Rome, Assisi, Paris, Amsterdam, Alaska, Seattle…where would you like to go in 2012? We are going, come along!

Life is what happens to you when you are NOT making plans! Join us on the Road of Happy Destiny. We all need something to look forward to and nothing beats traveling with a group of people wearing the “God glasses” who see the world in a totally unique way. Moving moments, obvious miracles, epiphany’s are all part of these incredible fellowship vacations. Don’t deprive yourself of this experience. There is so much joy in recovery, you just have to leave the house to get it. It’s an action program for thinking people! All events are exclusively for guests booked on the Gratitude Cruises. Updates at www.sobercelebrations.com 561-702-2312.

2012 Vacations, Click here

   People call all the time and say they want to book a vacation where there is no alcohol available in any way. That is not what real sobriety is about because if we want to drink, there is no place on earth we are safe. People who are spiritually fit can go anywhere, and I have done so with my sober tribe this May, June & July. We went to Italy, Greece & Africa and we saw miracles everywhere. Mainly we recognized that it was a miracle that we could go to these places when we were supposed to be dead from drinking. Traveling creates a new reality in your brain and if you are open to it, helps shift those old ideas around so you can discard them. Each trip is a renewal of spirit and a permanent fellowship bond with our travel family.  It seems the farther you get out of town, the more you live in the moment and get your head where your feet are.

     Running around Venice, Italy on private launches and water taxis was elegant, indulgent and thrilling. We were like Angelina Jolie & Johnny Depp in “The Tourist”! We even set out to the Daniele Hotel where we had sodas and basked in the luxury of this elegant hotel where we subsequently found out on the flight home was the same place the movie was shot. We were in our own movie.  Sobriety Rocks!

Venice Highlights:
The pillows at the Hotel Pappadopoli; Glass Blowing on Murano Island, the private tour of the Art Academy, having our guide take us to a quiet holy spot in St. Mark’s Basilica where the saint is buried so we could hold hands and whisper the Serenity Prayer; Gelato; Paul & Lisa going where they said they couldn’t because she is in a wheelchair; the view from the terrace at the Hotel Daniele; meeting two of the 7 members of the Venice group at a meeting and bringing a gang to read the pramble.

GreekIsles Highlights:
The statue of Achilles at the Achillean Palace on Corfu; The chapels of Mykonos and hanging octopus drapery; The glory of sunset at the winery in Santorini, the French Jazz Brunch onboard Norwegian Jade; the erotic soap souvenirs at Katakolon!

Kenya,Africa Highlights:
Hakuna matata (Swahili for “there are no worries”)
A spectacular safari in luxurious tents with polished wood floors, granite counter tops, four poster beds with mosquito netting and hot water bottles at night; being in a vehicle surrounded by the
wildebeests and zebras just beginning The Great Migration from the Serenghetti, Tanzania to the Mara in Kenya; Seeing Lions on their honeymoon; watching the sun rise while in a hot air balloon over the jungle; seeing 16 elephants walk with their family pass our vehicle and barely make a sound; the staff bringing a birthday cake and singing Hakuna matata to David; reading A Vision for You at our daily
meeting.

         I am bleeding gratitude these days and can’t believe what sobriety has brought me these 36+ years. It took over 3,000 photographs and am still eating them with a spoon!   I am so grateful my job is to help people get
away from reality so they can be reunited with their magic, with each other and God’s wonderful world.  I thought my life was over when I stopped drinking in my twenties. I had no idea it had only begun. God continues to blow my mind!

If you made it, you know that 3,700 people plus were lucky enough to spend last weekend on the ocean in  joy and celebration of sobriety. It was a grand event at a magnificent hotel with  many great speakers. The Archives had  way too many treasures to digest. All you could do was take notes and hope to see some of them again in your lifetime. In Dr. Bob’s notes:

I sought my God-My God eluded me

I sought my Soul-My Soul I could not see

I sought my brother- I found all three.

Remember, there was no Big Book for the first members  to read. They read the really Big Book every day for years and claimed their spirituality from the Bible.

My heart sang everytime I saw one of my sponsees doing service. It is truly the glue that binds us together and to this miraculous program.

A small God moment….For some reason, one of the Keynote Speakers wound up at my dinner table. He was not supposed to be there. He already started eating his dinner when the young man in his twenties showed up who was gifted with a banquet ticket and supposed to be sitting there. I found an empty seat for him. It was probably where the Keynote was supossed to be sitting, between the Voice of the Convention, a man with over 50 years of sobriety,  and Ray G. with 42 years. This young man had only 30 days of sobriety and they grabbed him like the best hor d’oeuvre in the room!

Get in the middle of the pack so you can continue to see the miracles!

It’s going to be a challenge to park for this event. Here are the lots available in Ft. Lauderdale next week for www.52FLStateConvention.com:

http://www.vacationquestinc.com/ShuttleFL52.pdf

I just spent the 4th of July weekend in San Antonio to get a feel for what it will be like in 2010 when we attend the 75th International Convention. The was a wonderful welcome sign was hanging on the wall at Club 12 where I attended a couple of meetings. The folks there can’t wait for us all to come on down. Texas  was wonderful, hot, friendly and scary to visualize 60,000 alcoholics strolling down the Riverwalk! It’s not so much a city, as a really big town. There is a  Texan superstician that no building should cast a shadow over the Alamo, so there are not that many tall buildings as in other large cities.

The Alamodome where the convention will be, is across the highway from the downtown action. We will have to walk about a half mile to get there. There is a large Convention Center closer where I imagine there will be meetings also.

I did all the touristy things so I could get the Texas flavor of it all. I took the trolley to Guenther House and had the best bisquits in the world at the converted home of the family who owns Pioneer Flour. Carb freaks, don’t miss this one! I rode out to Gruene and had lunch at “Rudy’s, the wurst barbque in Texas,” and had a soda tray full of smoked meat with a side of a loaf of bread. It was an experience! Also in Gruene, I sat on the wooden bench of the oldest Dance Hall in Texas where John Travolta filmed the movie “Michael.” Ahh….I smelled cookies!

I would highly recommend seeing the IMAX movie in the RiverCenter Mall about the Alamo, then walking down the street to stroll quickly through the real Alamo, a large empty, then on to a really cool gift shop! I waited online for an hour to get into the actual Alamo, rented a 55 min. tour on headphones but due to the crowds couldn’t make it to the last empty side room. Although I live in the tropics,  I was about to pass out from the heat. Not a breeze in the Alamo, no a/c or any movement in the stiffling day.

Best food, Boudros…they make the guacamole right out of the skin at your table. The waiter confided in me that they sell a million dollars in guacamole every year.

Although I have a wait list for guests at the Gratitude Cruise Hotel, General Service has not made announcments yet on properties that they have locked up. Registration will be open Fall, 2009. Save your pennies for this one! It is not to be missed.

This special event, every 5 years, is awesome and not to be missed!   It can be overwhelming being with 50,000 of your closest friends and not see a familiar face. If you would like to share the magic of the experience with us, we have a GRATITUDE CRUISE HOTEL for alumni, their friends and families. The group rate of $149. per night, hot breakfast included. Suites start at $298. per night.

Click on hotel room  to register:

Click on photo to read about 2005 Convention:

Healing Arts Weekend On the Ocean

August 3-5, 2007, Delray Beach Marriott, Delray Beach,  FL

For seekers who want to spend a weekend on Atlantic Avenue in a gorgeous hotel on an inner journey by the sea.

Limited to 50 Guests. 18 CEU’S available.

To Register: www.orchidprofessionals.com

Sponsored by Orchid Recovery Center for Women. See you there.