NightNDay

Just remember how miserable it is to be drunk (followed by the even worse misery of a hangover) in a hotel room/on a plane/ on the road/ in a foreign country.

I'm not sure if this is a work trip or a fun trip, but I've personally been loaded on BOTH and it is an AWFUL feeling. I don't even need to share any details about drunken work trips -- suffice to say, it's the kind of thing you will severely (and instantly) regret even if you get lucky and it doesn't cost you your career.

And getting drunk on "fun trips" is really no fun at all. I have been fortunate enough to take several "dream vacations," which were promptly ruined because I drank them all away. I would talk myself into it with sayings like "Isn't this what vacation is for?" and "It's not fair that everybody else gets to unwind and indulge and I have to sit here sober" and also "Look at these amazing drink specials! I've never tried this before/can't get this back home. I will feel totally deprived if I don't try it now."

I had to seek medical care in a third world country once from alcohol poisoning. It was one of the most upsetting experiences of my life. I could barely communicate with the doctor and medical staff, I had no idea what was going on around me, I racked up a huge bill (alcohol poisoning wasn't covered by my travel insurance -- no surprise there). I had IVs placed in me that I don't remember getting, with needles that may or may not have been clean. I received medication from a really scary pharmacy (for some reason, the doctor said we had to hire a courier to get the pills from outside of the hospital, and I paid an arm and a leg for something I probably didn't need/that might not have been real meds).

My spouse was a witness to this entire thing and not only did I ruin our vacation, but I scared him half to death. He was not only in the awful position of having to seek out medical transport for me in a foreign country where he did not speak the language, but he also was present in the hospital while I was getting stuck with all kind of needles and fluids and he had no way to stop any of it, or understand what was going on.

I didn't mean to ramble, but I have not thought about this experience in years. I try NOT to think about it. It was one of the worst times of my entire life. I destroyed an expensive once-in-a-lifetime dream vacation to an exotic locale and, more importantly, I put my life (and my marriage) on the line.

All for a drink.

Don't do it. It's not worth it -- ever. Free drinks used to really tempt me, but it's important to remember that for people like us there's no such thing as a "free drink."