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    Journey into Sobriety...

    Journey into Sobriety

    Hi everyone. Hope you are doing well, and staying on top on your selves.

    Sunday evening here, and I now have three weeks of vacation ahead of me. I sorely need to make a journey out west, to clear some cobwebs out.

    The clear and good feelings have persisted, and things look great. I eagerly anticipate the call of the road, a journey to find the new Neil.

    You see, I have done this before. Taken long road trips out west. Only before, my usual mode of operation was to stop somewhere, hit a bar and get ripped with the locals. So I would drink myself silly, and sleep right up until check-out time before dragging my sorry hung-over carcass out of bed. Then back on the road to the next stop. Booze was a major reason to ?enjoy? the trip. The new bars, the new people to get drunk with, and so on. Booze was an essential element of the trip.

    Now, I am well enough I think, to do this thing as a whole new person. I crossed the 18 months sober line this past Friday. I?ve gone a whole year and a half without a drink. I feel a new confidence in myself, and a feeling that there are new things waiting for me out there. No longer will the choice of hotel/motel to stay at be dictated by a bar on premises. It will have no weight at all in the choice of where to stay. No longer will I call the front desk to ask for another hour or so of checkout time, because I am too hung-over to get my act together.

    My senses are clear in a way, that I have not known in years. Probably since I was a teenager. I am healthy, and strong, and should be able to make the journey with much less difficulty than in the past.

    So anyway, I will try to update this thread as I go to new places. I?ll take my little road laptop, and log on when I can to update the journey. Where am I going? Don?t know for sure right now. It will be an adventure, as nothing is really planned. Just hitting the road for a couple of weeks to see more of what is new inside myself, rather than checking out the sights.

    Be well.

    Neil

    #2
    Journey into Sobriety...

    Hi Neil, you have done so well, 18 months you must be so proud.
    Enjoy your journey and keep in touch.
    Best wishes Paula.
    .

    Comment


      #3
      Journey into Sobriety...

      Sounds good Neil, and congrats on the 18 months, that must feel amazing!
      It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not.
      James Gordon, M.D.

      Comment


        #4
        Journey into Sobriety...

        Neil,
        Cool plan. Keep us posted. I too have planned stays at hotels based upon the bar. Now not so much.
        Later,
        Phil
        Love and Peace,
        Phil


        Sobriety Date 12.07.2009

        Comment


          #5
          Journey into Sobriety...

          Neil, I cannot wait to hear your tales from the road. I have missed you posting lately and want you to know how pivotal you have been in changing my thinking about drinking so please keep it coming.
          I'm really easy to get along with once people learn to worship me

          Comment


            #6
            Journey into Sobriety...

            Neil, I am so proud for you to be taking this journey sober.

            You have been such an incredible inspiration for so many of us.

            I wish you happiness and safety on this journey.

            I drove across the U.S. last summer from Seattle to Toronto with a via to Dallas to see my kids, I managed to put on 7200 miles on a 91 Honda. It all happened very well except for a new radiator in Dallas. Never missed a turn, and never got lost. I did this trip sober and also, never gave in to burgers. There are a lot of places out there where you can get salads, etc. and just good food.

            I wish you well my friend.

            Hilary:h
            Enlightened by MWO

            Comment


              #7
              Journey into Sobriety...

              Happy holiday Neil, I am looking forward to hearing about your trip as you go along... Congratulations on reaching the 18 month mark, you sound so happy and positive now.. I am just over the 8 month mark and although it is much easier on a day to day basis then it was in the beginning some days I really hit the wall, but I will NEVER give in, this is one battle I am determined to WIN...

              Have a good time, love, Louise xx
              A F F L..
              Alcohol Free For Life

              Comment


                #8
                Journey into Sobriety...

                Neil,
                Thanks for "taking" us with you. I can sure use the diversion from everyday work and life!
                What's "our" first stop!
                Can't wait to hear all about it...

                Nancy
                "Be still and know that I am God"

                Psalm 46:10

                Comment


                  #9
                  Journey into Sobriety...

                  Good for you, Neil! I,too, will be looking for road reports!!

                  Right now, I'm in the Green Mountains in Vermont--what a wonder it is to get away from the city...part of my own journey to re-discover myself after racking up well over a year of sobriety myself...

                  Happy Travels!!

                  susan
                  "I'm a sucker for a good resurrection story." Anne Lamott

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Journey into Sobriety...

                    Hi Neil and Sujul...well done both !!and enjoy the break.

                    i love going away on my own for retreats for a few days/ i read a little, walk a lot, sit by the river..eat nice food/ If i am lucky i go some place where i get spiritual direction/talks.........it really gives me peace in my life. Then i have to go back to reality and show love in action. no good learning this new way of living and not holding onto the peace it brings.

                    LOVE IN ACTION has to be my motto...............Have a fun sober break

                    I,m not on the same level booze wise but i ham happy with how my journey is going at present..no boozing weekdays........heaven!!

                    Regards Cassy

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Journey into Sobriety...

                      Have a wonderful trip, and WOW congratulations onf 18 months AF.....

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Journey into Sobriety...

                        Have a great trip, Neil. I'll be looking forward to your travel reports! I hope the trip brings you all that you want and need.

                        Hi up there in the Green Mountains, Susan!

                        Hugs and Happy Trails,:l

                        Kathy
                        AF as of August 5th, 2012

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Journey into Sobriety...

                          DAY 1- A slow start.

                          Hidy Ho! (anybody a fan of Mr. Hankie on South Park? ....disgusting...)

                          OK, so I got a late start. Didn't get on the road in earnest until 12 Noon. Even at that, I made just at 400 miles today. There were gentle rains for about a 1/3 of the mileage today. The worst part was getting through the St. Louis traffic.

                          So my first intended destination is my alma matter. University of Kansas at Lawrence, KS, where I done did grad-did-e-ate with a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering way back in 1984. Actually my diploma says 1985, but I finished up the hours in December of ?84, so technically I?m an ?84 grad. I have not visited the university (as an esteemed alumnus?har, har.) in 10 years. Actually, anyone who has given them money as donations is an esteemed alumnus anyway. I would like to get some junk, that I could not afford ten years ago, much less when I was a student. You know, bric-a-brac souvenirs and such. I do donate the engineering departments a bit of money, and they put my name in the yearly honorarium listing, so that?s OK.

                          So I?m in Kingdom City, MO, and another two hours to Kansas City, and another hour to KU. I intend to take a ton of video tape on this journey with my 3CCD DV camcorder, so as to make some DVD?s. Also, I will try to post a few pics in the MWO pic section for your amusement.

                          Today was just getting started with some basic mileage.

                          I did note something today, that sort of broke my heart. I was eating in a Burger King for lunch, and I saw a young girl, maybe 19 or 20 struggling with a pre-employment exam or something. She was trying to work simple math problems to make change or something. It seemed as if the simplest problem took her 10 to 15 minutes to figure out, and she was visibly very uncomfortable taking that test. I wanted to take that test away from her, and work all the problems for her, but just an internal issue of mine I guess.

                          Road drinks are my standard issue these days. Glacier Freeze Gatorade for the win.

                          This is the first trip I have started on, where I didn?t slap my forehead down the road two hours, because I forgot to take something, or do something to secure the house for my vacation trip. My sober brain actually remembered all the details this time. My old drunken brain was very forgetful of things, and now days, I sometimes amaze myself by actually putting things in their right place.

                          Oh well. Back at you tomorrow with another report. Just getting started here. The truck operated flawlessly, but those gas prices are a bit of a stinger.

                          Neil

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Journey into Sobriety...

                            Hey I live 20 miles from Lawrence, Kansas. My neice is getting her Ph.D. in computer engineering this year at KU.

                            Have fun in Lawrence, it's a great town.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Journey into Sobriety...

                              Thanks for the update Neil,
                              Hey, you do realise don't you that you are not alone on this trip, at the moment I think you have maybe six or seven of us sitting right there in the pasenger seat next to you and as the journey progresses I'm sure more will be joining.. Perhaps we should all chip in to help pay for the gas, let us know, Ha Ha..

                              Happy travelling, looking forward to the next chapter..

                              Love, Louise xxx
                              A F F L..
                              Alcohol Free For Life

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