I know from experience, and from reading about alcoholism, that if we stop for long periods of time, and then start again, we tend to pick right up where we left off. Back when I had my 200+ days of sobriety, after that weekend of having "just wine", once we got back home, I was right back to a 12 pack a day, within about a weeks time.
There was no "tapering up" or "wading in". I jumped right back into the deep end. I wish I could remember exactly what year that happened in...let me think a minute...
I was sober from sometime in September of 2005, until late March of 2006. I don't remember the start date anymore...I do know that since March of 2006, so a little over 4 years, I have only had a day or two at a time when I have not drank. For a long time it was beer, about a year ago I switched over to vodka because it packed more of a punch, and the pint bottles of the strong stuff were easier to hide.
Wow. Just typing that out, and realizing that for the past 1,490 days or so, I have just a handful of days when I drank nothing at all. That is just plain insanity.