Back in late 2000, my girlfriend and I broke up. She moved out of our apartment and back to her hometown. I was feeling kinda down and one of my friends invited me to a rave the next night. I didn’t really have any interest, it never seemed like my kind of scene. But I didn’t have anything else going on, so I went with him. He ended up buying ecstasy, which I had never done before either.

That’s literally the night that changed the entire trajectory of my life. I spent the next decade traveling all over America, going to parties, hanging out with people I met on a message board. I ended up shacking up with a girl I met on the board for a few years. I made friends that I still have today.

My 20’s were a blur of parties and substances, but I can trace a direct line from what happened that night to where I am today.