Maintaining Recovery While Living Abroad

As someone who commissioned into the military later in life, and was stationed overseas, I realized that I had taken the recovery community in the United States for granted. It is somewhat rare for somebody with many years of recovery already under their belt to join the military, and it can feel isolating to be one of the few people in that situation. Things would have been much easier had I been stationed stateside. In nearly every midsize to major city across the U.S, there are AA and NA meetings virtually every hour on the hour from sunrise to sunset. Outside the U.S. and other English-speaking countries, meeting availability becomes a bit more challenging. However, that certainly does not mean that living abroad means being cut off from the recovery community altogether. In fact, there are opportunities to engage in a rich recovery community in some very unexpected places.

Local Meetings

Regardless of where you may be in the world, it is always worth a quick google search using the simple key words or phrase ‘AA or NA meetings near me.’ When I was stationed in Bahrain, a small island in the Middle East, I thought that finding a meeting would be a fruitless endeavor. But how wrong I was! There are only three-four meetings weekly in total in the whole country of Bahrain. Compared to the thousands of meetings all over the U.S., my prospects of finding a home group didn’t seem promising. However, when I showed up at the meeting, I found a welcoming community of people in recovery from all over the world. I had never seen such a nationally diverse 12 step meeting. England, Scotland, Russia, India, Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Australia and other and other places were all represented in that room, in addition to handful of active-duty service members. And after listening to their shares, I found that although they had different accents, they were part of the same recovery community as those in my meetings back home. I quickly became integrated into this community and not only did I gain a recovery network, but also a social circle. When I did not want to spend weekends watching other service members drink and party on the weekends, I linked up with my AA group for fellowship. Before too long, I felt right at home in the Middle East.

Online Meetings

When I was stationed on the island of Sicily, meetings were even fewer and further between. The only meetings that existed were on the military base, and usually only one or two people showed up there. I felt like I was that vibrant recovery community was a missing piece in my life. While I had been resistant to virtual meetings for years, I found myself but with little choice to give them a chance. What I discovered is that there is a virtual meeting somewhere in the world almost 24/7. A quick google search of ‘Virtual AA meeting’ will bring you to a website that will connect you instantly with a live meeting. I was directed to the AA London website, which holds dozens of meetings, many of them virtual. If I wanted, I could join a meeting in London every night of the week. While nothing quite replaces the magic of connecting in-person to other people in recovery, my opinion on virtual meetings was an example of contempt prior to investigation. I found a lot of great recovery in that room and heard exactly the wisdom I needed. While it may have been through the computer, the meeting provided the opportunity to share about my experience and continuing challenges as they related to addiction/alcoholism.

Planting your Own Seeds

If you happen to be located somewhere long term that has very few recovery resources, an option could always be to build a recovery community from the ground up. You may find that there are other people in your situation; they may be in recovery but without access to meetings or are struggling with addiction and seeking resources. It is always possible to start a new meeting, and to use the internet for outreach. Contacting a regional registry of meetings (if it exists) or the General Service Offices of Alcoholics Anonymous could be a good starting point. Every meeting in the world at one point originated with a small group of people who decide that there is a need in the community. Rather than wait for somebody else to do it, be the change! There is no better example of service work than bringing the light of recovery to people in remote places.

Keep doing what Works

Despite the opportunities shared above, it remains inevitable that meeting attendance, at least in person meeting attendance, will sometimes wane while living overseas. If you are a daily in-person meeting attendee, you might struggle with a lower frequency of weekly meetings. However, there are other aspects of recovery that can always be maintained. To start, I believe it is always important to stay connected with people that have been in your recovery network in the past. I have spent many hours on the phone with old sponsors or other friends from recovery meetings back in the states. If they are working their program, they will be more than willing to pick up the phone any time; and if you begin reaching out often enough, you will find that they will reach out to you as well.

Additionally, it is also important to retain the elements of your recovery routine that are completely in your control. Daily prayer and meditation, living a life of honesty, maintenance work like completing 10th step inventories every day, and continuing to reach out your hand for those struggling, wherever they may be. And last of all, continuing to take recovery one day at a time. Remember, that despite the availability of resources in your community, or lack thereof, only you control whether you stay sober today