A Weekend You Cannot Travel To

Key takeaway

A weekend workshop is on a list and you cannot travel, cannot pay, or cannot leave the house. Other members were given permission to keep offering those weekends, and the list of current ones lives on that site. A weekend is not the door into A.A. A meeting you can reach tonight is enough, including by phone or online.

Last updated: Tue Oct 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

You found a weekend with their names on it, and your chest went tight. The dates might as well be on another planet. You cannot get the time off, or you cannot pay for the trip, or you cannot leave the house at all. It feels like the real door is that weekend, and you are locked on the wrong side of it.

That weekend is not the door.

The list is allowed to exist without you on it

The Big Book Comes Alive says Joe and Charlie gave other members permission to keep offering weekend workshops. Current weekends are listed on that site. If you want to look later, look there. Dates, cities, and prices stay on that site. They are not what you need at the kitchen table tonight.

Who Joe McQuany and Charlie Parmley were, and how the study started, is already written on the Joe and Charlie guide. A weekend is one way some members still gather around that study. It is an option for people who can go. It is not an admission requirement for anyone else.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. The long form of Tradition Three says membership ought never depend on money or conformity. A workshop you cannot reach does not get to overrule that. You do not become less of a member because you stayed home. You do not have to match the people who can take a Friday off.

A meeting you can reach is the whole assignment

Meetings are in person, online, or by phone. Members of a group choose the format. Some online meetings keep video on. Some keep it off. Some are dial-in calls. You can sit and listen. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. You do not have to join a prayer. After the meeting, talk is optional.

If you can get to a nearby room, that room counts. You do not have to cross the state for a louder version of the same idea. If a car is the missing piece and you could otherwise leave, the no-car guide stays with that problem. If the house itself is the limit, use a phone meeting or an online meeting and keep the camera off if that is what your nerves can stand.

There are no dues or fees. The newcomer page welcomes people regardless of income. Member contributions are not a fare. You do not owe an explanation of why the weekend was impossible.

A closed meeting is for members, or for people with a drinking problem and a desire to stop drinking. An open meeting is for anyone interested, and nonalcoholics may attend as observers. Either can be tonight. A beginner meeting is a format some groups choose. What to expect helps if you have never walked in, or never dialed in.

aa.org is not a meeting finder. Local A.A. resources have the lists. The national page points you toward them, and toward online meetings. How to find a meeting is the step-by-step if the search itself is confusing.

The weekend can stay on someone else's calendar

You might still want that weekend someday. Wanting it is fine. A meeting down the road, or on the phone, is already happening while you stare at a trip you cannot take. Groups have been one alcoholic talking with another for more than 80 years. The hour you can reach is a real start.

If someone tells you the weekend is where you will finally understand the book, thank them if you want, and go to the meeting anyway. The hour can be in a church or on a phone. Sometimes groups even meet outdoors. The building is not the point. The sharing is. Members talk about what drinking did, what actions they took, and how they live now. The purpose is experience, strength, and hope.

If you are too sick to go anywhere

Travel is the wrong plan if your body is in trouble. If you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe, call 911. If you are in a mental health crisis, call or text 988. NIDA describes mutual-help groups such as A.A. as peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. A meeting is peer support. It is not detox. A weekend is not detox either. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. Get care. The list of workshops will still be there after a clinician says you are safe.

If you need help finding treatment, call (800) 653-9376, and the line is not A.A., and it is not SMART Recovery. The call is free to you. Treatment providers pay for the referral. The line is not an intergroup. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and available all day and night in English and Spanish. FindTreatment.gov lists programs when you want to search them yourself.

Tonight

Open meetings and choose an hour that does not require a bus ticket or a hotel. Listings on that page are not verified by this site, so confirm with a local list before you count on the time. Then show up the way you can, in a chair or on a call. The weekend you cannot travel to can wait. You do not have to.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

Common Questions

Does missing the weekend mean I cannot start?

No. A weekend workshop is not the door into A.A. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees. You can sit and listen at a meeting you can reach tonight, in a nearby room or by phone or online if you cannot leave. Other members got permission to keep offering weekends, and current ones are listed on the workshop site. That list is optional.

Where are the weekends listed, without a price or a city from me?

Current weekends are listed on The Big Book Comes Alive site. That site says Joe and Charlie gave other members permission to keep offering weekend workshops. Look there later if you want the list. Dates, cities, and prices stay on that site. If money, travel, or the front door is the wall, you still have a meeting. Local A.A. resources keep meeting lists. aa.org is not a meeting finder. It points you toward those lists and toward online meetings.

What if I cannot leave the house at all?

Meetings are held in person, online, or by phone. Online meetings can be video on, video off, or a dial-in. You can listen with the camera off. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. You do not have to join a prayer. The phone-meetings guide and the online-meetings guide go further into those formats. A weekend you cannot travel to is a different problem from a meeting you can join from the room you are already in. Use the meeting. Leave the weekend on the list.

What if I cannot pay for a trip?

A meeting does not charge dues or fees. Member contributions are for people who have something to put in. Newcomers are welcome regardless of income. The long form of Tradition Three says membership ought never depend on money or conformity. A weekend you cannot afford is not a bill for belonging. You do not have to explain your bank account at the door of a local meeting. Confirm the meeting is actually on, then go or call in. The desire to stop drinking is the requirement.

What if I feel too sick to travel or even to sit through an hour?

Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. A weekend cannot detox you, and neither can a meeting. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. Get medical care first. Look for a chair when a clinician says you are safe to sit.