Fabulous Fridays: Giving Up On Alcohol

This week’s Fabulous Fridays might be a horror story to some, but I felt that I needed to clear something up.

I have noted a few times in the comments and in the conclusions that I gave up on alcohol a few years back, eight years to be exact, but I have not been clear why.

Don’t get me wrong, I have really, really enjoyed fun and late nights while drinking away, pretty much everywhere on earth, but I felt a few years back that it was no longer serving its purpose, as I was getting older.

First, I realized that it was directly affecting my sleep or indirectly through weight gain (from unnecessary calories), and second, if I had a fun night out on Friday, it took more than a day to recover properly.

It just wasn’t as much fun as it used to be, and if it’s no fun and doesn’t serve any other purpose, why continue it?

I thought that it would be difficult to adjust, but that wasn’t the case at all. My friends were initially more surprised by my decision than I was. The only downside is that it is very difficult to be out late at night if you don’t drink or use other substances, and I have never done the latter.

The last place I want to be at 3 AM is a noisy bar or a nightclub when I am tired and a large percentage of the population is intoxicated.

Conclusion

So, if you see posts with drinks from me, they are likely something that I have ordered for photographic purposes.

I must have consumed hundreds of bottles of red wine that have accompanied cheese plates, and roughly an equal amount of champagne in the air, not taking into account all the free drinks on the airline and in the club lounges.  And who cannot forget the old “complimentary minibar” policy for IHG Royal Ambassadors.

I always remember a comment from a Singapore Airlines flight attendant upon deboarding in Bangkok: “Sir, you are holding up well,” after a pleasant first-class flight from Singapore during which I thoroughly sampled their wines and champagnes. However, in retrospect, I don’t think that was a compliment.

(Remember they used to have first class on more regional routes as well, and that Dom Perignon bar in their lounge at Singapore was fantastic.)

It is easy to consume unnecessarily high amounts of alcohol if you travel frequently, as you have access to “free” drinks basically everywhere all the time.

My point here is that it is possible to travel and enjoy airline and hotel club lounges without consuming alcoholic beverages.

I wish that these hotels had a better way of recording guest preferences. It’s nice to have a bottle of red wine or champagne set up in your suite or room, but I’ll leave those behind if I’m traveling alone.

Have you adjusted your alcohol intake during travels? Please leave your comment below.

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