On holiday in Sri Lanka very recently, I was reminded of a Goa trip 11 years previously when I was drinking heavily. Despite the low cost of everything in Goa, I still had to organise my rupees into daily piles in order to make sure I didn’t go over budget. We had cocktails and beers and brandy every day, and I bought some dope too which made me sleepy and nauseous and yet I was continually debating in my head whether to roll one up “now” or leave it until later in the day. Once I had that dope in my possession, I became obsessional about it. My holiday was ruled by those piles of daily rupees and that bag of grass and all those drinks. I wish I had been writing an alcoholic blog back then, because it would have made interesting reading.
Rupees, Euros or pounds – it doesn’t make much difference!
Sri Lanka shares the same climate, more or less, as South India, and a broadly similar culture, at least to us holidaying Brits abroad, so it’s not surprising I was reminded of my former trip to Goa. What came as a great relief however was my ability to enjoy the culture of Sri Lanka without the burden of those wretched daily piles of rupees. I didn’t really need money to enjoy the sights sounds and smells of the jungle and beach and that wonderful country’s amazing towns and cities. Whether cheap or expensive, my decisions on what to do were not determined by my budget and certainly not by an overwhelming desire to have a beer or get stuck into the cocktails, or roll a joint and stare nauseously into the middle distance, like I did 11 years ago in my hut on Palolem beach.
Thank God for my continued desire for sobriety. It fuels everything I do, including, of course, this alcoholic blog. And now that I am starting to get a handle on the concept of mindfulness, I feel even more empowered to enjoy my own existence, without worrying about the past or the future.
For more of this sort of thing, have a look at my alcohol journal at http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M67O736