I just returned from a vacation with my husband that I never would’ve thought possible a year ago. I spent five days with the love of my life, in a tropical paradise. A year ago, we would’ve talked about it but we never would’ve been able to afford it, because drinking heavily is expensive. Really really expensive. In addition, we never would have accomplished so much. We were able to check all the must sees off the list as well as a bunch of extra stuff (like a new tattoo :-)). We spent five days, soaking up the sun, hitting the surf, hiking, driving entirely around the island, taking photos, laughing, and just being really intently together. And we did it sober. This was my third trip, just for pleasure, since the beginning of this year. One solo, one with the kids and husband, and one just the husband and I. That’s something I never would’ve imagined before. I would look enviously at other people’s Instagram photos, read their posts on Facebook with jealousy, talk about how lucky they were to be traveling here or there. Never once thinking that it was something I could do. But, here I am. Sober. Traveling. Doing things other than sitting on my couch drinking. Every morning of vacation we were up early, looking for the new, or just soaking up each others presence. My first morning there, we were swimming in the ocean a 6 a.m. No hangovers. No angry glances or steely silence over something that had been said or done the night before. Just us, without all the weight of anger or regret. When we first quit drinking, I wondered how vacations would work, how would I fly without a drink in hand? Until last November, I had never been to an airport and not had a drink. Not once. How would I enjoy a tropical sunset without a tequila sunrise, or breakfast overlooking the ocean without a mimosa? It was the fears of sober life in general, intensified. Turns out that just like normal life, vacation is better without drinking. Easier.
doing it dry 