8 days sober, been recovering on and off for the last few months. Next Tuesday I go with my wife and 3 children to Spain 10 days all inclusive. I’ve never been all inclusive before and certainly when I booked it a major attraction was not having to think about paying for alcohol and making the most of it. My wife will still be drinking and I know she’s not overly comfortable with me trying to not to drink on holiday, which I kind of understand. I am a very positive person, however I can see this being a major challenge. I don’t want to drink because I’ve enjoyed my taste of sobriety, but I don’t want not drinking and craving it to be consuming my mind either. We’ve saved for two years for this holiday and now I’m worried about how I should takle this. Any thoughts?
Two years of saving,you definitely deserve to enjoy this vacation. Both of you do,but only you can decide if that includes drinking. I won’t say if you should or not. I have seen the topic about vacation drinking discussed here before. Personally if you decide to drink on vacation I consider that a reset,some won’t.I do know alcoholism doesn’t take a motevacation,so I can’t give it one. Consider how you think you will enjoy this vacation better,drinking or not. How will you feel when you get home? Though she may not think so the wife may enjoy it more if you dont. Just things to think on. Either way have a great time and let us know how it was.
Resetting if I drink is a definite for me, there can’t be different rules on holiday in my opinion. At the same time I haven’t yet considered my resets to be failures just different experiences that I’ve learnt from. I know that no one can tell me what to do, it will always be my choice, I’m not a victim of alcohol I’ve made all my own decisions. It is a difficult one, just because I really want/need this to be a good holiday for us all and don’t want my issues to taint what should be a special time for my family. Thank you for the reply! 
Totally understand,my best in your decision.
You know what else is cool about an all-inclusive? There’s a TON of stuff on offer that very few people take advantage of. The last one I did had sailing, jet-skis, pedal boats, yoga classes, free bike rentals, dance classes, all kinds of stuff that you can enjoy without a drink.
I went on an all inclusive holiday earlier this year. In the past the all day drinking was a major draw and my husband said we “wouldn’t be getting our monies worth”. As it happened, the food was amazing and the non alcoholic drinks were great! I felt the odd pang, but asked myself "how would alcohol improve this moment? " the answer was always that it wouldn’t.
It is hard when there is alcohol around you constantly and it would be so easy to slip, just keep busy with your children and focus on the food 
I hope you have a great holiday 
You’re right, I’m really enjoying being sober so why shouldn’t that continue? Gonna take it one day at a time. Thank you.
Ok, well. Lying in bed, can’t get back to sleep. Guess what? First day on holiday I drank, didn’t get drunk or anything but feel rough now and wishing I’d had the will power, however truth be told I had two beers the night before at home before we left… Jeeze.
Anyway tomorrow is another day, still got 9 full days here, I want to make tomorrow an alcohol free day and prove to myself that I can do it. I know how great sobriety feels so why on earth I choose to drink is beyond me… well I know why because it’s bloody addictive and everywhere!
Day two, I stayed sober. Not overly easy as alcohol is everywhere and you don’t have to pay for it. But I focused on how crap I felt waking up after drinking the night before. My wife’s drank and unfortunately it does alter the dynamics when one person is sober. So here’s to day 3,waking up feeling 20 times fresher. I’ll take it one situation at a time.
You’re right. I don’t feel as though I make excuses, I choose to drink! But gradually over the past few months I’m choosing sobriety more and more. Yesterday not drinking was way better than when I was drinking, and as I know from previous experience it gets better everyday after! I’m going to update daily, for my own record, but all feedback and support is so greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hope you can relax and really enjoy your holiday!!
If you choose to drink on holiday you are reinforcing the fact that alcohol is something to be enjoyed. Something special.
Thanks guys, I’m learning a lot in this environment. It is difficult but doable! At the end of the day I’m not dictated to by alcohol and each choice is my own, I ain’t a victim. We have the power!
This is absolutely the wrong time to battle addiction.
My advice to you is to start your journey in the right environment. People may disagree with me. But i really think after saving for two years… the wife drinking… you are in early recovery… i think you should just do the rest of the holiday boozing however you feel comfortable with.
This is the wrong time and you do not want to discourage yourself.
Start afresh when you return from spain.
Yeah. I just dont want his holiday ruined with his wife and kids if the thoughts of “no drinking” consumes his thoughts every waking minute.
I mean… those thoughts DO consume you in the first couple weeks.
I’ve been on lots of all inclusive holidays. They do great alcohol free cocktails and nobody is any the wiser that you aren’t drinking. You’ve got this!
Thanks all. Every viewpoint is valid, and I know all with the best of intentions. I did have a couple of drinks last night, made sure I’d had a nice big meal before hand. It was my choice. I’m now sitting by the pool enjoying soft drinks and loving being sober. Everybody recovers different, I’ve come a long way to really appreciate my sober time the way I do. I’m also a recovering stammerer (or stutter), again every person who stammers handles their recovery differently, and stammering and dealing with that is part of that recovery. I’m not saying the two are the same but for me personally the two have similarities that makes sense to me.