Shit news! Hope it’s not too bad and passes quickly. Bit of a downer that. Hope you’re OK 
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Hi, there. Regarding your vacation, in order to stay in recovery (you are working a recovery program, right?) it is important to plan ahead and make sure to avoid situations that may create too much anxiety, stress or temptation to relapse. Learn to say “no” to going on vacation with your family if there will be drinking in bars, “fruity drinks”, etc. Not worth the risk if you are willing to do whatever it takes to stay in recovery and not face intense shame as a result of relapse.
Bartenders do not care what you order for a drink. Trust me on this. Unless you think you are God, you cannot read another person’s mind, and in recovery we all hopefully learn healthier behavior in terms of setting and enforcing boundaries with people around us. That means you have a ways to go, because if you are thinking about what someone else is thinking about you, you are not where you need to be, which is telling yourself to not waste mental energy on what others are thinking. Worry only about what you can control. You can’t control other people, places or things. You can only control how you respond to them. In early recovery, this is easy to say but difficult to do consistently.
I hope you are attending 12 Step meetings where you live and that you have a sponsor and some friends to confide in. This is your best insurance against relapse. Listen to what they tell you and take some of the advice and put it to work for you. Use what has worked for them so you aren’t having to reinvent the wheel. - Mike
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I dont think i could of done what you did. Good job! Stay strong minded.
I was in Punta Cana doing the same thing with my brothers. Sobriety stinks; I’m 3.5 years in and absolutely hate it. However, it is good physically and mentally.
That’s great! I envy you. I just started and know something like a trip will be my greatest challenge.
Yeah. I’m just over 4 years in and there was no actual risk of me drinking….it just sucks. I’m not going to pretend that sobriety is sunshine and roses everyday. It really sucks that I can’t be “normal”. BUT when I see people acting like drunken fools, well, I don’t miss that one little bit.
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The fruity drinks are yummy, why spoil the taste with nasty poisonous ethanol. 
Your post helps reinforce my decision yesterday. I just canceled my all inclusive Cabo vacation next week and booked a cruise with some sober friends.
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Hi Louie. Watching a few Sober Leon youtube video everyday keeps my mind right. Hope that helps.
MNM I feel you… It helps me to really remember why I walked away.
I ask myself: Remember how how you felt the week you decided enough was enough.?.. did that week suck worse than how you fell right now?
Is the 20 to 40 minutes of bliss escape worth years being trapped on the expensive up and down depressing “roller coaster of hell”?
I then walk though it in my mind. i mentally allow the drink, then more and more. I think how did this end before? How will I feel in the morning? How will I feel in a month when I am back on the hamster wheel? How long will it take for me to want to end everything again?
Why do I miss it? Would I go back and pay my serial cheating ex for a 5 min high?
Sure a real relationships with real stable people take more effort and thought, but they are actually real.
Hope that helps. It helped me to type it and think it though.
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I’m happy to report that I also stayed sober in our vacation to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican. And best of all I didn’t feel judged or uncomfortable at all. I enjoyed every single day and not waking up hungover. There was one point where I got roped into a game and didn’t know until I was there that there was drinking involved. But my husband let me pour my drink into his cup and I pretended to drink it. He definitely took one for the team on that one and I was so happy to have his support.
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So glad you had a good time. I have more fun sober even at the infrequent parties I attend sober versus drunk.
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Maybe I’m just at that stage in life where I no longer care what someone thinks of my personal choices…but I really don’t care what someone thinks of my personal choices.
Mind over matter. I don’t mind, because they don’t matter.
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You’re right. And really I don’t care. It was just frustrating being questioned. And one time they assumed booze was wanted and put it in (I caught it before he finished).
Overall, looking back, it wasn’t so bad.
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Yeah this is what usually beings me to want to become sober: having energy the next day to spend with my kids and staying healthy