there spot was already taken =)
We were relieved when they were gone because I didn't liked having them around. I can't describe why exactly they bothered me - their aura felt kind of negative. Such things can happen while on psychedelics so it's best to trip on a not too crowded place or only with people you like.

After one hour on our picnic blanket we decided to take a walk along the beach.

We had to go through a lot of other people which were laying on the beach. Their clothes, towels and all the swimming toys of the children were intensely colorful! It was loud and a bit surreal. That moment wasn't scary or uncomfortable at all, it rather was interesting. When we reached the water everything was quiet again.
The sand was white, soft and warm. The crystal clear water reflected the light of the sun in bright and colorful. The scenery in the pictures can't even closely represent to the beauty we experienced this day.

The sounds of the ocean and the birds was calming and enjoyable. I've never felt such a strong connection to the world in my live before.

We walked around an hour and had some good, philosophical talks on our way. We felt that the effects of the truffles were getting weaker. Although we were really enjoying the trip and the certainty that it will be over soon wasn't bad or disappointing. We were far to relaxed and peaceful to have bad thoughts. Everything in live comes and goes, that is normal and nobody can change it. So why bother? :)

After some time we went back home. We were getting a bit hungry - except for breakfast we had not eaten anything. The hunger was a good sign that the trip was more or less over. We still had some nice afterglow effects. Even almost sober the weather, beach, plants and ocean were still exceptionally beautiful. It was simply an amazing day!

We went to the small dutch restaurant we chose earlier and got a nice place on the terrace. It was a sweet family operated eating place with selected local food on the menu.

We had salmon with fries

This dinner concludes a perfect day. We enjoyed every bite and reflected about all our experiences we had today. We both agreed that it was the best psychedelic journey we had until now. We learned so much about the universe and ourselves, about how insignificant most of our problems really are and that "living the moment" is the key to happiness and peace. We agreed to come back in a year and to take a slightly higher dose (maybe 15g each).

After dinner we enjoyed the sunset on the beach

Today I still remember this day very detailed and in retrospective I can confirm that substances like magic mushrooms can teach you a lot about yourself and the world. Since then I'm very interested in spirituality, Buddhism and intensified my meditation practice. I read some books of spiritual people like Eckhart Tolle, Alan Watts or Andy Puddicombe and try to feel my connection to the universe every day. Since this day I'm very aware of the beauty of our world and enjoy simply being in nature. In addition I further reduced my consumption of animal products and try to live in harmony with our environment.

I hope you enjoyed my report. I'm interested to hear if you had similar awakening experiences (with or without psychedelics) or if you planing to have such a trip in the future. I'm happy for every comment or question :)