Been hot, hasn’t it? Maybe too hot. If you aren’t a believer in climate change, I wonder how you have been feeling this week with soaring temperatures, sweaty workplaces, and unbearable humidity? Yeh but mate remember, “you have been on holiday before, haven’t you?” I certainly have yes. But seldom am I working on these holidays or trying to complete mundane routine daily tasks in unairconditioned buildings. I digress. I’ m actually going on holiday next week which leads nicely into what I am talking about today.
Next Monday we travel to Marrakech, I am really looking forward to it and having the time of work, time to reset and switch off. I plan to fully embrace this by having long periods away from my phone and not constantly checking work emails or social media. It will be the first non-alcohol based holiday I have been on since childhood. I am really looking forward to that aspect of it. I have been on too many holidays where I have over consumed on the booze and not fully enjoyed the best moments of the time away. I want to get up early and make the most of each day, be fully present for the whole time we are away. Not lying in bed till the late AM trying to pull myself around from a deadly hangover which will only be enhanced by the sweltering heat. I have even talked myself into training whilst away. We will see how that goes…but at the moment I am keen to do it as part of the daily routine I have got myself used to since kicking the booze into touch.
I mentioned in a previous blog one of the instances of when drinking on holiday hadn’t gone right for me and had resulted in an argument with a friend. There have been other occasions where I have drunk too much and got myself into some rather sticky situations. Some almost as sticky as when sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun. Ross, Mikey, and I were on holiday in Portugal a few years ago and I had somehow got myself into the wrong hotel after a heavy night and then into a taxi that was taking me back to Faro Airport. All in all, that was a costly night as I think Uber charged me sixty pounds for the privilege of the journey which lasted around five minutes. Drinking whilst you are on holiday can be a very dangerous thing to do. For one, you are in a place you are not familiar with. Two, the country may not take kindly to foreign nationals being pissed up around their streets and three there could be numerous people around looking to take advantage of you. So why do we party so hard when we are abroad? Even in places that aren’t necessarily considered ‘party’ destinations.
As Brits, we have a dreadful reputation for our partying and holidaying abroad. In a previous blog I was discussing the culture of drinking in Britain and why it is such an issue for us. We take that issue on holiday with us to foreign destinations and force our undesirable behaviour on the natives. We all go on holiday to have a good time and let our hair down but why is it we as a nation go to the extreme? Hitting the all-inclusive bars as soon as they open and consuming as much as we can before the sun goes down. Do we like the thought of getting the most out of our holiday package deal? I am generalising of course and not every holiday is like this, but in my experience of summer holidays in hot locations it is normally the Brits peppering the booze compared to people from other countries. Reading an article from the daily mirror back in April, they spoke of popular ‘drinking’ holiday locations capping the amount of alcohol that each person could consume per day. Has this happened? I would be interested to know. With many families only returning to summer holidays abroad this year following the COVID pandemic, I sense that there would be a big desire to get tanked up every day. You also find that it isn’t just groups of men and women who go specifically on holiday for the cheap booze. I have seen plenty of family groups acting in the same way even in hotels where people have gone for a quiet location away from the lager louts.
If you are reading this and thinking, wow he sounds rather judgemental against people on holiday having a good time. Please do not misunderstand me. I have been that awful Brit abroad drinking too much whilst being part of a group making too much noise. I am merely describing what some of our drinking culture is like and how we kindly share it with the world. This will be an entirely unique experience for me next week ditching the beers and cocktails. Enjoying the hot sun and not feeling like death from alcohol dehydration. I have to say I am looking forward to that.
No blog next week, so I will report back in a couple of weeks’ time what the experience was like. Signing off for now, stay safe friends and remember if you would like to chat on anything regarding mental health or drinking, then my DMs are always open.
Peace and love.
Nick Denton
Sobering Thoughts