The set and setting is everything, initially. If you come up in a bad zone, you probably will be 'tainted' in a way - of course, people mellow out and come out of it but a lot of newbies freak out initially and it spirals. Personally I wouldn't take ayahuasca in NYC unless it was in a huge apartment with a garden or like maybe a house on rockaway beach, but with regards to, say, LSD or DMT, once you have, shall we say, marinated in a good environment and found your footing, the second or third time user can pretty much go wherever on it. When I lived in NYC for a spell I loved tripping in central park by the Met and walking down to times square. Some people call me crazy but i have never been so inspired and entertained in my life. That was back when there was this incredible cafe in an old ballroom, the Hotel Edison Cafe I think it was called and that was like my headquarters for city trips.

But upstate is 100 percent the way to go. The Hudson Valley is the most beautiful place on earth to me and there are tons of amazing amazing places to explore, like old mansions, crumbling stone forts, just like straight up lore-making kinds of environs to let your mind unravel.