The beauty of AA is that wherever you go, in or out of the US, you can find a fellowship of fast friends in recovery.  My job takes me away for sometimes months.  I live an extended stay hotel, eat, sleep and drive to my work location alone.  Sometimes this feels like an eternity.  However, I’ve gotten in the habit of looking up the intergroup in the area, finding meetings, going to a few at different locations and finding a home-away-from-home group.  It keeps me from those thoughts which can creep in: “No one would know,” or “I could get away with it.”  I’ve done this long enough to know that those ideas are preposterous, but I also know how cunning, baffling and powerful the disease is.  I have to stay ever vigilant, awake and aware that I’m responsible for my sobriety no matter where I am, and no matter what my situation.  I find a warm sense of relief when I walk into an Alano Club, be it in West Michigan or Timbuktu.  I have friends and never have to experience the loneliness that only alcoholics and addicts know.

RJ