DL Platinum Alcoholic: My 9 Year Struggle Flying FC on DL
Nov 21, 2021, 7:51 pm
#37
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: DL Diamond 1.7MM, Starlux Insighter, Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 3,944
Thanks OP for shedding light on the seedy underbelly of the frequent flier world. Free alcohol is the lubricant of the hospitality industry, and if you aren't careful you'll end up consuming far, far more than most would consider healthy, even without struggling with addiction issues. Toxic drinking culture elements like "never leave a drink unfinished" or "don't decline high quality/cheap alcohol when it's offered" definitely don't mesh well with luxury travel. Mix in the loneliness of a road warrior's lifestyle and access to premium spirits you may not otherwise ordinarily encounter, and it can get out of control really quickly even for people who may have been able to previously manage their drinking successfully.
I've been fortunate enough to not struggle with addiction issues in this area as measured by most problem drinking checklists, but I have still felt uncomfortable at times about my alcohol intake anyway, and have made a conscious decision to reduce/limit things lately as a result. I try to keep to a daily limit, even while on vacation, and I rarely drink in airline or hotel clubs anymore (where I find the passage of time is paused and it becomes more difficult to track my consumption). Keeping consumption largely to mealtimes paired with food has also been a strategy that's helped me.
Everyone's individual journey is different, and for OP, I'm incredibly grateful to you for sharing your story and for your by all appearances heartfelt and genuine apology to the community. Hopefully your story can serve as an inspiration to others who may be in a similar situation, as well as helping us as a community broach a topic that I have found is pretty difficult for most frequent fliers to discuss honestly.
I've been fortunate enough to not struggle with addiction issues in this area as measured by most problem drinking checklists, but I have still felt uncomfortable at times about my alcohol intake anyway, and have made a conscious decision to reduce/limit things lately as a result. I try to keep to a daily limit, even while on vacation, and I rarely drink in airline or hotel clubs anymore (where I find the passage of time is paused and it becomes more difficult to track my consumption). Keeping consumption largely to mealtimes paired with food has also been a strategy that's helped me.
Everyone's individual journey is different, and for OP, I'm incredibly grateful to you for sharing your story and for your by all appearances heartfelt and genuine apology to the community. Hopefully your story can serve as an inspiration to others who may be in a similar situation, as well as helping us as a community broach a topic that I have found is pretty difficult for most frequent fliers to discuss honestly.
Last edited by BenA; Nov 21, 2021 at 7:55 pm Reason: typo (wiht > with)
Nov 22, 2021, 11:16 am
#38
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: GRB, MKE, ATW
Programs: DL DM & MM, Hilton Diamond, IC Plt Amb , Marriott LTP, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 570
Great post, happy to see that you are on your way to a better life. I'm sure that this resonates with many of us (including myself) and more than what you think. Thank you for being open and honest, I am sure many will find inspiration from this post.
Nov 22, 2021, 1:12 pm
#40
Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 288
Nov 22, 2021, 5:44 pm
#41
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Nashville
Programs: DL DM 3 MM AA PLAT HH Lifetime Diamond Marriott Plat AMB lifetime titanium Hertz PC
Posts: 6,187
Alan congratulations and than you for sharing. I remember your weekly upgrade sage on northwest and now it makes more sense. Once again thank you for your courage and honestly.
troy
troy
Nov 23, 2021, 8:50 am
#42
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: DTW
Programs: DL - PM, (NW - Plat), AA - Gold, Marriott - Plat, Avis - First
Posts: 955
Thanks OP for shedding light on the seedy underbelly of the frequent flier world. Free alcohol is the lubricant of the hospitality industry, and if you aren't careful you'll end up consuming far, far more than most would consider healthy, even without struggling with addiction issues. Toxic drinking culture elements like "never leave a drink unfinished" or "don't decline high quality/cheap alcohol when it's offered" definitely don't mesh well with luxury travel. Mix in the loneliness of a road warrior's lifestyle and access to premium spirits you may not otherwise ordinarily encounter, and it can get out of control really quickly even for people who may have been able to previously manage their drinking successfully.
I've been fortunate enough to not struggle with addiction issues in this area as measured by most problem drinking checklists, but I have still felt uncomfortable at times about my alcohol intake anyway, and have made a conscious decision to reduce/limit things lately as a result. I try to keep to a daily limit, even while on vacation, and I rarely drink in airline or hotel clubs anymore (where I find the passage of time is paused and it becomes more difficult to track my consumption). Keeping consumption largely to mealtimes paired with food has also been a strategy that's helped me.
Everyone's individual journey is different, and for OP, I'm incredibly grateful to you for sharing your story and for your by all appearances heartfelt and genuine apology to the community. Hopefully your story can serve as an inspiration to others who may be in a similar situation, as well as helping us as a community broach a topic that I have found is pretty difficult for most frequent fliers to discuss honestly.
I've been fortunate enough to not struggle with addiction issues in this area as measured by most problem drinking checklists, but I have still felt uncomfortable at times about my alcohol intake anyway, and have made a conscious decision to reduce/limit things lately as a result. I try to keep to a daily limit, even while on vacation, and I rarely drink in airline or hotel clubs anymore (where I find the passage of time is paused and it becomes more difficult to track my consumption). Keeping consumption largely to mealtimes paired with food has also been a strategy that's helped me.
Everyone's individual journey is different, and for OP, I'm incredibly grateful to you for sharing your story and for your by all appearances heartfelt and genuine apology to the community. Hopefully your story can serve as an inspiration to others who may be in a similar situation, as well as helping us as a community broach a topic that I have found is pretty difficult for most frequent fliers to discuss honestly.
I agree with what BenA wrote. Having now over 15 years as a road warrior of varying degrees, you realize there is a lot more of this in the "seedy belly" of the road warrior culture.
I was shocked how many people struggled with alcohol at one of the prior firms I was with men and women, who lived hardcore road warrior lifestyles of weekly Mon-Thur travel.
I learned early-on you had to watch the intake and it was easy to fall into the trap of endless "free' drinks between FC, airline clubs, team/client dinners, hotel bar/restaurants, and of course a pretty loose expense account/corporate cards.
There were always a few team dinners that got out of hand, or when the younger analysts all wanted to go out bar-hoppipng party, but yeah.
I am amazed more people in the road warrior business travel circuit don't struggle with addiction.
I know there have definetely been times I have felt like I need to dial it back, and fortunetly have been able to do so.
I have also dialed-back my road warrior lifestyle as I burned out from weekly Mon-Thu travel for many other reasons and I am more than happy down with my 1-2 night trips about twice a month.
Nov 27, 2021, 1:07 am
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Programs: DELTA
Posts: 1,599
Having now over 15 years as a road warrior of varying degrees, you realize there is a lot more of this in the "seedy belly" of the road warrior culture.
I was shocked how many people struggled with alcohol at one of the prior firms I was with men and women, who lived hardcore road warrior lifestyles of weekly Mon-Thur travel.
I learned early-on you had to watch the intake and it was easy to fall into the trap of endless "free' drinks between FC, airline clubs, team/client dinners, hotel bar/restaurants, and of course a pretty loose expense account/corporate cards.
There were always a few team dinners that got out of hand, or when the younger analysts all wanted to go out bar-hoppipng party, but yeah.
I am amazed more people in the road warrior business travel circuit don't struggle with addiction.
I was shocked how many people struggled with alcohol at one of the prior firms I was with men and women, who lived hardcore road warrior lifestyles of weekly Mon-Thur travel.
I learned early-on you had to watch the intake and it was easy to fall into the trap of endless "free' drinks between FC, airline clubs, team/client dinners, hotel bar/restaurants, and of course a pretty loose expense account/corporate cards.
There were always a few team dinners that got out of hand, or when the younger analysts all wanted to go out bar-hoppipng party, but yeah.
I am amazed more people in the road warrior business travel circuit don't struggle with addiction.
Nov 27, 2021, 3:21 pm
#44
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 1,881
Thank you so much for sharing your story! More people in my life than I can count have struggled with alcohol including family, friends and coworkers and it is heartbreaking. While I know COVID made exacerbated the struggles many face, it has broken the bad habits of many in my life who struggle with alcohol. I have cut down significantly on my consumption, I have three friends that have given up drinking completely, and a former coworker of mine was the biggest beneficiary. He lived walking distance to the local bar and he was spending $10,000 annually on cheap shots and beer. He was there 300 nights a year, away from his wife and kids. At $3.50 per drink, plus drinks on the house, he would have 10+ drinks a night. He would leave so drunk that the bar tender would usually give him a ride home at the end of the night. This was information he told me five years ago, the last time I saw him. When all bars and restaurants had to close, it disrupted his routine and he reexamined his life and chose to enter a program. It saved his life and kept his family together. Best wishes to you and thank you again for sharing! It is very inspiring to see people turn their lives around!
