First, relax, chill back and read, you can learn alot from reading, most of your questions have been asked and someone has probably answered them, lurk the different forums for the stuff you are interested in. You can't chat or PM until you have more than 25-30 posts and you won't be a member until you have been around for more than a like 5 days. Read the sticky's at the top of this forum and all the others, the ones that says READ THIS FIRST! they say that for a reason, sorry i'm a condescending a-hole sometimes, but at least I recognize it. Anyway, all the forums are broken down by topics, like travel, alt lifestyles, news, announcements, etc...so just hangout read a bit and you'll find what you need. You can add people to your contacts by clicking on the username and a lil window will pop up with options. You'll figure it out.
great to have you friend and XavierJSun was right about it all. hope to hear some great posts and threads from you. and hipforums is indeed awesome sauce