F E AT U R E
DIARY OF A VAPER
wit h Pau l Ca pli n | Vapouround E d i tor
t the age of 15 my friend
and I used to sneak into his
Italian au pair’s room and
steal a 20 pack of Rothman
Cigarettes out of her duty free.
These were probably one of the most
disgusting brands of cigarette out
at that time, but for two teenagers
thinking that smoking was cool
and made you look hard, it didn’t
actually matter what brand of
cigarettes we smoked.
Little did we know that we were
about to embark in a lifetime of
addiction, anti-social behaviour
and that smell of old cigarette
smoke that would neither look
cool or hard.
Fast forward 25 years and I can
finally say that for the first time in
quarter of a century I am finally
free from the dreaded tobacco
addiction.
This new found freedom is
wonderful, exhilarating and I feel
that I have gained my life back,
also it is down to one thing and
one thing only…vaping.
My wife is a non smoker and for
years she has been constantly
urging me to quit. When our
children were born she turned
up the pressure and, in the
end, resorted to telling me how
disappointed she was with me
that I could not quit smoking.
And while I knew that
disappointed wives are much
worse than angry wives, I didn’t want
to or feel the need to quit, even though
I knew all the potential health risks to
myself and others.
As a smoker, my nights out were on
the whole spent outside clubs and
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bars, socialising with other anti-social
smokers, who had been banished to a
small shelter usually by the bins outside
a club or bar.
This was my life and I could not see it
changing any time soon or indeed ever
even though I really
wanted to quit smoking.
However things did change and this
happened in July this year when Vaper
Expo UK at the NEC was in full swing.
We were in Birmingham covering the
show and it was during a few drinks with
the Vapouround team on the Saturday
night that it happened.
I remember dragging everyone outside
in the cold to drink their drinks so a
couple of us could have our necessary
tobacco fix, and one of the team
commenting on the fact that I
could lose my legs – referring
to an article that we had
covered in the magazine. This
subconsciously hit home I think,
but at the time I just took it as
jovial banter.
We then continued the evening
and went on to the after party
event. I spent most of the night
inside the club discussing
business with potential clients,
vaping and drinking as we went
along.
As the night came to an end
and we left the club, a sudden
realisation came to me. I had just
spent about three hours inside a
club and never wanted or even
thought about having a cigarette.
This got me thinking, if in my most
vulnerable and susceptible state
towards smoking cigarettes (on a
night out relaxing and drinking) I
wasn’t interested or thinking about
smoking, then I am sure that there
must be something in this vaping
that fulfils my cravings.
I had a vape stick for a week or
two previously but it never seemed
to work, I seemed to need both
the e-cigarette and the regular
cigarettes I was so used to.
I then spoke to some contacts of mine
in the business and they explained that I
was obviously vaping the wrong strength
nicotine. They told me what to use and