I think this is def a personal thing. What we really have is a daily reprieve, contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. For me the bottom line always has been these few things - Am I doing the basics, praying, talking to other alcoholics, going to meetings, working with others(service work).
As long as I have done those things I have managed to do things and go places that are sometimes surprising even to me. The BB does talk about that point in all of our recovery where the only thing standing between us and that next drink is our HP, again I refer to the maintenance of our spiritual condition. "Maintenance" not perfection.
When I was 10 months sober, I needed a place to live. Some friends of mine that grew up with needed a roommate. So I decided to move in. My sponsor and others took bets on how soon I would get loaded, the general consensus was 2 mo. These guys drank and smoked weed and threw parties monthly. I'm sure part of it was out of spite against my sponsor, but I did the things I needed to do (as stated above, the basics) and guess what, I stayed sober despite my surroundings. I have been to many clubs, bars, weddings, and other places that involved lots of alcohol and have managed to stay sober, with the help of my HP.
My second new years sober a friend invited me down to San Francisco to see the Dead play their annual new years show at the Oakland coll. Good Idea I thought! So I get there and everyone is partying it up, even my friends. Alcohol, weed, mushrooms, you name it, it was being handed out like candy. I thought for sure I was going to get loaded. I called my sponsor, he said "You will be fine, call me tomorrow." Click he hung up. So I get in side the building and people are smoking weed all around me. I decide hey, I could get high and no one would know. I was getting really nervous. Then the thought occurred to me that I should walk around the Colosseum and check it out since I had never been there. I walked around a bit and saw lots of crazies and then decided to get something to eat. As I was heading up the stairs I look down and see the food court, I was going the wrong way. I decided to head up the stairs and see what was up there. When I got to the top I noticed a booth. It had yellow balloons and they had stickers on the table. They said things like "Still crazy after all this sobriety" and "another dopeless hope fiend". Come to find out it was a group of people in recovery that call themselves the Warf Rats. They travel with the dead and have meetings between every music set. I ended up going to like 4 or 5 meetings that night and it was the most amazing spiritual experience ever. Completely amazing.
I have a couple other big experiences like this, that I will share another time.
We have alcohol in our home, we eat where we want to eat, and enjoy time in places that many may not agree with. This is just my experience and may not work for everyone.