Once you make the decision it’s actually not too difficult to quit. Especially for just 30 days. I went 4 1/2 months straight, and then since then have had ~5 drinks. It’s just not part of my life anymore. But if there’s a special toast or something else special going on I don’t have a problem having a drink. (My Aunt here in Poland made some traditional Polish alcohol so I had one shot of it at a family dinner, for example.)

Cheers!
Karol

Wow. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know how or why I missed it, but I’m damn glad I found it now.

I’ve actually been kicking around dropping alcohol for awhile now in preparation of ramping up my marathon training. Reading through your enjoy/don’t enjoy list, I felt an eerie similarity to my own feelings.

It being May 31st for only four more hours here, I think tomorrow is the perfect time for me to do my own 30 day challenge.

1) Munich is not cheap. (Berlin wasn’t either.) 2) We drank a lot. It’s not hard to spend 100 EUR/day on alcohol if you try hard. 3) The US dollar sucked in comparison to the Euro.

Karol

I was just wondering how you could spend so much on alcohol in Germany (of course everything is possible, but I am just curious). Where have you been? At this time of year there is not the Oktoberfest.

Best

Ute

That’s funny that your Dad took to bars to drink everything. :)

That confused look IS fun, isn’t it. :) I get it a lot too.

Thanks again for your comments,
Karol

Great post! Actually, I’ve enjoyed all the posts I’ve read on your blog. :D

I admire the way you looked at the habit so objectively when it wasn’t even nearing addiction status. I don’t think abstaining from alcohol is really on my radar though since I’ve never been drunk before.

I blame the fact that I’ve been sober my whole life on my parents and their possibly non-traditional method of bringing me up. My Dad brought me to bars to drink exactly one serving (bottle, cocktail glass, wine glass, etc.) of every kind of alcohol he knew of before I even thought about drinking it (I was a pre-teen at the time; don’t remember the exact age). About the same time, my Mom started giving me alcohol with the weirdest meals (champagne with KFC chicken, for example) and the whole family would have a great time that wasn’t really because of the alcohol. Oh, and they gave me one ridiculous rule: “Tell your friends you can only drink alcohol with your family, including your grandmother.” Just ridiculous enough that it didn’t seem like an order but more like an inside joke.

To this day, my whole family only drink alcohol when we’re together at Christmas. I’m always sober in bars and parties because I’ve often tried whatever everyone’s drinking (so I’m not curious), and using my reason not to drink and watching people’s faces dissolve in confusion is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Have a great time being socially unacceptable! :)

Daisy