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scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The stuff is illegal in Saudi Arabia but it is easy to get. AA Meetings are also easy to find there - in the main urban centres.

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

Don't go near Central/Eastern Europe.

And be warned. I've seen plenty of people fall off the wagon in the sand and every time it's been spectacular.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I spent time in KSA as a performing alky and time there as a dry alky. Believe me, sober is better.

psychedelicacy · Joined: 05 Oct 2013 Posts: 180 Location: Beijing

psychedelicacy · Joined: 05 Oct 2013 Posts: 180 Location: Beijing

Don't go to Korea if you're an alcoholic. You can get absolutely pissed out of your skull for £2-£3.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

You can learn to live without the booze - even in the strangest countries. I have been sober for 24 years in a variety of environments. In Scotland where I currently rest my weary bones, we are surrounded by drink, drinkers and drinking places.

In KSA these may not be so obvious, but they are there and C2HO5H is available behind closed doors.

misskismet · Joined: 10 Sep 2011 Posts: 26

Turkey could be an option. Booze is available, but expensive which means many people cut down on drinking. I know I have. Plus there's a lot of people here who don't drink - there just isn't a huge drinking culture (ok apart from among ex-pats!) so there are other things to do.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Abstinence from beverage alcohol on a daily basis is the only treatment. People learn to handle that in different ways. I did it through AA.

3701 W.119th · Joined: 26 Feb 2014 Posts: 386 Location: Central China

China doesn't have quite the drinking culture I was led to expect (although that may just be down to the people I socialise with).

There are many days here that would drive you to drink, though, so might be better avoided.

Shimokitazawa · Joined: 16 Aug 2009 Posts: 458 Location: Saigon, Vietnam

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

It seems to me that alcohol is going to be present in any country, so it's difficult to try and choose a country based around avoiding alcohol. Presumably part of the point of recovering as an alcoholic is being able to be around alcohol, and other people drinking alcohol, without falling off the wagon. But on the other hand, it could help to choose a country (unlike the UK) where every social situation isn't based around alcohol. It seems to me that if you go to South Korea, you will be expected to drink and will have to spend your time there explaining why you can't. In Vietnam, I regularly have to explain to locals that I'm not drinking because I'm driving, and I still get people telling me how "just 2 or 3 is fine." Expats are a bit more understanding of that one, but there's still often disappointment when someone's chosen to drive instead of drink. Somewhere like Malaysia or Morocco, you can probably socialise and have a great time without anyone offering you alcohol. Sure it's there, but it's not an expected part of social gatherings. Expat scenes, are often largely based around alcohol anywhere though, so you can either make a conscious effort to avoid the expat scene, or you can go somewhere where it's so diverse that you can have a healthy social life without having to join the events based around alcohol.

People have suggested choosing a country that offers good treatment and support. Any big city will probably have it, but will cities like Seoul be offering AA meetings in English? And the other option is to choose somewhere like Singapore, where it's so expensive, it's impossible to be an alcoholic. But I don't know if that'll make you less likely to drink or just more likely to blow a massive hole in your bank account.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 2:11 pm Post subject:

Dear I'm With Stupid,

" . . . where it's so expensive, it's impossible to be an alcoholic. But I don't know if that'll make you less likely to drink or just more likely to blow a massive hole in your bank account."

I think you're very fortunate not to be familiar with addiction. I can assure you that it's not "impossible" to be an alcoholic anywhere on this planet.

In Singapore, even if bought alcohol were to cost $1000 a bottle, an alcoholic would simply do what he/she does in Saudi: make his/her own.

Doing so is all too easy.

Regards.
John

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

mysterytrain · Joined: 23 Mar 2014 Posts: 366

Based on what I've heard about the drinking culture in ROK, going to Korea is probably the worst advice I've seen on this thread, unless staring into the devil's gaping maw and trying not to fall in is really what the OP wants or needs.