Sorensen
I used to travel for work with a team of people who loved to gather after work to drink, eat dinner, and then drink some more. At the risk of being perceived as "standoffish" I couldn't put myself in that kind of situation night after night, and I had several years sober at the time. Boredom and loneliness are real feelings to have to cope with while working away from home. But I wanted to stay sober so I did what I had to do to accomplish that. If I went out to eat with the crew I left after dinner and did not hang around and watch them drink. When I got back to the hotel I kept my mind busy with paperwork, TV, surfing the net, taking a walk, if the hotel had a gym or pool I would use them, and my favorite, going out for an ice cream before bed kind of as a reward for making it through another day sober (I was a McFlurry junkie).
Getting sober is hard, but in my experience it only gets harder the longer you wait. I first got sober when I was 29 and I have put a lot of sober years together since then. But I have also had a couple of horrific relapses, and it has gotten exponentially more difficult to get sober each time. I guess my point is that it will never get any easier to get sober than it is right now.