The Hinge Experiment: 600 Miles, Two Hours of Sleep, and Harry Potter!

If someone had told me a few months ago that I'd be driving more than 600 miles in one day, running on approximately two hours of sleep, watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with a woman I met on Hinge, and nearly choking on a jalapeño, I probably would have asked what they'd been drinking.

Yet here we are.

The Hinge Experiment has officially entered its road-trip era.

On Sunday, Airica and I headed to COSM Atlanta to experience Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Shared Reality. The showing was at 8 AM, which meant I needed to leave Mount Pleasant at 2 AM, pick up Airica in Columbia around 4 AM, and arrive in Atlanta around 7 AM.

Simple enough, right?

I had a plan. I was going to get to bed around 6 PM on Saturday, wake up at 1:15 AM, get ready, and hit the road.

What could go wrong?

The Plan Was Perfect. My Sleep Schedule Was Not.

I did everything I could to prepare.

I washed the car and filled up the gas tank Saturday afternoon. I bought a few things I knew Airica liked: gummy candies and scratch-off lottery tickets.

Neither of us is a millionaire.

Yet.

Apparently, our retirement strategy is to buy lottery tickets and hope for the best.

So sad.

I was ready for bed early, or at least I thought I was. The problem was that sleep wasn't cooperating.

I wasn't lying awake worrying about anything in particular. My mind wasn't racing through a thousand different scenarios. I couldn't fall asleep.

I got about two hours of sleep before it was time to get up and begin the adventure.

Excellent.

Nothing says responsible adult like voluntarily starting a 600-mile road trip in the middle of the night after barely sleeping.

For the record, I wouldn’t recommend this plan to anyone. I should have prioritized getting adequate rest before such a long drive. But at the time, I was committed to making the experience happen.

The Road to Columbia

I left Mount Pleasant around 2 AM.

The roads were wonderfully quiet. There were hardly any cars, and the drivers who were out seemed to be playing nicely with one another.

No traffic jams. No unnecessary drama. No one seemingly determined to turn a simple drive into a demolition derby.

I arrived in Columbia, picked up Airica, and headed toward Atlanta.

She was tired, too, and slept through much of the roughly three-hour drive.

We stopped for a bathroom break and a quick fuel top-up along the way.

And, according to my very unofficial observations, Airica snored.

Lightly.

Very lightly.

I'm not trying to get myself into trouble here. I'm simply documenting the facts for the historical record.

Besides, if someone can fall asleep while I'm driving them across state lines at four in the morning, I’ll take that as a sign they're reasonably comfortable with me.

Or they're just exhausted.

Possibly both.

Welcome to the Wizarding World!

We made it to COSM Atlanta with time to spare.

People dressed as characters from the Harry Potter universe added to the atmosphere. We walked in, checked in, and got everything sorted without any major complications.

The COSM dome also hosts NFL games during football season, so the venue's scale is impressive even before the movie starts.

We got our prepaid enchanted-menu items, plus some extra food and drinks. There were nachos and a few other things to enjoy.

And then it was time for Harry Potter.

I'd seen Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone before, so I knew the story and remembered parts of the film. But experiencing it alongside Airica made it more enjoyable.

I got to see her excitement and how completely she geeked out. Sometimes, watching someone enjoy something they love is almost as much fun as the experience itself.

I enjoyed seeing her reactions and sharing the experience.

I'll write a separate review of COSM and the Shared Reality technology, because there's plenty to discuss. For now, it's an impressive piece of technology, and where you sit really does matter.

More on that in the dedicated review.

A Little Harry Potter Shopping

After the movie, we stopped for a bathroom break, then headed back to the car and picked up a few souvenirs.

Airica was particularly disappointed that there wasn't a much bigger selection of Harry Potter merchandise to buy.

I suspect she’d envisioned a shopping spree.

Unfortunately, the merchandise operation wasn't quite the magical money grab she had hoped for.

She did come away with a Harry Potter scarf and a Quidditch picture. She even got a physical copy of the photo in a commemorative protective lanyard.

So she had something tangible to take home.

And I had another memory of spending time with her.

I'll call that a successful shopping expedition, even if the store failed to extract every last dollar from her wallet.

Then Came the Jalapeño Incident

Now, I need to address something important.

At some point during the day, I choked on a jalapeño because I accidentally inhaled it.

Yes.

I inhaled a jalapeño.

I don't know how one accomplishes this. I wasn't trying to eat it particularly quickly, and I wasn't auditioning for a competitive eating contest.

Yet somehow, a piece of pepper took a wrong turn.

After everything I'd done that day, driving hundreds of miles on almost no sleep and watching a three-hour movie, a jalapeño nearly took me out.

I have one leg. I have kidney failure. My eyesight has given me more than enough trouble over the years.

And now I apparently need to add pepper-related respiratory incidents to the list.

The Hinge Experiment continues to provide material I could never have made up.

The Ride Back

After the movie and souvenir shopping, it was time to head back.

We had some great conversations on the drive. My back and shoulders started getting stiff, which wasn't surprising after spending so many hours behind the wheel.

Airica slept for about an hour on the way back.

This time, there was no snoring.

I'm not sure whether that was because she was sleeping more quietly or because I was too tired to conduct any further scientific observations.

Either way, we talked more, shared more laughs, and eventually made it back to Columbia.

We said our goodbyes there, and I continued the final leg of my journey home to Mount Pleasant.

The Autobahn Would Like a Word

The drive from Columbia back to Mount Pleasant was a different story.

Traffic was heavier, and I encountered some drivers who apparently have never encountered the phrase "Slower Traffic Keep Right."

For those unfamiliar, the left lane is generally intended for passing on roads where that rule applies. If you're traveling slower than the traffic around you, move right when it's safe.

It's not complicated.

Yet some drivers seem determined to occupy the left lane indefinitely, regardless of how much traffic stacks up behind them.

I suspect they would not do particularly well on the Autobahn.

For the record, I am not advocating speeding or unsafe driving. I appreciate drivers who follow basic lane etiquette and let traffic flow.

By this point, my back was stiff, my shoulders were tired, and I'd been awake for far too long.

I was ready to get home.

Made It Home Safely

During the drive, I received a call and a few texts from Airica.

I finally arrived home around 4:30 PM and let her know I'd made it safely.

Then I did what any sensible person would do after a day like that.

I went to sleep.

I slept until around 3 AM, then woke up and started writing this blog post.

Apparently, my body decided it was time to pay off its sleep debt.

I can't blame it.

I'd driven more than 600 miles, spent hours at COSM, watched a movie, eaten, talked, laughed, and somehow managed to inhale a jalapeño.

It was quite a day.

The Hinge Experiment Is Making Memories

Airica and I both have some busy weekends coming up, so we'll have to work around our schedules.

That's part of getting to know someone. Life doesn't stop just because you're dating—family commitments, work, responsibilities, and everything else that comes with being an adult.

But I'm glad we made this trip happen.

I got to experience something new, watch a movie with someone who genuinely enjoyed it, see her excitement, share some laughs, and create a memory that neither of us had before Sunday.

And that's what I want to remember.

Not the lack of sleep.

Not the traffic.

Not even the jalapeño incident.

The memory.

A few weeks ago, I was wondering whether Hinge was worth keeping. My matches had dried up, and I was beginning to think the whole experiment had run its course.

Now I'm driving across Georgia with Airica to see Harry Potter in an enormous dome, buying souvenirs, texting to make sure we both get home safely, and looking forward to whatever comes next.

I don't know where this will lead, and I'm not going to pretend I do.

But I'm enjoying getting to know her.

I'm glad we went.

And I'm glad I have another story to share.

Just one thing for next time: more sleep, fewer jalapeños, and maybe a slightly more reasonable start time.

Steve the Iguana, if you're reading this, you may want to hold off on booking that retirement cruise.

The Hinge Experiment isn't finished yet.