Lets begin at the begining

I started smoking when I was 14 years old. Like most I had no idea I was starting something that would become nearly impossible to stop. I couldn't at that young age picture myself in my 20's and 30's buying thousands of dollars worth of nicotine gum, nicotine patches, inhalers and prescription drugs.

I had no idea I would ever be laying on the floor of the Medicine Hat Lodge Hotel with my friend Tanys getting hypnotized in an attempt to stop smoking. I tried what seemed like everything to try and become smoke free, and while I had some success here and there I had pretty much accepted that I was a life long smoker.

My journey into vaping started on a cold night last November. I was watching T.V. while my daughter and wife slept. I had just come in from having a cigarette and noticed there was a one hour documentary program on CBC about the electronic cigarette industry so I decided to watch.

In that one hour I saw stories of life long smokers being able to finally quit, scientific studies about the health benefits of making the switch, and a whole lot of people whos lives had improved drastically when they decided to try vaping.

When the program was done I googled vape shops in Regina and decided I was going to stop in to Queen City Vapes the next day and try it for myself. When I walked in to the shop the following day, not knowing what I was even looking for or what any of the mods in the glass case were, Mike came to the rescue. He spent the time to explain all the starter kits to me and once I had picked one let me hang out for over an hour trying juices.

I couldn't believe how many flavors were available and how good some of them tasted. I picked a few to go home with and told him he would probably be seeing a lot of me going forward. I spent the next few weeks vaping in place of a couple of my smokes everyday and finally on new years day stopped smoking completely.

I was amazed once I stopped smoking all together by the fact that I didn't miss it at all. I had said to friends before how life just wasn't as good as a non smoker, but now I was enjoying what I was using to quit smoking far more than I ever enjoyed smoking itself.

I have the two best reasons in the world to want to live a tobacco free life

My wife Melody

And my baby girl Charlotte

What was your first trip to a vape shop like? What did you walk out with?