Not long after getting the IMC rating I set off from Teeside to Blackpool with some freinds in good weather and rapidly entered IMC over the Penines. The weather at Blackpool still sounded ok so I pressed on. It was very arousing indeed to be in real cloud, bouncing around with no visual reference whatsoever. However the strangest thing by far was not having my 16000 hour instructor/get out of jail free card to play. Luckilly nearly all of my IMC rating was done in horrible weather, dense clouds, turbulence, strong winds and low vis so I was well versed emotionally to cope. As I decended on the ILS at Blackpool we broke into blazing sunshine and 9999. What a boost to my confidence and it felt like "Real Flying" as there was a Ryanair 737 breathing down my neck. My freinds were impressed enough to buy me fish and chips! Only trouble was we had to return through it, icing and all....but thats another story.
Still don't think PPLs with IMCs should go looking for trouble and a Safety Pilot, preferably an IMC too at the very least is essential for practicing this stuff.