Just returned from a month-long vacation and now I realize what Al meant when he did a similar two week vacation last year and said “It was not really a vacation.” It was a road trip to see friends and family in Michigan, not somewhere we went off alone exploring. It was still great, but not the same. Next year we plan an RV vacation across the northerrn states (from Michigan to Seattle).
This is the first year I’ve had a sober road trip and it was great. Until my medication ran out and I called my doctor as we had discussed and she said she could not refill because my mail order had just been fulfilled and my pills were in Florida. She said I was on such a low dose the detox side effects would not happen. Or would be mild. We were already in our long-stay hotel (never again) so I was at least able to detox in private. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good, either. Missed seeing my friends but Al had more time to see his. We both saw families together twice and a few friends before the enforced detox. Which on top of no wine, was a bit challenging.
Maybe it’s because I stayed in so much, but this new-since-covid hotel thing of “suites” and “residences” is not my bag. Although we had a living room, a nice work area, a kitchen with full fridge, top stove burners and microwave, bathroom and bedroom. Closets. Television. Laundry room, I prefer an AirBnB. Television in hotel was crap. Furniture was not near as comfortable as our own. Cooking was challenging so we had dinner out most nights. They had grills for our use and we did some chicken that way and pizza once. A month of eating out did a number on me. I actually lost weight on road trip. Which has never happened before!
We got to see our grandson, who lives in Traverse City, before the medication mix up, so that was lovely. Did some shopping with daughter in law while the guys went to mini-golf, go-cart racing and boat racing. Everyone had fun and we did some interesting stuff like visiting a bourbon distillery and having nice dinners in quaint towns. I had a cherry infused coffee that was so good. I read coffee is good for the liver so that made me happy. Seeing Ben, Tim and Alicia was the best part of the trip.
Al did a lot of golfing with his friends and I was supposed to write (working on a Christmas novella) while he golfed but the detox made my essential hand tremors act up and I couldn’t type. My mind wasn’t in the correct headspace either. I read instead and watched movies on Netflix. It was relaxing and things weren’t so bad but I missed home. A housekeeper came weekly to clean our rooms from top to bottom but I still felt like after a few days the air was stale. I burned a candle which helped.
I learned what I like and what I don’t like about a long trip. Mostly, I don’t like being away from home that long. When I was younger, vacations always felt too short. Road trips were full of unexpected fun things. This time it was too long in vehicle. We decided with the RV vacation we are going to drive between rush hours. 10-4 or something. I can do six hours, just not twelve!
Most of all I’m happy to be home and writing again. And while I would not choose to taper off a medication on vacation, that happened anyway and in the end was a bonus.
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