My Two Year Journey – What A Change
On February 28th 2011 I smoked the last of my MYO cigarettes; it was about 8pm and I was heading home from setting up a remote broadcast for our evening talk show. There was no tobacco at home (an order for a new tobacco blend I had placed from the UK was held up in customs and wouldn’t be coming for another week or so), so I pulled into a Walgreen’s to buy a pack of Marlboro Virginia Blend 100s. As fate would have it, they were sold out; also sold out of my next choice, Camel filters. But I spied a display of blu disposables behind the register and asked the check-out lady for one of the “classic tobacco” models and headed out to the car.
I wasn’t sure what to make of the thing but tore it out of the package, took off the little leaf sticker from the air inlet hole and had a puff. Surprise was the order of the evening; there was certainly more vapor produced than the smoke I was used to blowing out from a regular cigarette, and honestly, it didn’t taste half bad. And I didn’t smell anything, even though the windows were rolled up. Drove home and spent the next few hours just puffing away on the thing, surprised and pleased; no smell and no smoke meant not having to duck outside to have a puff. That was awesome in itself. The thing finally petered out around 1:30am or so after 5 and a half hours of total and complete chain vaping.
The next morning, I pulled back into the same Walgreen’s and bought 2 more blu disposables; figured since I liked the taste and the convenience, I’d just buy these until my tobacco shipment arrived. Little did I know that I would never smoke another cigarette again….
That was two years ago, fellow babies; now, I had tried to quit smoking before using gums and patches, but they didn’t work even though I really wanted them to. Funny that a chance set of occurrences would finally see me quitting when, at that particular point, I wasn’t 
even considering it. I began doing research on e-cigs as best I could…there wasn’t anywhere near as much information available then as there is now. Three days after that first blu I stopped at a small shop that had just begun carrying “electronic cigarettes” and paid $60 for a “cig-alike” kit; two 280mAh stick batteries, 2 atomizers, 5 prefilled cartridges and a charger — they even threw in 2 15 ml bottles of Dekang RY4 and American Tobacco! Man, I was in business! Now, even though I had been spending money on some pretty high-grade tobaccos and using an injector to make my own cigarettes, the cost was about half what it would have been if I’d been buying pre-mades. Still, the thought of saving a good chunk of even that expense danced in my head.
But cartridges sucked out loud, fellow babies, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Entire forums and videos devoted to 
modding them with all manner of stuff started sprouting up. I gave up on the little cig-alikes and carts when I stopped in the same store to buy some juice and noticed they had these new-fangled eGo tank setups. 650mAh batteries! Get outta here! So I bought another kit, shelling out close to $100 for two batteries, the charger, 5 atomizer cones and 5 tanks. This was just a month after I bought my first blu disposable, ya’ll; and any of you who started vaping about the same time as me knows what came next. Fiddling with the damn eGo tanks, putzing with wick placement in the atty spike, leaks, dry hits…it was getting to be way too much, and I kinda longed for the simplicity of the old blu disposable.
Long story short, I worked my way through various cartomizers, various atomizers, even began getting into modding a flashlight and
an Altoid tin into a e-cig courtesy of Steel Jan. Finally bought a Silver Bullet after watching Dr. Vapor (remember him?) review one, then later a ProVari. It was a long and painful journey at times, but man, what a lot of information I’ve sucked in! And what a lot of new stuff we have that two years ago wasn’t even a thought in anyone’s head yet…carto tanks! Rebuildable atomizers! Rebuildable atomizers tanks! Stainless steel mesh wicks! Variable voltage AND power in one device for less than a carton of cigarettes! It seems commonplace now, but two years ago? This was all science fiction stuff, fellow babies.
Then I found this place just last October and I joined in November. I’ve made a lot of “friends” here and really enjoy the community and camaraderie. This old dog still is learning new tricks because of this place and because of all you groovy guys and gals. Amazing.
In the past few months I’ve turned dozens of people on to vaping now that it’s become so easy compared to when I started. My health has improved dramatically and stuff I’d taken for granted…sinus problems, allergies to pollen and spores (a tough thing to have in Florida), shortness of breath, smoker’s cough, slightly high blood pressure, stinking like an old chimney — all gone. The people who started vaping at my urging are now experiencing the same benefits and are likewise turning on others…it’s a great time to be a vaper, my friends. It’s been hard at times, and challenging. A long two years as well, now that I think back on it with a beer and a vape — but two years I wouldn’t trade. And it all happened because of chance circumstances lining up to send me down this path. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next two years! Hell, yeah! Vape on, fellow babies!
That’s amazing. I mean that it was just a chance thing that you picked up an e-cig. Makes you believe that some things are meant to be. It’s a great story and inspiring, too. Thanks for telling it.
You have come a long way! Now the time is here to teach all us youngsters what you know about it!
That’s a really cool story, I’m glad things worked out the way they did for you.
very awesome journey
good news for you
Great blog Slap!!! So many of us are grateful for that one blu ecig. This is one time where I’m glad usps sucks. If they where proficient we would be missing a lot of great advice from a vaper that has been there and done that.
Well I’ll give you a premature happy happy vaporversary cheer. It’s amazing when I hear the stories of th primitive e-cigs. At times I think there is so much room for improvement on what we use today. I look forward to talking with you about it a couple years down the road friend.
Great journey Slap! It hasn’t been that long for me..about 8 months now I think but it’s amazing how just in that little bit of time so much change has occurred!
Thanks, fellow babies. It seems like vape years are like dog years; so much has changed in the last 2-4 years that it might be equivalent to 20 years in another field.
Well written slap. Really enjoyed reading of how you got from there to here.
Great Origins story Slap. Very cool.
Great post Slap As I was reading I kept flashing back to some of my similar experiences. I have to agree finding vaping is one of the best things to ever happen to me.
Thanks for sharing the story! Looking forward in the near future to my 1 year… and like you I started off with a Blu. Stick batteries now are a thing of the past for me – but I still will always give that disposable credit as my 1st experience with ecigs – and the last time I touched an analog after I bought it!
Vape proud! good story.
Congrats
Though my vaping time is shorter, it started the same. Blu, thank you.
Thank you too, Slap. For your story and your help.
Very awesome story.
Great story i hope to quit cigs too
You inspire me and give me great Hope!
thats great man
Sweet adventure!
Great!
Thats a great story.
good job slappy
was it fate ? I’d like to think so
great story Slap, as usual your stories never let me down …
awesome that you started on accident…
my journey has been similar, and interesting that blu is knocked, but lots of us started on blu!
I say thank hebbins for blu. if I hadn’t seen them that night, i’d have driven to another store for cigs.
2-4-6-8, who does Slap appreciate?
Blu!!!
That’s awesome, Slap
.. I loved this story. I started with blu disposables as well. We bought my grandma one to try to get her off her 60+ year habit but she hasn’t even taken it out of the box yet :/ .. Hopefully someday soon she’ll have a story similar to yours to tell.
been 1 year for me
and will continue as long as there is no ban
awesome way to live it up! many people aspire to make the journey that you have, keep it up!
That is a great journey and so good you made so many vapers as well. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats
I am glad for you =D
I owe a lot of it to you guys and gals here as well!!
read again awesome
great story slap!
Two years is fantastic slap. I’ll be hitting that milestone myself in a few weeks.
Great story!
Congratulations to all of us!
cool
I can not wait for the day I can say ” Its been two years since I’ve had a stinky nasty cigarette”!
Congrats on making the ‘Front Page’!!!!!
Folks, we need new blogs on which to comment.
You guys have great ideas and stories to tell, put it down in a blog. Plus, you get points!!!
Great timeline and article. I am definitely excited to see where they are going.
Phones, Tablets, Ipods with Vaping utilities attached. Turn that RCA cable into a vaping outlet!
Great story Slap!!!!
Glad that all worked out as it should
Bill and I started with Blu disposables. We’ve come a long way, baby!!
Congrats on 2 yrs!! That is Awesome!
I expect to see more two year vapeaversary stories here in the months and years ahead! Thnaks, everyone.