7 Years 71 days Sober - Ordeal in Cuenca7 Years 71 days Sober - Ordeal in Cuenca
I'm Quitting Alcohol
Comedian David Boyle recounts a chaotic day in Cuenca when a hybrid hire car dies in the middle of a busy street, testing his patience and sobriety. Through swearing, jokes and eventual relief, he shows how long-term recovery handles real-life stress without alcohol.
14:04•25 Jul 2026
Hybrid Meltdown in Cuenca: Sobriety, Stress and a Stuck Hire Car
Episode Overview
- Stressful, chaotic days still happen in long-term sobriety, just without using alcohol to escape.
- Modern hybrid and electric cars can become completely immobile when they glitch, leaving drivers powerless.
- Strangers, including locals and police, can be surprisingly helpful and patient during public crises.
- Rental car support may be difficult to reach in an emergency, adding to the pressure.
- Even after hours of frustration, small wins like finally reaching a beautiful town can shift the mood.
“All I know is I am never buying a hybrid, an EV, anything with a computer… I’m buying an old rusty manual fucking truck that only runs on leaded fuel.”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? For comedian David Boyle, some days it’s less about cravings and more about a hybrid hire car dying in the middle of Cuenca.
This short, punchy episode of *I’m Quitting Alcohol* drops you straight into a chaotic travel day in Spain: a brand-new hybrid car cuts out on one of the busiest streets, traffic piles up, the kids are in the back, tourists are getting yelled at, and no one can work out how to move the car even into neutral.
Boyle’s running commentary turns the whole fiasco into a fast-paced, sweary story that many anxious ex-drinkers will recognise: everything going wrong at once, and no way to numb it with booze.
Across five frantic minutes, you’ll hear about helpful but slightly clueless bystanders, an overworked police officer with zero shared language, a mechanic who “from what I can gather [did] absolutely fucking nothing for about 45 minutes”, and the surreal moment when the car randomly starts working again after hours of stress. Through it all, Boyle stays dry, sarcastic and sober, proving that ridiculous days still happen, just without a hangover.
For anyone on a sobriety journey who wonders what everyday life looks like years in, this gives a snapshot: family travel, logistical nightmares, corporate indifference, and a bloke who used to drink his way through stress now just swears, laughs, and keeps going.
He even lands on a skewed takeaway about life: “you focus on the destination not the journey.” If you like your recovery content raw, brief, funny, and brutally honest about how annoying life can be without a drink, this one is worth five minutes of your day. After all, how would you handle a full-scale street blockage without alcohol?
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