Cigarettes are the leading cause of lung cancer and heart disease. Vaping is still too young to study long term effects… but it can cause what's called popcorn lung, look it up. Smoking Cannabis is fun, but has its own health risks, plus for some of us being stoned all the time is not the move. For some of us it's the only way to function… Each is their own. So if I'm here pretty much shitting on all types of ‘smoke’ what should you smoke?
The Doctor answer? Probably Nothing
But I'm not a doctor, thankfully for everyone's sake. So if I had to answer that question I would say… Cigars. At least that's the poison I picked. Just a little about me: the first thing i've ever smoked (tobacco) was a Blue Camel Crush at the age of 16 years old, my junior year of High School, right across the street from the school. My buddy stashed them in a playing card box and cracked them out when it was finally time. We thought we were hot shit. That was the start, pack a week pretty much or whatever we could get our hands on.
I’d also, from time to time, steal my uncle’s half smoked ‘Black n’ Milds’ when he would leave them unattended. ‘Jazz Wood Tips,’ to be exact. Those would go on to be my favorite for a short period. ‘Jazz Wood Tip’ & a ‘40oz Mickey’s.’ But that's a different topic for another Journal entry.
Eventually that turned into vaping, when vapes were essentially car batteries with coils & cotton bolted to them. Skip to more cigarettes, lots of weed (LOTS of weed), spliffs (tobacco with cannabis rolled in a joint), chops (bong rips with cannabis & tobacco mixed in the bowl), and disposable salt nicotine vapes.
These days at the age of 29, I’ve cut back on all those things that made my street cred substantial. But I have developed a passion for something that has increased my credit score.
Cigars. Tobacco filler hand rolled with a tobacco binder & tobacco wrap. Just… Tobacco. No additives, no filters, or dyed papers. Just good ol’ natural… tobacco. “We get it, it's tobacco.” I know I'm really pressing the point here but I can't stress it enough. How can something so simple be so complicated to make?
You know the saying “Rome wasn't built in a day.” Neither is a quality Cigar. At this point you're probably wondering what does this have to do with adventure? I'm getting there, this all kinda ties into it.
The same way Cigars are made, is the same way you have to enjoy them, slowly & with time. They are not cigarettes where you can just step out for two to three minutes. They're not vapes where you can rip all day every other breath. With Cigars you need to make time and have time for it, at least thirty minutes to sometimes an hour or more. You work your ass off all day taking care of what needs to be done; work, kids, spouse, bills… looking forward to that sweet beautiful moment when you can sit back and spark up that Lincoln log.
Still working on the adventure part, stick with me… You puff on that cigar and try to find any tasting notes other than burnt foliage. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say all this crap about ‘leather this’ or ‘notes of chocolate that.’ Cigars taste like… shit. Just like whiskey or coffee. That's why people mix spirits with juices & sodas, and why people add cream & sugar to their coffees. Not bagging on those people, but for the few of us who don't like to drinking milk shakes in the morning, for the few that want to taste a strong dark roast, or a single malt scotch, we are able to find those notes and embrace the ADVENTURE of putting our taste buds to the test, just like how we put our bodies to the test when we go outdoors to embrace the elements… see I told you I’d tie it in.
Every aspect of life carries discomfort, so we spend most of our time chasing comfort. We seek it in how we walk, how we sleep, how we sit, how we dress. We soften the edges, smooth the roughness, and build routines designed to keep us from feeling too much.
But a few of us choose differently.
A few of us step toward discomfort on purpose. We embrace it not because it’s easy, but because it’s honest. Because discomfort strips away distraction. It sharpens awareness. It reminds us we’re alive.
We know that growth lives there. Strength lives there. Clarity lives there. Comfort keeps us still; discomfort moves us forward. So we hike farther, climb higher, wake earlier, carry more, and accept the burn because on the other side of discomfort is capability, confidence, and a deeper connection to ourselves and the world around us.
And when the day finally slows when the pack comes off, the boots hit the ground, and the fire gets lit…we gather.
A cigar is never just a cigar. It’s a pause earned through effort. A ritual that forces you to slow down, to breathe, to be present. It doesn’t rush you, it meets you where you are. Around a cigar, stories get told, silence becomes comfortable, and strangers become friends.
Adventure pushes us apart into the wild. Cigars bring us back together.
They mark the moments after the climb, after the work, after the discomfort, when reflection matters just as much as motion. In those moments, backgrounds fade, differences soften, and what’s left is shared experience.
This is where connection lives. Around the fire. On the trail. In the quiet.
Discomfort earns the moment. Adventure gives it meaning. And the cigar brings us together.
-DJB
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