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Staying quit on holiday


15 years ago 0 1080 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Izzy I can empathise with you too- its a tough one. Like Kelly I posted on here when I had to spend the afternoon with a heavy smoking friend....I was dreading it, but you know it wasn't as bad as I thought and also I was stronger than I thought I would be.
Your boyfriend sounds terrific, really supportive and I am sure you guys will work something out as to make it not too difficult. Like you said, we can't avoid smokers they are everywhere (more so since I quit!) where are you going on vacation.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/10/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 215
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 5,375
Amount Saved: $3,225.00
Life Gained:
Days: 25 Hrs: 6 Mins: 46 Seconds: 36

15 years ago 0 967 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Izzy,
 
I can truely sympathize with your situation.  I have plenty of posts out here from panic stricken me everytime I was to emabark an a new situation, especially vacations, I didn't think that I could do it.  I to was with smokers on the majority of the vacations, and at time I really wanted to rip the cig out of their mouth and smoke it to be honest with you.  BUT, I didn't and that is how I retrained my brain to understand that a vacation has nothing to do with cigs, I just always included them in my plans.  Now I don't and its ok, you will too.  Have fun on your vacation, it sounds wonderful.  I will also tell you the advise I got when I too was afraid to be away from the site.  I was told to print some posts and read them when I needed, and you also need to remember that we are all here for you in spirit and will be waiting for you to come back.  I will be there holding your virtual hand if you need it.
 
Kelly

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/6/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 371
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 11,130
Amount Saved: $1,391.25
Life Gained:
Days: 30 Hrs: 5 Mins: 29 Seconds: 38

15 years ago 0 597 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
As always, Q's right.  This quitting is a process, a journey.  Embrace it and all the good that is coming from it and don't dwell on what you think you might be missing.  Relax, deep breathing, and enjoy your vacation! 
My Milage:

My Quit Date: 10/22/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 50
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 2,000
Amount Saved: $400.00
Life Gained:
Days: 5 Hrs: 12 Mins: 24 Seconds: 4

  • Quit Meter

    $52,510.00

    Amount Saved

  • Quit Meter

    Days: 742 Hours: 18

    Minutes: 6 Seconds: 11

    Life Gained

  • Quit Meter

    5251

    Smoke Free Days

  • Quit Meter

    210,040

    Cigarettes Not Smoked

15 years ago 0 303 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
It sounds like you're very lucky to have a supportive boyfriend.  I'm sure he is very lucky as well.  After you have quit for awhile you'll slowly start to understand why that "need feeling" is just an illusion.  You have probably smoked for awhile and have associated smoking with many things including fun vacations.  After you have quit for awhile you'll understand that the addiction made you feel that you needed to smoke on vacation and not the vacation itself.  I truly believe that every association that you experience from now on smoke free will eat away at that illusion and after awhile you'll enjoy everything you used to do when you smoked but smoke free.
 
In other words enjoy your vacation smoke free and know that it's not the vacation but the addiction that makes you feel like your missing out.  If you can just accept that and enjoy your vacation, the rest won't matter, including whether or not your boyfriend is smoking or not. 
 
Good luck and congratulations.  You're doing great.
 
Mr Q
 
 

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 8/4/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 129
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 3,096
Amount Saved: $967.50
Life Gained:
Days: 13 Hrs: 20 Mins: 28 Seconds: 41

  • Quit Meter

    0

    Amount Saved

  • Quit Meter

    Days: 0 Hours: 0

    Minutes: 0 Seconds: 0

    Life Gained

  • Quit Meter

    0

    Smoke Free Days

  • Quit Meter

    0

    Cigarettes Not Smoked

15 years ago 0 15 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0

My boyfriend is very supportive and considerate. He doesn´t smoke inside the house and very rarely does he smoke when I can see it. He even asked if I wanted him to quit as well (I thought he should quit when he feels ready, otherwise it won´t work anyway). It´s just that on vacation we´ll be together 24/7 and there´ll be situations when he´ll smoke and I´ll want to join. But of course that´s totally my problem and I´ll always be confronted with people smoking. Sigh.  


My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/1/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 10
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 170
Amount Saved: �45.32
Life Gained:
Days: 0 Hrs: 17 Mins: 29 Seconds: 15

15 years ago 0 1288 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
izzy,
 
That sounds like a great reward. It's great for 2 purposes, exercise and distraction.
 
It's common for people to be nervous when going on vacation. It's a new situation, and being a newly nonsmoker, your insecurities are justifiable.  Here are a few suggestions,  plan ahead - bring a supply of gum, water, mints, a book, cross word puzzle, straws, cinnamon sticks, sugar free candy, anything that will keep your mind and body occupied.  There are also great ways to relax,  breathing exercises.. read up on it in the program, you'll be a master by the time you come back. Stretching, a leisurly walk, yoga are all great and can be done virtually anywhere.
 
Have you thought about asking your boyfriend to limit the time he spends smoking in front of you?  Would it be a good idea to have pit stops,  smoke outside, and you can stretch your legs?
 
Members, we'd love to hear your suggestions!
 
Have a great time Izzy, we're confident that you'll do great while away!
 
 
Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator
15 years ago 0 15 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Just realised that that sounded kind of more desperate than I intended. Maybe it´s because I decided that my 100 day reward will be buying a Wii Fit from the money I saved (in my opinion a fun and useful reward - epecially to get rid of additional pounds I might gain while quitting) and I really really want that thing :)
My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/1/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 10
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 170
Amount Saved: �45.32
Life Gained:
Days: 0 Hrs: 17 Mins: 26 Seconds: 56

15 years ago 0 15 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
So I´m going on a 3 week vacation to Vietnam tomorrow. While I´m of course looking forward to it I also know that it´s gonna be challenging. Smoking on vacation was always a huge deal for me. I loved it. Cruising in the rental car, chilling at the beach, having drinks in local bars...all was accompanied by smoking.
On one hand there´ll be a lot of distractions, new things to see, new food to try etc. On the other hand I´ll be travelling with my boyfriend who smokes and to be honest a big chunk of holiday time will be spent relaxing in other words DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And this is where I think I´ll struggle. Relaxing for me always meant smoking. And it´s also something to do while doing nothing (umm that makes total sense in my head but doesn´t translate well to the written word).
Any suggestions on what to do? I mean I know the usual stuff of delaying the craving, drinking water, chewing gum etc. Most of these will also work in the holiday context. But maybe there are some specific holiday things someone can suggest.
I´m also nervous because I´ll be w/o the internet. So I can´t come here and get distracted.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/1/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 10
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 170
Amount Saved: �45.32
Life Gained:
Days: 0 Hrs: 17 Mins: 26 Seconds: 30


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