I went to an AA meeting while I was in Paris- actually a couple of them. AA is the same everywhere. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are the same characters are always represented. I could be in a meeting in the middle of the Serengeti listening to someone click and knock about their life in sobriety and I’ll think, “hell, he’s just like Junkyard John from back home.”

I have a lot of issues with AA- but I try not to bitch too much about it because it did save my life. But the one thing I will say about it is that there is a fine fellowship involved. We went to a meeting in the south of France a few years ago and immediately were taken under the wing of several very nice people. To not know anyone in Nice and after one hour to be enjoying the sun and a cup of coffee in an outdoor café with 6 people talking about things you couldn’t share with someone who hasn’t gone through the dark years, laughing about stuff that you’ve been through that others might find horrifying but your new friends not only understand but did.

There can be a creepy cult factor to AA- but only if you want to join a creepy cult. I use it as a stepping stone to what I think can be a higher plane. It’s a step- not the final destination.