On the rooftop of a hostel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam I observed one of those peculiar, subtle differences you get to experience as traveler when far away from home. Eight stories up, enjoying the warmth of the night air I noticed behind the bar a gas canister about five feet tall. The bartender was filling up white balloons and handing them to the young adults far from home and far away from the routines and responsibilities of life. Curiosities piqued while finding oneself in a coming-of-age-while-on-a-gap-year mode of exploration , met with availability, and the altered perception and lowered inhibition brought on by the freely flowing beer seemed like a perfect recipe to try some new behavior.

The white balloons behind the bar were filled with nitrous oxide; “laughing gas” as many of us know it from dental procedures. It’s been around since the 19th century, widely used as a pain reliever. In the party scene it’s more commonly known as “whippets, whippits, or whip-its,” but they’re one and the same.

Whippets aren’t unique to Vietnam. I’ve seen them before, ages ago at parties in Orlando growing up. The advice I received then was not to try them. I can’t say I was remotely interested and my intuition alone given the context of who was using, how, and what they looked like intoxicated didn’t make the drug appealing.

But far away from home, met here with a social pressure, the normalcy and sort of expectation to try the potentially dangerous things one wouldn’t back home the outcome is different. Fortunately, I had a man from the Netherlands that reiterated over and over again what a fucked up drug it was. He wouldn’t let me try it. He said all of this between deep breaths of nitrous oxide. White balloon in hand. Sitting in a chair next to me on the roof of the hostel in Hanoi.

He was a self-described addict. He struggled with alcoholism he told me. I asked him about the beer he was drinking, if I should be worried. He said no, that his consumption was far less than it had been in the past.

There’s a false sense of security here in Vietnam. Many of the kids coming here on some sort of break from life readily hop on motorcycles for the first time. The Ha Giang Loop north of Hanoi is a famous 3-day ride. Described as unforgettable, and the highlight of the time spent in Vietnam. There’s also stories upon stories of western kids falling off bikes I hear from others.

Whippets in white balloons present the same sort of assumed safety with experimentation, especially in their form of an innocent household object. Few realize because none are being informed as they’re handed balloons from the bar, the dangers of abusing the drug and the potential for addiction.

The high from whippets has a rapid onset, but short duration, encouraging the user to consume them again and again. Physiologically addictive as well, altering the brain's reward system. Messing with the body’s central nervous system and slowing down brain activity as they cut off oxygen to the brain.

Not knowing what more to say, I told the man from the Netherlands to take care of himself. To love himself. Emotionally stirred, he got up and gave me a hug. And then I left the bar. Changed by the experience and grateful to the man from the Netherlands.