On vacation, finding it a little tough
 

Am away in a fabulous all inclusive right now and everyone is drinking delicious red wine (thanks mr beast). Anyone have some straight no BS talk for me? I'd love a firm talking to. I know I'm not going to drink but the beast is finding this quite hard and it's distracting me from enjoying myself. I don't need to be vigilant and I don't need to be comforted, because I'm not worried I'm going to drink or anything. It's more like I need someone to tell me that I can enjoy myself without drinking. Maybe this is a wonderful opportunity to discover how to.

Baleine,
I was on vacation last week and had the same problem..trust me, once you get through the beginning of the night when everyone starts drinking, you won't even think about it anymore. You can totally have fun without drinking. I used to think it would be impossible to have a fun night without but now I love remembering everything and feeling better than everyone else in the morning....red wine tastes great but so do a million non-alcohol drinks..you'll be fine..have a blast on vacation!!

Ok baliene firstly kudos on posting here in that moment. I know how hard it really really sucks being the only person not drinking in paradise. I spent most of my summer in a beach resort community every days a party. At first it was starting to break me I felt do angry and like you I knew I was not going to drink but didn't want to feel angry and left out. So whst I did was allow myself to get it all out all the sadness regret disillusion anger about not being "able" to drink. I cried I screamed I wrote. And you know whst it was gone almost. Take advantage of the early mornings when most will still be fast asleep. I would take my 40 oz of coffee and my cell phone and read SR on the beach!

You can do this and I promise you won't regret it and you will have authentic memories of good times! Hang in there:)

Relax and enjoy your vacation - sober.

Catch up on your sleep, enjoy the food, read. All really awesome stuff you can do on vacation sober!

I'm sure there's tons of things you can do on your vacation that don't involve alcohol.

Have you made a Big Plan? :)

D

Read, rest, walk, run, ride, fly, swim, sunbathe, scuba dive, drive, eat, massage, meditate, SR, relate, enjoy, smile, hairdresser, shop, laugh, chocolates, gardens, bush, scenery, happiness, joy, freedom...........

Drink, head ache, regret, vomit, embarrasment, shame, home early, kicked out, apologise, avoid, lost friends..........

i know which scene I prefer

Make friends with a bartender and ask him/her to make you a virgin daquiri. Dance, laugh, eat. Get up early and enjoy how awesome you feel.

I want to print this out! Haha

The thing is, and it's always the same with me, I feel like I can 'moderate'. And 19 times out of 20, I can. And what I'm doing now (stopping drinking) is saying that the 20th time is what's driving me to say that I am never going to drink again. It's not worth the risk.

It doesn't stop me missing those 19 drama free nights though!

It might be 19 drama free nights.... But how are those 19 mornings?

Wow. Excellent question. It actually made me stop and stare at the screen.

Youre right of course. The mornings would be probably quite angst ridden. Some of them would be fine but others would have me worried. Whereas right now I'm totally happy and peaceful. Thanks for that.

My drinking most of the time was drama free as I drank at home so really little room for disaster. It's the waking up part that was disastrous. You're doing great! I applaud your self awareness!

i have been on so many vacations, loaded from noon on.... ugh.

the BEST nugget i can give you. get up early, go out on the grounds, bring a book, and some coffee/tea, find a great chair and view and spend time just being there. after this time, you also get a bonus feature - to watch the beginnings of hungover, bedraggled, hurting people walking to get coffee, or back to the bar to find their phone, or trying to go to the gym to "work it off", or maybe to grab an early drink before the kids demand their time. miss that? not me. :c032:

'Missing' them is so much better than not missing out on them. And the missing will go away, once the AV gets the idea you mean business.
Everyone was pretty much asleep byu the time I passed out, so I thought it was safe. I didn't consider their safety and well being when I was passed out and struggling through a morning after 'dramaless' drunkeness.

edit ew sounds so downerish, please enjoy the vacation , nothing better than a great place for relaxing and reading :)

If I were there right now I would be enjoying all the delicious food I could, walking the grounds and taking in the scenery, reading by the pool and enjoying a nice, long massage! All of which can and should be done completely sober!

Hello all. Happy to report that the vacation so far has been great. I don't miss drinking at all and feel so refreshed every morning.i love not getting hangovers!

I do have a question for you though. I find myself getting so tired at about 10pm and can't last much longer than that. It's getting frustrating because i end up going to bed and then the next morning I hear about all these wonderful fun nights that people are having (we are here with a group).

Anyone figure out a way to stay up later? I'm getting irritated because I feel like I'm missing out.

Whoever I've wanted to enjoy a tasty drink around people drinking alcohol, I usually get a virgin cape cod.. Somehow that bubbly, tart glass helps me feel like I'm part of the fun, but can stick to my guns.

I'm still a night owl, but how about afternoon nap perhaps by the pool, and coffee/latte after dinner or even after? I could drink coffee at 11 and be asleep by 12 though, maybe I'm immune

Baleine, could you take a late afternoon nap? Or maybe a little caffeine later in the day than you would normally drink it? Not sure what your tolerance level is for midday sleep or caffeine. Just a couple ideas.
At any rate, great job staying sober. I have a trip coming up and your success has given me lots of optimism!

Baleine, I wouldn't stress about not getting every last bit out of this vacation. The fact that you are tired and are listening to your body is a good thing. The fact that you are protecting your sobriety is a good thing. This is a first for you, don't push it....it is going to be different. If you are like me you are used to doing everything at 150% which is how I got in trouble in the first place. Relax...you're on holiday, listening to your body and getting a lot of sleep is a good thing! :)