In the early 1990s, while in our early 20s, my sister and I spent six weeks or so traveling in Europe. It was the kind of trip where you had a Eurail Pass, slept in hostels, had little money to spend, went to many countries and met lots of other travelers our age. Overall, we had a great and memorable trip, and not unexpectedly, as siblings, we had some moments when we did not get along well.
One such particular day, we were on our way to a town in Germany, whose name now escapes me. We were getting in late in the evening and had no way to let the owner of the guesthouse know this (pre-cell phone days). I think there had been train delays or something. Anyway, my sister and I were barely speaking to each other on the train and then had to trudge around an unknown city in the dark until we made it to the guesthouse. The owner was not at all happy with us, but did let us in and offered us the only room left, which had only a twin bed. We took it.
We crawled into bed, backs to each other, trying to pretend the other was not just a millimeter away. I remember wanting very badly to be sharing that small bed, but went to sleep quickly. In my next conscious moment, I felt calm and serene. I looked about me and gazed at the sleeping forms of my sister and I below me. Wait, what?! In the split second that I became aware that I was hovering over the bed, I was back in my body, eyes wide open and startled.
I briefly wondered if I had dreamed escaping the close quarters of that bed, since I had fallen asleep not wanting to be so close to my sister. But the quality of it was so real, it didn’t feel at all like a dream. I was clearly seeing us from somewhere near the ceiling and had the perspective of a third person looking at something, not the first person view I am used to during the day or even during dreams. And the second I understood what was going on, it was over.
I shared the experience with my sister in the morning. I don’t remember what her reaction was, but to this day, I am pretty convinced that I had a spontaneous out-of-body experience. Science often chalks the experience up to a neurological trick of our brains. I bet it is, for some number of experiences. But I wasn’t on drugs or medication and hadn’t had any alcohol. I was mad when I went to bed, but that has never caused such an experience before! Given all the other odd things I’ve experienced in my life, I tend to think that I literally experienced a brief separation from my body. Sadly, it’s never happened again.