Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Sober Day #154: Flights and Pubs without Wine

I did it!  My first long flight without alcohol.  Eight hours or so, Chicago to Heathrow.  It was an overnight flight.  I did not head to the bar as soon as I cleared security.  Fortunately, the past 5 months have given me numerous opportunities for domestic flights, and I knew that my past need for wine before boarding a flight had more to do with a 'fear of fear' than with actual fear once I was in the air.


Here is a lovely pub in London, near our hotel in Mayfair.  Notice partial head-shot of 16 year old daughter in the lower left!  Eating in there entailed a diet coke with my yummy fish and chips.

I realized how much my vision of vacations or business travel is built around stopping in here and there for a drink.  This is very different:  Awakening each morning refreshed and myself, full of energy.  I've had a lot of practice with evenings and weekends at home without wine, even domestic travel without wine-  but this sort of travel is apparently in a different category in my wine-mind.  

And yet, I am persevering, reminding myself that is how I used to behave, not what I choose now.

On to Oxford tomorrow!

6 comments:

  1. Go YOU Carrie! I think a lot of us worry about what holidays without drinking will be like -- mainly because we've never done it! But really the benefits are just like at home -- waking up fresh, feeling great, remembering all the details, and having plenty of energy for the adventure. I must say though that the UK would present quite the challenge, what with all those charming pubs. But they serve diet coke, and soda water too, so all good. Have a great holiday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Holidays ARE in a different category. When I'm being very sensible- I ask myself why on earth it ever seemed like a good idea to drink on holiday- and blunt the 'different-ness' of what I was experiencing, which is the whole point of travel. Ahhh, that old Wine-Think, which seems to make sense when I am enmeshed in it....but with distance looks more and more nonsensical. What has helped my numerous times has been Belle's concept of Sobriety being my most important job right now- thinking about this helps me anchor in to being what I want to be.

      Delete
  2. Nice going ...... and enjoy my (ex) country, Carrie!
    Try not to damage it too much ;o)
    G x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damage? Hmmmm, an intriguing concept. Does shopping count? Zara here has much different fashions than the ones at home, which has loosened my wallet a bit, lol! Yesterday I went on the Eye, and spent the afternoon at the glass exhibits at the V&A (glass being one of my artistic media, in the very small-potatoes form of lampworked beads)- it was absolutely amazing!!

      Delete
  3. Fab Carrie. So sorry we couldn't hook up for a cuppa and enjoy Oxford! :) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nest time, Lucy! I love to travel- so I'll be through London again before long, I'm sure! What are some other non-alcohol drinks I can order in pubs? I steer clear of diet coke in the evenings because of the caffeine content. I asked sweet husband to surprise me with something non-alcoholic...and he came back with a lovely pink drink. I tasted it- and said, this tastes a bit like alcohol? He'd thought a Campari and soda would be fine, since there wasn't much alcohol, lol! He drank that one, and got me a cranberry and soda.

      Delete

I'd love to hear about your journey, and hear your take on my journey. Comments are very welcome!!