I quit smoking almost by accident, not looking to quit, no desire to quit.

I was born in 1980, a time period where it seems everyone in France smoked everywhere: my parents at home, my teachers at school, people at Metro stations, inside restaurants, malls, school courtyards, on television, on planes, on the train, in hotel rooms…

Smoking cigarettes was associated with being an intellectual artistic rebel. Philosophers and writers would smoke on national television. There were posters of famous grunge and rock band artists with a lit cigarette in their mouth. Sartre, De Beauvoir, Sagan, Camus, all writers I studied in school, smoked and most pictures of them are seen with cigarettes.
And I did start smoking. I wanted to be a rebellious intellectual artistic person.

Then vaping came along. Around in 2011 my husband bought a strange device from a far-off land and filled it with liquid nicotine. I saw him manipulate the object, puff on it, have to repair it, but mostly I saw him stop smoking completely. Him, a pack-a-day smoker, that had started at age 13, easily quit.
I was not convinced though. These were strange chemical products coming from foreign countries, not approved for consumption in France. I stayed with what I knew, cigarettes.

Then, little by little the strange vaping devices became more user-friendly. My husband was able to buy his liquids in France instead of importing them. I decided to give it a try.

It was strange at first, not at all like smoking. The effects of nicotine did not “hit” as hard or fast as with a cigarette. The aerosol did not feel as “heavy”. It was an enjoyable experience, but I wasn’t ready to give up smoking. I would keep the vape handy in case I ran out of cigarettes, or instead of going outside to smoke when it was cold or rainy.

I never expected the following. Little by little I got bored of smoking, did not want a cigarette in certain circumstances. It started with walking the dog. I could not stand to smoke a cigarette when I took my canine companion outside. Then in the car. Even before going to sleep. I was enjoying my strawberry flavoured vape much more.

I quit smoking almost by accident, not looking to quit, no desire to quit.
It helped me that my superiors at work encouraged me to vape and accepted that I vape on site. It immensely helped that I had different flavours to go to. I started out with a butter-scotch crème liquid but quickly got tired of it and have been on strawberry crème for some time now.

I am still addicted to nicotine, and frankly have never had any desire to quit it. It helps me focus and concentrate, and every single time I quit smoking in the past, I went back to it when I felt overwhelmed by too much “chatter” in my mind. With vaping, I have a less harmful means of getting my nicotine.
I don’t have many vices: I do not gamble; I don’t drink alcohol very often; I don’t consume cannabis or any of its derivatives; I don’t eat meat on a regular basis; I don’t drink coffee or tea.
I enjoy walking my dog, going to my workplace by bicycle, gardening and spending time with my husband, and my only vice: vaping.

I would not be able to vape menthol or tobacco flavours. I have tried many different flavours before I settled on strawberry crème with is my “all-day-flavour”. Some like menthol and tobacco I find disgusting. Some like strawberry or whipped cream, I enjoy immensely.
I do not have a high-risk high-paying job, am a little over minimum wage and would not continue to vape if there were excise taxes on the product, as vaping does have a few more expenses than smoking (batterie, resistance, liquid). I would either go back to cigarettes, which I don’t enjoy any longer, but most likely would turn to the black market.

My house smells much better since I made the switch, I can ride harder and faster on my bicycle and have been able to even save some money instead of spending it all on ash.

I thank anyone who has read me. Vaping has helped me stay off cigarettes when patches or gums never have. I find the regulations in France quite reasonable and would like to see more independent-peer-reviewed scientific studies in the future concerning vaping.
I never thought I would quit smoking, but I am thrilled that I stumbled upon vaping.