Stung

My husband is a couple weeks into recovery and rather than ask him I thought I'd ask you peeps:

If you're successful in recovery, do you avoid taking vacations or do you need to just vacation somewhere where AA meetings are easily accessible?

Also, what period of time is considered early recovery? The first 3 months, 6 months, first year?

TIA!!

Thepatman

I am not personally in AA, but I would think a small vacation, even if without any AA available should be ok if his resolve is solid. Plus if he has a sponsor he could call if he get's tempted.

Early recovery is in my humble opinion is the first year. But I'm only a month sober myself.

BadCompany

There are meetings everywhere. Pretty common to check out local meetings wherever you go on vacation.

JaylaaKent

Good APP called One Health - has a great meeting locator and other goodies. I use it when I travel. Most people I know consider anything less than 5 years - early recovery. One doesn't necessarily HAVE to go to meetings while on "vacation" but for me, it was very helpful (especially during my first few months). Being in recovery should not be considered "cured". Most alcoholism/drug addiction takes months/years to develop - can't be cured in a few months. Hope this helps

fini

i'd think it depends entirely on the person and how he feels and on the kind of vacation.
if someone is having bad cravings a lot of the time and the vacation is an all-inclusive-all-the-free-booze-you-want, then it might be smart not to go, AA meetings or not.

i went on vacation three weeks after getting sober, and it was my typical quiet-retreat-in-a-cabin vacation. i had done this many times and spent every prior vacation getting drunk every evening in that very cabin. couldn't quite imagine how it would be without drinking, but i knew i wouldn't drink.

i'm not sure what you mean by "successful in recovery", but for me that means that my life is not restricted by things such as "no vacations".
i'm also thinking, though, that it's got to be each person's gut feeling about how they're doing.
i went on vacation at three weeks, but didn't dream of going to my daughter's big 30th birthday bash when i was three months sober. i just knew that might be iffy.

KateL

I am not in AA b but I was for a while and when visiting Greece and Spain there were always meeting nearby xxx

heath480

I always go to meetings if there are any when on holiday.A good idea is to contact the local AA office where you are going,they will help you find meetings.

I once went to a Greek Island where there only one member of AA,they call them loners,I met up with him and we had an AA meeting.He was so delighted to meet me.

Caldus

I always try to find AA meetings at the location I will be vacating at. It shouldn't hinder your recovery efforts if you go on a vacation as long as you remain connected to your recovery program of choice while gone (whether it be AA, etc.). I would highly recommend having a plan of action before you leave to go on vacation. Just plan out what you are going to do recovery-wise while you are gone. Find some potential meetings to go to, get some phone numbers of people in your program to call while you are gone, pray, and do some reading (literature or at SoberRecovery, etc.). I think the key thing is to just have a plan before you leave and then the rest should be fine.

Can't really say. I like to think of it in a different way entirely -- I always think of myself as a newcomer even though I have over a year of sobriety. If I think I have all of the answers and don't think of myself as new, then I am no longer teachable and eventually I will go back out as a result.

Taking5

If you are into cruises, look for a "friends of Bill W" meeting on the ship itself. These are very common. In fact, there are completely sober vacations available, google it and you'll find tons of resources.

IOAA2

Hi. For me and my comfort before I went to an area unfamiliar to me I did a search for AA meetings in that area. It's a great way to meet others who understand us. Once in NZ I met a follow who asked me if I knew a Dale from my area and sure enough I did. Over the years they visited each other. In my travels I was led to so many local POI that were big highlights I would have missed. One day on the south Island I met someone who showed me the backwoods as a professional deer hunter knows them, unbelievable! I've got +30 years so my opinion is lopsided by saying + 5 years but so much is dependent on the individual.

BE WELL

Ptcapote

I avoided vacations for awhile simply because they were such a huge trigger for me. In the last years of my drinking that's all vacations were to me...non-stop drinking opportunities. I had to break that association in my mind first. I did that by going places where drinking either wasn't front and center or going with people who didn't drink or drank very little.

I am in AA and although I have never been to a meeting on vacation, friends love it. They always seem to meet new people they like and then there's a group of you with the same general interests and outlook to do things with like go out to dinner, dancing, etc., where alcohol isn't the main focus. I plan on looking it up the next time I go. I am almost 11 months sober, btw, and I am most definitely still in early recovery