Message From Eric

SOBER TRAVEL, WHAT A CONCEPT!

Hi! My name is Eric Humbert, President and Founder of Sober World Travel. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you how Sober World Travel came into existence.

About a year into my recovery, I decided to take a vacation to Mexico. Needless to say, being a relative newcomer to sobriety, I had a bit of anxiety due to the fear of relapsing on the trip, so I developed a plan to keep me sober.

I obtained a schedule of local English meetings in Mexico. I called ahead to the English-speaking A.A. group in Mexico and arranged to meet with a temporary sponsor upon arrival. I also arranged various phone sessions with my sponsor and therapist back in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

During this first year of sobriety, I naturally stayed well away from bars, nightclubs, and anywhere where alcohol was consumed. The first place, however, where I came into contact with alcohol and drinkers was before I arrived in Mexico. It was at the airport! The alcoholic in me immediately noticed and smelled the crowded bars, though it triggered no compulsive urge. “Stay focused,” I said to myself, as I bee-lined it to the boarding gate.

Thirty minutes into the 2 ½-hour flight, the margaritas were flowing and the noise level of the chatter gradually increasing. About 20 minutes prior to landing, the captain dutifully informed us to fasten our seatbelts and that we were 20 minutes away from our next margarita. The passengers cheered. After all, it was a vacation in Mexico.

What follows is truly a wonderful testament to the wonderful camaraderie of the worldwide Alcoholics Anonymous community. My temporary sponsor actually met me at the airport! He took me to a great seaside restaurant, then to an expatriate A.A. meeting, then to my hotel. Any and all triggers and urges had evaporated.

During the next four days, I continued going to meetings. As the days passed, however, something was gradually eating away at my sobriety. It wasn’t any one thing but rather a constant bombardment of various things. First of all, there was alcohol literally everywhere: on the beach, shopping, dining. It seemed like every other business was a bar; and it actually was. I actually searched for sober people and could find none! To make matters even more dangerous, there was a network of “street vendors” loudly offering cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy; even on the beach and in the ocean!

Now, there is one other thing triggering me, and it is kind of hard to explain, but here it is: On top of the constant physical and verbal bombardment of alcohol and drugs, there was a feeling. It’s a kind of hyperactive, frenzied “party” energy that permeates anywhere alcohol and drugs are consumed. Even while lying in bed, I could hear the music, the laughing, the “good times,” and I could FEEL this energy in the air.

Well, my friends, I relapsed on that “vacation.” The A.A. meetings were helpful, and after voicing my concerns of relapse, various “locals” gave me their phone numbers, but it just wasn’t enough for me.

I believe that we are culturally conditioned to overdrink and even overeat on “vacation.” Many times I have heard someone come back from vacation and say, “Boy, I need a vacation.” I am convinced that had I been traveling with a group of like-minded individuals, having sober fun, I would not have relapsed.

As you can read in the “Meet Eric” tab of our website, I have traveled extensively most of my life. But, I’m not a “tour group” kind of guy. As I researched “sober travel,” I realized that there was nothing available that would fit my niche. It was either cruises or “semi-sober” tours. There was nothing a bit adventurous or culturally enticing. So I decided to fill that niche, and WWSA was born.

Having been in the sobriety community for four years, now I cannot think of a better group of people to tour with. My experience is that people in sobriety are the most honest, most open-minded people in the world, and there is nobody I would rather tour with.

I look forward to experiencing this wonderful world with you, and I leave you with our personal motto: “We succeed in activities which demand the positive qualities we possess. But, we excel in those which can also make use of our defects.”  ~ Tocqueville

Right now we do not have any more trips booked in 2010. We look forward to booking trips in 2011, so please do sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page.