I've always been curious what other people's first explores were like. What they did, where they did it, and with whom. I'll start off. My first explore was during middle school on the roof of my old middle school after hours. I went with my personal friend group since elementary school (including user Bobowitz) to hang out up there all the time. The first time I went there I thought it was a whole other world. There were pipes everywhere, inclines, places to climb, places to explore. I was astonished. Back then my friends and I got such a high off evading people like we were in a video game, rather than just enjoying the explore itself. We loved the fact that we were within spitting distance to people on the ground and they couldn't notice us. We went back up there at least 20+ times over the years, once caught by the police and another caught by our shop teacher. Overall the first time we went up there was a moment I will forever remember. Now you guys go, how was your first explore?

dude same

My first explore is indelibly burned into my memory. It was one of those life-altering moments that after years of armchair exploring on the internet brought me to where I am now.

Hellingly Asylum near the southern coast of England on a brilliant hot sunny June afternoon in 2009. Hellingly was almost universally adored in the UK explore community despite how ruined it was. It was in the middle of nowhere, one of few abandoned asylums that hadn't been swallowed up in urban development at some point in it's past. It also had very little, if any, security on it save for the secure mental unit stationed on a far corner of the site well away from everything so the likelihood was you could spend an entire day there totally undisturbed.

I can remember how I felt, how the building smelled, the silence of the place, pretty much every little thing about that explore and even though we only saw half of it due to running out of daylight it was one of those experiences that totally rewired my brain. Luckily I got to go back to Hellingly in November 2009 just after they started tearing it down and managed to see the entire asylum.

Middle school roofs are the best place to start. My friends and I would do the same thing... Until we figured out how to get into the gym's attic. We would love crawling around on the narrow beams in the rafters, looking down at the gym floor but then the hatch got locked. One night, my friends and I snuck out and went to the roof. They lowered me down a 30 ft chimney down to the gym stage with a crusty rope loosely tied around my weak belt loop. That was the most terrifying moment of my life, but I just fell in love with that thrill. Now, just a year later my friends and I go up to that roof, go in our man cave in the rafters, and reminisce about "rope night".

In 2010, my friend told me about an abandoned house nearby. It was in a crappy part of town, and not very big, but it hooked me in a way I couldn't really explain. We went back a few more times, never really committing to the explore, since we were too scared to go in the dark back rooms, so I'd just stick the camera in, take a flash shot, and back up. When we finally came with flashlights and cameras to explore the basement, I felt like we'd made it. That was when I made my account here. Something about seeing that this was a thing made me want to do it even more.

For a few years after that, I scratched the itch by sneaking off during gym class to explore the tunnels and storage areas under the school. It was a ton of fun. When graduation came, I had nothing going for me. I don't drive because reasons, which precludes me from doing pretty much anything else in this area, and I kind of became a hermit, until the summer of 2014, when the same friend from earlier came to visit. He was telling me about how he'd been driving through Kings Park, and that it was really cool. He asked if I wanted to go see it with him.

*blows dust off UER account*

Posted by Whitechocolatemilk Until we figured out how to get into the gym's attic. We would love crawling around on the narrow beams in the rafters, looking down at the gym floor but then the hatch got locked.

Haha same here. The gym teachers left the attic door on the roof open just a tad on accident so we were able to slip into the locker rooms and the PE offices where their computers and gradebooks were. We didn't crew with anything, but the thrill of being there was just awesome.