Australia - Part Five - V.I.P. Day at the Zoo (BEST DAY EVER!!!)

We awoke earlier than the alarm – at least I did - far too excited to sleep! Our driver, Darren, showed up early and we found ourselves the only occupants of the Croc Tours minivan – a personal chauffeur to the zoo! Darren is a full time high school teacher (English and Humanities) and taught us a lot about the history of Australia, the Australia zoo, the different aboriginal tribes – I mean, the JOURNEY to the zoo was incredible just listening to his stories.

We arrived before the zoo opened for business, so Darren took us across the road to the Wildlife hospital and we walked through the “sneak peak” area where you can see where they triage and operate. They’re a non-profit donation-driven company that will take ANY injured wildlife creature 24/7 as long as it is native to Australia (you can’t bring in cats or dogs or anything like that). 

We saw the nurses working with a baby roo, who they brought over to the window as if we were new parents standing outside to greet our young one. It was absolutely adorable.

After that, we headed back over to the zoo and met our guide for the day, Jade.

First stop – Komodo dragon with her keepers Jimmy and Bruce (Dublin). She was absolutely beautiful! I never thought I’d be petting a Komodo dragon like a puppy, I won’t lie – it was spectacular. The zookeepers were really wonderful telling us about Komodo dragons, their behavior in the wild, and what the sounds she made meant so we wouldn’t be worried or afraid. They directed us where to sit/stand and how/where to pet her – keeping a watchful eye on her to make sure there wasn’t any unexpected behavior. I never for a moment felt afraid or unsafe – just in absolute awe.  Jade was not only our escort for the day, but also our personal photographer - so we could really relax and enjoy the experience.

From there we went and met an Echidna named Dame. Dame is a male echidna, but they didn’t actually realize that at the time he was named and it didn’t seem to make sense to rename him once he’d adjusted to it. We again snapped some photos and then spent some time with the keeper learning about echidnas and their behavior. 

They tend to bury themselves and can be very difficult to see –fortunately, they brought Dame over for his breakfast, so he was more than happy to sit and pose for photos while slurping up his mealworm paste. As he was eating there was a water dragon lizard slowly inching towards his food – the water dragon lizards were EVERYWHERE throughout the day – they have the funniest run. The keeper ensured that Dame got to eat, and once we were done with photos put him on the ground with his special feeding bowl. Not going to lie – Dame had a tongue to rival Diesel’s – VERY impressive.

Next, we drove to Bindi’s island and met the ancient tortoises (who thankfully were not mating) and the lemurs that live on the island. There are 11 lemurs on the island, and we were able to find 9 nine of them. Jade was completely enamored with them and their orange eyes – she said you can tell them apart by their eyes, which range from soft orange to nearly glowing fluorescent orange.

Visiting the Asia section of the park next, we met with the Tiger keeper and learned a lot about Sumatran Tigers. No, we didn’t get to pet this one or get anywhere close to it – but it was kind of neat.

We then talked with the elephant keeper for a bit. The three female elephants at the zoo are Sumatran elephants, which are the smallest of the Asian elephant species. The keeper explained that they brought the females over first to get them acclimated to their new home before bringing over a male for breeding, but then Covid hit and everything kind of came to a halt. Apparently, transporting large animals (like elephants) requires several years of planning, permits and paperwork – so they are hoping to get a male within the next few years to see if they can breed some new baby elephants.

We also were lucky enough to see the Red Panda climb down from their perch for a wee.  (I mean, seeing the Panda was really cool - not the wee part.) 

Throughout the day, everyone we spoke with reinforced the zoo’s focus on conservation and preservation – a philosophy they’ve followed since it first opened in the 1960’s, run by Steve Irwin’s parents. We were also reminded several times that the fee we’d paid for the Platinum tour went a LONG way towards helping the animals. Since this was BY FAR the most expensive thing we’re doing in Australia, it really did make me feel good to know that it wasn’t just a guilty pleasure (getting to interact with beautiful creatures) – and that our dollars made a difference.

After the elephants, we went to a grassy field where there were multiple trainers waiting for us, each holding an animal or two. We took a group photo and then had the opportunity to interact and learn about each of the animals. My favorite was EASILY the koala – who was so incredibly soft and cuddly I didn’t want to give her back. Her handler, Birdie, was VERY protective of her and made sure I was holding her the right way – and then took her back long before I wanted to give her up. No matter how much I begged, pleaded or bribed, Birdie refused to let me smuggle the koala home with me.

In addition to the koala, there was a shingle scaled lizard, a little turtle, a non laughing Kookabura, a gorgeous python that I willingly kept around my neck for a good long while. (he python handler was really good looking, so I was somewhat distracted by the fact that I had a python around my neck), a wombat, a dingo (who was too shy to interact) and a gorgeous Macaw.

This is when I realized that we are the ONLY two people on the VIP tour today – Jade says they only do Platinum tours once or twice a week because it requires so many resources to pull off this many amazing encounters. That’s partially why they are so expensive.

After the many photos and conversations, we headed to the Steve Irwin lodge, which opened only a few years ago. The idea was that Steve wanted people to experience the zoo without having to rush or drive to and from town – unfortunately, they were WAY too expensive to actually stay in. We could have stayed at the lodge OR taken the platinum tour – and I’m glad I chose the tour!

At the lodge we enjoyed a delightful lunch next to a window overlooking a field with kangaroos and emus just lounging in the sun. The food was lovely, but it took about an hour and twenty minutes to get our food even though the restaurant was empty – so we had to eat it in about 10 minutes with no time to wander around.

The shuttle took us back over to the zoo where Jade was waiting with the golf cart to take us to our VIP tickets for the big show – the Crocodile feeding show. Okay, it was REALLY hoaky. They had two hosts with really bad jokes trying to rile up the crowd to yell larger than the other side. I had my hopes up that perhaps one of the Irwins would participate in the show, since they’d done so yesterday – and since today was a public holiday – but it wasn’t to be. Once the jokes were over, there was a really beautiful display of the trained birds at the zoo (although the bird that’s supposed to fly into the crowd to steal a five dollar bill out of a volunteer’s hand flatly refused, to the great amusement of everyone in the stands). 

Then….the Croc. It was ENORMOUS – Aggro is 20 feet long and weighs over 1,000 pounds but boy, can he move quickly when motivated! The two guys working with the Croc were Jimmy (who we met earlier with the Komodo dragon) and his boss, Keith. Keith was standing in the water talking about how you should NEVER go in the water where crocs live because they can sense your vibration, and he's stomping to show how the croc notices the movement. They don’t need to see you – they can feel the subtle movements. And as he’s talking, the enormous beast is getting closer….and closer….and I’m gripping Damian’s knee for dear life. 

I mean, I UNDERSTAND they do this every day, and there are about 20-30 additional keepers standing about watching for unexpected behavior ready to jump in and cause a distraction or something – but even knowing all this, it was TERRIFYING. They showed where the croc was most dangerous (overhanging the water or within 2 meters of the shore) but simply reiterated over and over to simply stay out of the water. The croc was definitely a highlight. I asked keeper Bruce, who was one of the watchers near the VIP section if Damian and I were going to get to pet that one (pointing at the croc). He laughed and said, “Not today.”

Back in the cart, we headed to the Africa section of the park and had an incredible encounter with DJ, the rhinoceros. This was in a back paddock away from the publicly accessible part of the zoo, where DJ liked to hang out. His three girlfriends were in the public area, but DJ prefers to be left alone during the day – and then they all return to the rhino barn at night for a cuddle.

DJ was MASSIVE – with skin that could exfoliate a rock easily. But if you put your hand between his belly and the fat upper portion of his leg, where he hadn’t been explosed to the sun and the mud bed, his skin was incredibly soft. (That’s what baby rhinos feel like according to the keepers). Also, if you grabbed the skin roll by his upper legs you could really feel how thick his skin was. Again, I never thought I’d get to pet a rhinoceros let alone fall in love with one – but he was BEAUTIFUL. His head weighs about 250 kilos, so raising his head takes a tremendous amount of muscle, which you can see when he does it. He spends the majority of his day out grazing on the grass and laying in the sun (or mud).

You can really tell that DJ’s keepers are incredibly fond of him – we got that everywhere we went, but especially here. And again, they were wonderful about explaining how best to approach him and what to do / not to do. For example, we had to stand no further than his front let – because if for some reason DJ wanted to quickly turn his head (not even in an aggressive way), that 250 kilo bulldozer of a head would definitely knock you flat. As with all the animals, the keepers discouraged fast phrenetic movements and speaking with a soft and comforting tone. They gave us so much time with this beautiful creature, answering all our questions and telling us about the dangers to rhinos in the wild (primarily trophy hunters and horn poachers.) It makes no sense to me because 1) after spending time with DJ, you would NEVER want to see this beautiful guy harmed; but 2) the horns are made up of keratin – the same stuff as your fingernails – so despite ancient Asian beliefs that rhino horn could cause sexual arousal and heal multiple diseases, there is absolutely ZERO science to support it. Most rhinos in the wild have had their horns cut shorter by rangers (but not too short as to cause them harm) to keep poachers from going after their horns.

We washed our now filthy (but wonderfully soft and exfoliated) hands and headed over to the meerkat enclosure. I thought, Meercats?  Really?  That's going to suck after seeing a RHINO up close and personal - but it was SO MUCH FUN.  

Five little meercat sisters scrambling all over us while the keeper spoke to us about meercats and fed them.  Meercats jumping on your shoulders, your head, your hands, Damian’s hat, throwing each other off and screaming at each other as they were vying for food. (I was very grateful the keeper explained this ahead of time – meercats fight like siblings – they aren’t aggressive, and it certainly isn’t aimed at you – you’re just a pathway to the pouch full of food!) 

We played there for quite a while, with all the zoo patrons looking on with envy as we played with the meercats. No doubt Damian and I will show up in many family albums and YouTube videos – although again, we were just the climbing apparatus.

Next we went over to the giraffe enclosure and fed a giraffe. I’ve done this before, so it wasn’t that big a deal – but it was fun to walk up to the front of the hoards of people lined up and simply step up, feed them, get some photos, and then head back towards the golf cart. Jade gave us the rundown of all the giraffes in the enclosure – including the Guinness World Record holder for the tallest giraffe in captivity, Forest, who stood at 18 feet, 8 inches.  He's the primary breeding male, and there was the cutest four month old baby giraffe hanging about the paddock.

From there (and I know you’re getting tired reading this – so you can imagine how exhausted we were at this phase) we had an inside tour of the Wildlife hospital.

It was, well, very boring. It was an animal hospital. We saw empty operating tables. Empty x-ray machine. Empty holding pens. Empty barometric tank. Not a single animal. So I asked Jade if we could cut it short and move on, which we did. By this point, it’s 4:00 and the zoo is closing in less than an hour – and there is so much we haven’t seen!

We made a quick stop at the Koala nursery to see all the babies hanging on their mamas. Koala babies aren’t particular – if their mama isn’t around, they’ll choose the closest adult to cuddle. After holding one, I don’t blame them.

Then we stopped to see the Tasmanian Devil.  They were called devils because of their red ears and how they can glow at night in reflection and look like devil eyes.

Next we headed over to see the Quaca – I was really excited about seeing them (I'd never even heard of them before) but the handler had just put them all to bed at 4:00.  BOOOOO!  Here's a generic picture of a Quaca that we didn't see, just because I know you're all wondering what the heck a Quaca is.

Finally, the kangaroo feed.  Jade gave us some kangaroo food and we went into a field full of lounging kangaroos - most of whom had been fed by tourists all day so weren't even bothered to look at us.  Damian tried feeding one of the wallabys, but they weren't quite so people friendly (very shy).

Jade left us here to feed the kangaroos and the wallabies while she went and loaded up our photos she’d taken throughout the day. We fed them and headed over to the retail shops, where I bought some gifts and a piece of artwork (a photograph by Robert Irwin) to hang at home. Jade picked us up, gave us our photos and a bag of free swag, then took us back to the front of the zoo to meet Darren our driver.

This was a MAGICAL day. Absolutely extraordinary – and everything I hoped it would be (which is nice, considering the cost). I LOVED IT. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We tipped Jade quite well and jumped into the van with Darren for the drive back to Brisbane. I swear it took three times as long to get home, although we were very lucky with traffic since it was a public holiday. He again entertained us with stories, but mostly personal ones about his life in Australia, his fiancée, etc.

Arriving back at the hotel about 7, I texted Anna and Mark and told them if we were gonna go out, we needed to go out NOW because I was tired and hangry! We walked to an Irish restaurant in the middle of town – the food was good, but I was just overcome by the day and felt extremely sick after eating. I headed back to the hotel and was asleep before Damian even made it back.  Dreaming of all the koalas......

Australia - Part Four - A Day in Cairns

We slept in. Well, we slept in until 8 which was glorious. I picked up a croissant, an Acai bowl (thank you Meg Dawson for introducing me to them) and some fancy coffee while Damian showered, and we spent a relaxing morning resting and packing in the room. Cozie Homes was kind enough to give us a late check out at noon – so we were able to take our time. Damian finally got a nap and I got to catch up on my journal.

At noon we took our bags and walked over to Anna & Mark's hotel for lunch.  We were able to store the bags at the front desk, so after grabbing a bite poolside we walked over to the Cairns Aquarium.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  Really focused on the Great Barrier Reef and the diverse animal life with lots of interactive displays. Plenty of places to just sit and watch the fish or sharks or turtles.  Definitely could have spent an entire day just sitting and enjoying the animals.  We were also able to identify alot of the fish and anemone we saw on our dives in the tanks.

Took a taxi to the airport and grabbed our flight to Brisbane - the flight was delayed, and boarding was absolute chaos when they finally did let us on the airplane.  In Brisbane, the bags took forty-five minutes to arrive - the monitors kept changing where they were going to be and there were literally people from four or five flights standing around with the same confused look on their faces.  I started getting claustrophobic, so I stuck with our carry-on bags and Damian went in search of the luggage, finding them on the wrong carousel and injuring his foot pulling mine off the carousel.

Anna and Mark found their bags as well and I suggested we just jump in a taxi rather than try and navigate the airtrain, which we did.  It was pricey (about $80AUD or $50USD), but I was frazzled, and Damian was hurting.   We got to the hotel, and Damian and I went straight to sleep while Anna and Mark went out in search of a 24-hour pancake house.  (Carpe Diem, you crazy kids!)

Australia - Part Three - Dive drama

Signed in at the diving desk in the Reef Fleet Terminal about 7:14 and were first in line – grabbed our boarding passes and headed to the boat, where we had to wait to board. The Down Under Diving ENCOUNTER leaves earlier than yesterday’s boat – but they were just a tad behind this morning.  After loading up supplies, they escorted us up to a nice booth to fill out our paperwork and check our dive cards (apparently there are only 5 certified divers in the 80 customers on board). We grabbed fins and a snorkel, set them in our assigned locker and helped ourselves to coffee and a muffin.

Again, we skipped breakfast – and were again VERY grateful for having done so when the puke fest began. I felt so bad for these people for not being taught by their dive instructor about BONINE – if you’re on the boat, you’ve waited too long to take it!  The sea was rough again, though not as bad as yesterday, and the boat was filled with snorkelers of all ages - all of whom were congregating on the back of the boat vomiting into little baggies handed out by the crew.

Our dive master today was Indy, a tiny little Australian gal with long brown hair and a great smile. She told us our trip didn’t include a dive master – so we were welcome to jump in when the boat stopped and look around, or we could pay $10/dive for her services. This was WEIRD to me as I've never been on a dive boat that didn't include a dive leader – but since we knew nothing about the reef, we quickly agreed to the cost – wanting to see the highlights on our last day of diving.

We got ready VERY early because I hate being yelled at. Let's just say that cramming my carcass into a wetsuit is neither a graceful nor a quick task.  The weird thing was nobody helped. Usually, the dive master will help make sure you’re good to go, turn your air on – nope, not here. During the briefing, she even said – turn on your own air (which I did) and check on your buddy. So it was a very different experience than yesterday. 

Jumped into the water correctly weighted down today, but visibility was not nearly as good as yesterday. Still beautiful – but didn’t get to see any more of the beautiful purple fish I was hoping to capture with my rented camera. Didn’t see ANY giant clams (amazing!) which was a highlight of yesterday.  Got some pictures, had a lovely 45-minute dive and then headed back up to the boat – only to find it covered with 80 snorkelers sitting on the steps everywhere, blocking the ladders, unwilling to move so I COULD GET on the boat. I tried swimming over to the other side – no luck and got bonked on the head pretty badly by the boat as it bobbed up and down. I descended again to the safety line and sat there wondering what to do, when someone grabbed the back of my tank and dragged me to the ladder. I think it was indy. When I got to the ladder, I struggled to pull myself up with my bad knee and all the extra weight I was carrying to balance my buoyancy. I made it up the ladder but still had to make it up the steps to the scuba deck – which were covered entirely by resting snorkelers. I finally just said, “move please.” “move please. “move please” “I need the rail to get up the stairs, move please.” And found Damian already removing his gear at the top.

I was so frustrated. I felt completely unsafe, and had a massive headache from being hit with the boat.

Damian noticed that something was wrong – he said I was just sitting there staring off into space. I don’t remember anything but NEEDING the safety of having my gear bungied into the spot. I was literally shaking from shock. From fear. From anger. Once my gear was in place, I made a beeline for the safety of our booth upstairs and began crying. 

The dive master came up and asked if I was okay, and I just kept repeating, “I'm okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. But I wasn’t. I finally calmed down enough to tell 
her what happened – she said they are supposed to keep the left landing clear for the scuba folks – but that didn’t happen. And I told her I felt completely unsafe diving in these conditions. She asked what she could do – I told her to take Damian out for an amazing dive, but I didn’t want to risk an injury on our second day of vacation – especially with my VIP day at Australia zoo coming up. So I turned in the camera, ate some lunch, and helped Damian into his gear (and some other random guy, since the staff wasn’t helping anyone) and then went upstairs to blog – but instead ended up taking a nap again.  The drama of everything just wiped me out emotionally and physically.

We got safely back to the dock and went straight upstairs for showers and room service. Except, I couldn’t figure out how to call an Australian number from my cell phone. I’m not kidding.  Damian, my sweet companion, volunteered to go downstairs and order food to go. We had some authentic Italian pizza and weird bruchetta and went to sleep around 7. Slept relatively soundly for about 12 hours, not counting the interruptions of Damian’s phone going off, Damian’s alarm going off, and my bladder needing multiple trips to the toilet.

Australia - Part Two - Cairns

FIRST DAY OF DIVING

We were able to check in with Silverswift on our walkabout yesterday looking for swimming togs – so we only had to get up and be at the boat no later than 8:00 am.  We skipped breakfast, took our Bonine, made sure our seasickness patches were still firmly in place from last night and headed out.

We boarded the boat, filled out some paperwork and then started out towards the reef. It was INCREDIBLY windy and choppy – people were throwing up everywhere, and if you weren’t throwing up you were being thrown from side to side. (And this was a pretty BIG boat, too!) Damian and I absolutely loved it – the medication was working; the waves were powerful and amazing – and it brought back to many good memories of previous trips.

It took over an hour to get out to the first stop on Flynn’s reef. The first site was called Links and we jumped into the water with Dive Master Sho to a breathtaking scene. I can’t even describe how beautiful it was down there. So much diversity of coral and fish and colors and movement. I mean you EXPECT the great barrier reef to be amazing – and this lived up to it. The visibility was PERFECT and I am kicking myself for not renting a camera to capture the underwater splendor – but I just wanted to enjoy my dives, which I DID.  Plus they have a professional photographer who dives with you to capture photos of you diving and the fish we see on the reef - and her photos are amazing!

Second dive was even better than the first we went to Gordon's (also on Flynn’s reef).  

After the second dive we had an amazing buffet lunch which included the best pork curry I’ve ever had, fresh prawns (head on, of course – blech) – and lots of salad options, some white fish, it was just really good.

Third dive was to Tracey's Reef.  I, having worn a massive piece of skin off my foot from the flippers, opted to skip the third dive.   I stayed on board to read and ended up taking a nap while Damian went out.

He told me it was a ridiculous amount of swimming and much the same scenery, so it was probably good that I skipped it. Don’t know if he was just being kind – but regardless, I needed the nap.

The boat made its way back to cairns, putting out desserts for everyone who was brave enough to start eating again. It wasn’t as bad as the journey out, but it was still quite rocky. And our medication was still working beautifully.

We had just enough time for showers before we got texted by anna and mark who were already having cocktails at the cocktail bar before our hotel. So we met them down there and headed over to Ochre for dinner. Since we bought dinner last night (Dundee’s is kind fancy) I expected them to pick something more reasonable, but they chose something even fancier and treated us to an amazing dinner.

At 8:30 we were exhausted and off to bed – asleep and snoring easily by 9.

Australia - Part One - Getting to Cairns - Sept 26-28

We checked in at the airport and relaxed in the Delta Lounge until it was time to board our “DELTA ONE” seats. Let’s be honest for a minute, I’m too old to fly 36 hours in coach – so earning those two Global reward upgrades was truly the deciding factor in FINALLY flying to Australia.

The trip from Washington DC to Los Angeles was nice – the food was incredible, the staff was really kind and happy to provide fancy mocktails for photos. The lay flat seats were comfortable, but I didn’t get any sleep from the sheer excitement of actually being ON OUR WAY.

In Los Angeles we again headed to the new fancy Delta ONE lounge, which was absolutely gorgeous. Outside seating, chair hammocks, fancy cocktails and mocktails waiting at the bar – and once again, more food than anyone could ask for. By the time we boarded our LAX to Sydney flight, I didn’t ever want to eat again – and yet, the food kept coming. It is tough to say no to Michelin star chef designed dishes with wine pairings, but seriously – there’s only so much food your stomach can safely hold.

In Delta One SUITES, you not only have lie flat seats, but you have a little workstation area and a door you can close on the aisle to mark yourself “Do Not Disturb” and sleep the flight away. (Or try to, anyway.) I didn’t get much sleep just thinking about the adventures ahead.  Damian sleeps like a professional - I'm quite envious of that skill.

Before I knew it, I watched all four John Wick movies and settled in for a nap JUST as we arrived in Sydney.   Ooops!   I broke out in giggles and seriously couldn’t stop as we passed through immigration and customs, then immediately dropped our luggage off at the Quantas desk for our connecting flight to Cairns.

The flight to Cairns was uneventful – we’ve never flown Qantas before, so there was no status or special seating – we were in the back of the plane with the other peasants, including a really lovely older lady from Mississippi who was travelling with a friend on a two-week tour of Australia and New Zealand.  She told us she had originally booked business class flights, but the tour company cancelled her tour at the last minute and rebooked it a week later - but her airline didn't - thus they had to spend double the cost of their tour just to get coach seats!

Apparently, that’s not uncommon, which is why I made sure to book our scuba diving days with two different companies to ensure we had at least one awesome day.

Once in Cairns we took a taxi to our LOVELY room at the Harbour Lights Condominium – we booked it on Booking.com, but it’s privately owned – a30 second walk from the harbour and pier, with a ton of amazing restaurants on the ground floor.  We had a gorgeous balcony overlooking the water, and the weather is absolutely perfect. A light breeze, some tropical music playing gently from one of the nearby nightclubs – just a glorious start to the trip.

Damian realized he forgot his bathing suit so we took to walking and exploring, eventually finding a Woolworths (I kid you not - it's one of their main grocery chains) and a little gift shop. We bought a swimsuit and some candy and crisps and headed back to the hotel to meet up with Anna and Mark, who have flown in from Adelaide.

We treated them to dinner at Dundee’s on the Waterfront – Damian and I shared the Australian sampler platter which included kangaroo skewers, crocodile sausages, barramundi, garlic yabby and tiger prawns.  It was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed getting to meet Anna’s husband and to catch up with her after thirty years. (We first met on my trip to New Zealand in the early 90s’)

We were in bed by 7:00 and asleep by 7:05. A wonderful start to the trip!

The Secrets to Success - April 6, 2023

 So, many people already know - or at least SUSPECTED - I'm an alcoholic.  It's no longer a secret, and I'm not ashamed to admit it - particularly now that I'm recovering.  But recovery looks different to everyone - and I wanted to share some hard-earned wisdom about my journey in particular.

There are the things that I needed to finally succeed in sobriety:

1) HONESTY - I had to admit that I'm an alcoholic.  I had to accept that there is no "moderate" drinking at this juncture in my life.  I can't think about being "cured" and going back to social drinking.  I now consider myself a non-drinker.  

2) WANTING IT FOR YOURSELF - The DESIRE to quit had to be there - I had to WANT to stop drinking.  Not because I knew I should, not because others begged me to, not because I saw the destruction it was causing, but because *I* wanted to quit.  That took some time.

3) CONNECTION - This is where most people attend 12-step meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous, which I feel is a wonderful organization.  It just isn't for me.  I hated going - I still hate going - but I recognize that the connection is incredibly important to my success.  So I found that connection in my Lampworking group - we get together and make great art and talk about anything and everything.  We have had extremely deep, philosophical conversations - but mostly it's just a bunch of goofy people having a really goofy time.  Without alcohol.  (Because let's be honest, when you're working with fire - being under the influence of ANYTHING is a very bad idea)

4) EDUCATION - This is another area where AA can fit the bill - but if that doesn't work for you, you must find ways to understand addiction and how your brain and your body work.  I've discovered that by reading EVERY day about addiction, alcoholism, and self-care I'm learning and growing in knowledge in ways that I couldn't by simply attending meetings.  I'm discovering WHY we do what we do, learning about other people's paths, and getting all SCIENCE-Y on my recovery.  It's really, really good for me and ensures that awareness is ever-present.

5) MOTIVATION - Finally, motivation is a big one.  While the motivation to NOT drink is good - I've found that adding some serious "non-alcohol" related motivation has been extremely helpful.  At the end of September, I'm going to take the "top of the bucket list" trip I've been wanting to do for 30 years - a trip to Australia.  I couldn't be more excited about it - and I know I will take thousands of pictures.  I WANT TO LOOK AMAZING in those pictures.  Now that I'm not drinking 1600 calories a night, I should be able to get into better shape for scuba diving and climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  It's pushed me into not only sobriety but eating better and getting more exercise - all of which are contributing to better health.

I'm sharing my story only because I've met so many amazing people over the past few years - some have succeeded, and many have not - but each one had its own unique challenges.  My point is simply that my journey is my own - these are things that have worked for me.  As Matt Damon explained in "The Martian" as he's trying to figure out how to survive after being abandoned on the planet, "In the face of overwhelming odds, I'm left with only one option.  I'm going to have to science the shit out of this one."  Work, experiment, fail, get up, try again - figure out what works for YOU.  Realize what it is that you want and need and then do what needs to be done to make it happen.

I'm cheering for you!  And I'm happy to listen to your journey if you need another connection to get you through.