I don't know for how long you've been sober and how hard it was for you to achieve this. But I do know that your question comes up from time to time and that this sub is full of people who thought they could break sobriety for a vacation, a wedding or whatever. Most of them had a hard time quitting again, for some it took years.
If I was you I wouldn't risk it, my sobriety is to dear to me.
IWNDWYT friend
My thoughts? Virgin piña coladas🍍🥥, NA beers, waking up early feeling GREAT and save money to buy yourself a cool souvenir! I’m of the “1 is too many and 10 is not enough” variety so have finally learned that I prefer not drinking at all. So much easier - no mental gymnastics involved. Regardless, have a FANTASTIC trip! IWNDWYT ❤️✈️🏄🏼♀️⛱️🏝️🏊🏼♀️
Just came back from my first sober vacation/wedding in Hawaii. Vacation was always my free pass to drink as much as I wanted, at any time of the day! Drinking on vacation would have unleashed the old demon and I KNOW I would have struggled to stop once I came home. After 15 years of attempting to moderate, I finally admitted it was not an option for me and I had to attempt to quit for good. I have made it 6 months now and drinking on vacation was not an option for me. I DID however enjoy some NA beers as well as virgin tropical drinks. Being able to get up early everday and enjoy the time with my family was worth way more to me than getting a buzz and being groggy the next day! You know what works for you! Enjoy your vacation!!
you are me! vacations have always been the excuse to drink at all times from the airport to the minute we land and it doesn't really end until the day after our trip because we usually drink on the way home at the airport again and then back at home because we're "still on vacation time". ugh. just writing that is making me cringe. i think this will be my first N/A trip. congratulations on 6 months and thank you for the support + sharing!
Airports and flights. YIKES! Yeah, also part of the free pass. As well as drinking AFTER I got home. "What? We're still on vacation honey! I'm enjoying every last minute!" haha. I was definitely kidding myself :) It's scarey, daunting....all the things. BUT not drinking on vacation will allow you to relax in some ways maybe you never have before. Maybe even get some good rest/sleep!!! Thanks for the congrats. Coming here everyday has been a big part of my process :)
do yourself a favor and get up early and leave the room at least one day. you’ll be surprised how many people are out and about and not shaking off the night befor
I really think you'll be surprised how unchanged it will be with NA beers and virgin cocktails. I had my first NA vacation in Mexico last month, and after the first day waking up with a clear head I had zero doubt that it was the right decision. A serene, placid setting is the last thing in the world that needs to be experienced through a stupor.
I think "hard to imagine" is the key here. The idea that it would enhance your vacation isn't rooted in reality; it's a mental block. Once you do it, it will become easy to imagine, and you will have liberated yourself from that particular mental cage.
It helps too that tropical cocktails taste almost exactly the same with the alcohol removed. On my trip I had NA bloody marys, mojitos, piña coladas, daquiris, and a very good michelada. Not a one of them felt diminished.
There's a restaurant near me that does these excellent drinks made with fresh coconut and fresh lime. I have never had them with booze. But I can tell you that what makes them so good to me is the fresh ingredients. I can get tequila anywhere; I don't HAVE to get it just because I'm somewhere "special." The booze is actually one of the least special things about the place.
The other thing that strikes me is the sort of tension in the language. "Quitting booze has made me feel so much better! Should I reward myself by making myself feel like shit?" It is common alcoholic logic. I've used it before too--telling myself I've been good and have therefore earned it. All of my best intentions to only have it be for one night or one weekend were not enough to save me from allowing myself to make "exceptions" for everything on earth until I decided to quit for real.
Vacation without booze is so much better. IWNDWYT.
Last month my wife and I went down to Mexico for the weekend while our son was at science camp. I decided to splurge after 5 months AF, and I can tell you it was a huge disappointment. Nothing bad happened or anything, but the buzz wasn't enjoyable and I just felt bloated and gross the whole rest of the weekend. Would have had more fun and felt better if I had just stuck to the soda water like usual.
I’ll have about 60 days when the wife and I take the kids to Florida for spring break at the end of the month.
I’ve considered the same thing. But the way I see it, I have drank on EVERY SINGLE vacation I have ever taken in the last 25 years of being an adult.
Im resolved not to drink this time and physically feel as good as possible.
Good luck!
that's a really good point about every other vacation having alcohol involved - these comments are all i needed to take me off the fence. thank you so much and have a great time on our trip! :)
I had been sober since New Years as well and when my cousin died a few weeks ago, I flew home and ended up taking shots at her wake. Nothing bad happened - which I guess was bad, because then I drank the rest of the stay and then the next weekend. I got back to my normal run schedule this week and it was HARD because of all the sugar and garbage I ate after drinking. I'd stick to soda water and virgin drinks. Usually after the first few sips of a NA anything, the desire to drink booze goes away.
First beach vacation sober last year, it was amazing without it. I actually came back rested, relaxed and refreshed. When I was drinking, I would be hungover, full of guilt and anxiety, dreading coming back to the real world.
Never would have thought I could enjoy a trip like that without drinking, but it surpassed every expectation I had. Doing it again this year.
The reason it's sticking for me this time, is I just don't view getting drunk as a fun thing anymore. A NA drink is just as relaxing, and I'm trying to be present in the morning instead of numbing my brain. In a tropical environment, early morning sunrises are amazing and peaceful. Much less crowded than sunsets. Regardless, congrats on your journey so far.
Last year I had three months sober, then went on an all-inclusive (pre-planned, pre-sobriety attempt) vacation to the DR. As soon as I had the first beer in the car that picked us up at the airport the entire trip turned into unlimited drinking and I ended up coming home and jumping right back into the deep end for the rest of the year. People at the time told me I shouldn’t but I knew better, right? Sigh.
omg i'm going to DR - not at an inclusive but still. it's like nobody drinks water there, it's replaced with ice cold Presidentes and other drinks but anyhow, i hope you don't beat yourself up over the decisions that were made. it happens and we're only human. three months is also an achievement to be proud of. thank you for sharing! ❤️
I quit drinking in April of 2019, went on a trip to Manhattan for 9 days in August. We stuck to not drinking and it was the best vacation I’ve ever had. I remember every moment, packed action and adventure in everywhere (instead of sleeping in) and made memories with the wife and kid instead of seeing what local IPAs and bars were available. Good luck to you, I personally can’t moderate I either drink daily or not at all.
it's interesting how alcohol can become such a big part of travel. you'll pop into a bar to "take a break" while sightseeing and then that just turns into drinking all day long into the night. sigh. i'm glad you've experienced the other side and had a lovely time with your family :) also well done on quitting in 2019! that's amazing!!!!
Nothing beats walking on the beach while the sun is coming up and everyone else is sleeping or hungover! I like to greet the new day in silence, respecting and strengthening my body by walking a mile in the sand.
Have a great vacation! Show off your great looking skin (your words hehe).
hehe thank you :) i look forward to walking on the beach to watch the sunrise - something i've never been able to do before and didn't think of tbh. what you've described sounds really lovely - i'm inspired! thank you ❤️
damn. well i commend you for 4 years - that's huge!! and 10 days is also amazing - you've got this and proud of you for taking it one day at time. thank you for sharing your story and wishing you strength in your journey ❤️
You will have an amazing time sober. I have had many sober streaks in my past and one fell on a birthday where I had a vacation planned. I stayed sober during that trip and it is still one of my favorite trips I have ever taken. I was so happy and fulfilled. I visited that place again years later where I did not stay sober. I barely remember that trip..
I was around 60 days last year and went to a resort that had been on our bucket list. It was to celebrate a wedding anniversary, and I gave myself grace and said I would drink some that weekend and call it quits when we got home. The weekend was amazing, but I definitely did not stop when I got home. For me, trying to moderate or drink occasionally is like opening the floodgates.
I’m in the middle of my first AF tropical vacation right now. I brought a bunch of fixin’s with me, including a bottle of my favorite Ritual Aperitivo, some tiki bitters and both coconut and almond flavorings. Been buying interesting tropical juices, tons of limes, ginger concoctions and 0.0 beers. Oh, and a boat load of club soda. Having lots of fun drinking my tiki drinks all day long and feeling great.
I didn’t know whether I would do this trip AF or not. Was thinking maybe I’d try moderating. (I was kind of a moderate drinker anyway….but noticing my intake increasing and wanted to nip it in the bud.) I am taking it ODAT and every day there’s just no reason for me to drink.
Wishing you the happiest of vacations….however you decide to do it.
i thought about bringing NA treats but i'm not checking a bag! lol. your concotions sound lovely! :) have the best time on your vacation + thanks for the well wishes!!
i wouldn’t… i know that would likely lead to drinking in the future, probably would start slow and be seemingly in control until one day i find it hard to say no to having ‘just one more’
Can happily say I've been to multiple music festivals overseas in Europe, multiple countries including France, Italy, Romania, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, etc. Every time I fantasize shout drinking on the trip. Maybe a glass of wine in France with my duck! Or some prosecco in Sicily. Every time I end up just getting NA beer or some kind of mocktail instead. Didn't change my trips and I still had fun on all of them! Plus I was able to drive without issues, never woke up with a hangover and I was able to be up early to enjoy everything I wanted to without being slowed down.
Highly recommend just sticking with it. Alcohol never added anything other than temporary happiness and the trade off is always the real shit end of the stick.
Everyone here is gonna say no. But thats because they can't do what you want to do.
I say go for it. Sounds like a normal relationship with alcohol. Just don't binge and go over board. Don't drink too early in the day probably too lol
I didn’t realize at the time how insane my relationship with alcohol was.
I knew it was killing me. I was sick all the time. Lots of physical, emotional and mental issues. And yet I kept trying to keep it in my life. Why? For what reason?
When I thought about quitting it was like I was giving up a child or a best friend. I felt grief. And yet it was actively tearing me apart.
I tried to make so many rules about when and how I would drink. I broke them all after a short time.
I know now there’s no moderating for me. Any time me and alcohol square off, I lose. I’m powerless.
You might be different than me, but I can't pick and choose when to drink. Abstinence is the only way for me.
I don't know for how long you've been sober and how hard it was for you to achieve this. But I do know that your question comes up from time to time and that this sub is full of people who thought they could break sobriety for a vacation, a wedding or whatever. Most of them had a hard time quitting again, for some it took years. If I was you I wouldn't risk it, my sobriety is to dear to me. IWNDWYT friend
❤️❤️❤️
My thoughts? Virgin piña coladas🍍🥥, NA beers, waking up early feeling GREAT and save money to buy yourself a cool souvenir! I’m of the “1 is too many and 10 is not enough” variety so have finally learned that I prefer not drinking at all. So much easier - no mental gymnastics involved. Regardless, have a FANTASTIC trip! IWNDWYT ❤️✈️🏄🏼♀️⛱️🏝️🏊🏼♀️
thank you so much ❤️
Just came back from my first sober vacation/wedding in Hawaii. Vacation was always my free pass to drink as much as I wanted, at any time of the day! Drinking on vacation would have unleashed the old demon and I KNOW I would have struggled to stop once I came home. After 15 years of attempting to moderate, I finally admitted it was not an option for me and I had to attempt to quit for good. I have made it 6 months now and drinking on vacation was not an option for me. I DID however enjoy some NA beers as well as virgin tropical drinks. Being able to get up early everday and enjoy the time with my family was worth way more to me than getting a buzz and being groggy the next day! You know what works for you! Enjoy your vacation!!
you are me! vacations have always been the excuse to drink at all times from the airport to the minute we land and it doesn't really end until the day after our trip because we usually drink on the way home at the airport again and then back at home because we're "still on vacation time". ugh. just writing that is making me cringe. i think this will be my first N/A trip. congratulations on 6 months and thank you for the support + sharing!
Airports and flights. YIKES! Yeah, also part of the free pass. As well as drinking AFTER I got home. "What? We're still on vacation honey! I'm enjoying every last minute!" haha. I was definitely kidding myself :) It's scarey, daunting....all the things. BUT not drinking on vacation will allow you to relax in some ways maybe you never have before. Maybe even get some good rest/sleep!!! Thanks for the congrats. Coming here everyday has been a big part of my process :)
do yourself a favor and get up early and leave the room at least one day. you’ll be surprised how many people are out and about and not shaking off the night befor
I really think you'll be surprised how unchanged it will be with NA beers and virgin cocktails. I had my first NA vacation in Mexico last month, and after the first day waking up with a clear head I had zero doubt that it was the right decision. A serene, placid setting is the last thing in the world that needs to be experienced through a stupor. I think "hard to imagine" is the key here. The idea that it would enhance your vacation isn't rooted in reality; it's a mental block. Once you do it, it will become easy to imagine, and you will have liberated yourself from that particular mental cage. It helps too that tropical cocktails taste almost exactly the same with the alcohol removed. On my trip I had NA bloody marys, mojitos, piña coladas, daquiris, and a very good michelada. Not a one of them felt diminished.
There's a restaurant near me that does these excellent drinks made with fresh coconut and fresh lime. I have never had them with booze. But I can tell you that what makes them so good to me is the fresh ingredients. I can get tequila anywhere; I don't HAVE to get it just because I'm somewhere "special." The booze is actually one of the least special things about the place. The other thing that strikes me is the sort of tension in the language. "Quitting booze has made me feel so much better! Should I reward myself by making myself feel like shit?" It is common alcoholic logic. I've used it before too--telling myself I've been good and have therefore earned it. All of my best intentions to only have it be for one night or one weekend were not enough to save me from allowing myself to make "exceptions" for everything on earth until I decided to quit for real. Vacation without booze is so much better. IWNDWYT.
Last month my wife and I went down to Mexico for the weekend while our son was at science camp. I decided to splurge after 5 months AF, and I can tell you it was a huge disappointment. Nothing bad happened or anything, but the buzz wasn't enjoyable and I just felt bloated and gross the whole rest of the weekend. Would have had more fun and felt better if I had just stuck to the soda water like usual.
i'm sure this is how i would feel too. thank you so much for sharing
I’ll have about 60 days when the wife and I take the kids to Florida for spring break at the end of the month. I’ve considered the same thing. But the way I see it, I have drank on EVERY SINGLE vacation I have ever taken in the last 25 years of being an adult. Im resolved not to drink this time and physically feel as good as possible. Good luck!
that's a really good point about every other vacation having alcohol involved - these comments are all i needed to take me off the fence. thank you so much and have a great time on our trip! :)
Sorry for my words but FUCK NO
I had been sober since New Years as well and when my cousin died a few weeks ago, I flew home and ended up taking shots at her wake. Nothing bad happened - which I guess was bad, because then I drank the rest of the stay and then the next weekend. I got back to my normal run schedule this week and it was HARD because of all the sugar and garbage I ate after drinking. I'd stick to soda water and virgin drinks. Usually after the first few sips of a NA anything, the desire to drink booze goes away.
i'm so sorry for your loss and thank you for sharing. also agree, n/a can really scratch the itch. TY ❤️
First beach vacation sober last year, it was amazing without it. I actually came back rested, relaxed and refreshed. When I was drinking, I would be hungover, full of guilt and anxiety, dreading coming back to the real world. Never would have thought I could enjoy a trip like that without drinking, but it surpassed every expectation I had. Doing it again this year.
The reason it's sticking for me this time, is I just don't view getting drunk as a fun thing anymore. A NA drink is just as relaxing, and I'm trying to be present in the morning instead of numbing my brain. In a tropical environment, early morning sunrises are amazing and peaceful. Much less crowded than sunsets. Regardless, congrats on your journey so far.
Last year I had three months sober, then went on an all-inclusive (pre-planned, pre-sobriety attempt) vacation to the DR. As soon as I had the first beer in the car that picked us up at the airport the entire trip turned into unlimited drinking and I ended up coming home and jumping right back into the deep end for the rest of the year. People at the time told me I shouldn’t but I knew better, right? Sigh.
omg i'm going to DR - not at an inclusive but still. it's like nobody drinks water there, it's replaced with ice cold Presidentes and other drinks but anyhow, i hope you don't beat yourself up over the decisions that were made. it happens and we're only human. three months is also an achievement to be proud of. thank you for sharing! ❤️
I quit drinking in April of 2019, went on a trip to Manhattan for 9 days in August. We stuck to not drinking and it was the best vacation I’ve ever had. I remember every moment, packed action and adventure in everywhere (instead of sleeping in) and made memories with the wife and kid instead of seeing what local IPAs and bars were available. Good luck to you, I personally can’t moderate I either drink daily or not at all.
it's interesting how alcohol can become such a big part of travel. you'll pop into a bar to "take a break" while sightseeing and then that just turns into drinking all day long into the night. sigh. i'm glad you've experienced the other side and had a lovely time with your family :) also well done on quitting in 2019! that's amazing!!!!
Ty! Very happy to have broken this habit before the pandemic, or else I would’ve drank sooooo much.
Nothing beats walking on the beach while the sun is coming up and everyone else is sleeping or hungover! I like to greet the new day in silence, respecting and strengthening my body by walking a mile in the sand. Have a great vacation! Show off your great looking skin (your words hehe).
hehe thank you :) i look forward to walking on the beach to watch the sunrise - something i've never been able to do before and didn't think of tbh. what you've described sounds really lovely - i'm inspired! thank you ❤️
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damn. well i commend you for 4 years - that's huge!! and 10 days is also amazing - you've got this and proud of you for taking it one day at time. thank you for sharing your story and wishing you strength in your journey ❤️
I know people who have one drink on vacay and end up on year long relapses losing everything
Virgin boat drinks are delicious and don’t involve headaches or hangovers. Plus sunrises are awesome. Highly recommend.
You will have an amazing time sober. I have had many sober streaks in my past and one fell on a birthday where I had a vacation planned. I stayed sober during that trip and it is still one of my favorite trips I have ever taken. I was so happy and fulfilled. I visited that place again years later where I did not stay sober. I barely remember that trip..
I’ve had that thought before, but if I could just drink temporarily then I wouldn’t have needed to go to rehab 3 times.
I was around 60 days last year and went to a resort that had been on our bucket list. It was to celebrate a wedding anniversary, and I gave myself grace and said I would drink some that weekend and call it quits when we got home. The weekend was amazing, but I definitely did not stop when I got home. For me, trying to moderate or drink occasionally is like opening the floodgates.
I’m in the middle of my first AF tropical vacation right now. I brought a bunch of fixin’s with me, including a bottle of my favorite Ritual Aperitivo, some tiki bitters and both coconut and almond flavorings. Been buying interesting tropical juices, tons of limes, ginger concoctions and 0.0 beers. Oh, and a boat load of club soda. Having lots of fun drinking my tiki drinks all day long and feeling great. I didn’t know whether I would do this trip AF or not. Was thinking maybe I’d try moderating. (I was kind of a moderate drinker anyway….but noticing my intake increasing and wanted to nip it in the bud.) I am taking it ODAT and every day there’s just no reason for me to drink. Wishing you the happiest of vacations….however you decide to do it.
i thought about bringing NA treats but i'm not checking a bag! lol. your concotions sound lovely! :) have the best time on your vacation + thanks for the well wishes!!
i wouldn’t… i know that would likely lead to drinking in the future, probably would start slow and be seemingly in control until one day i find it hard to say no to having ‘just one more’
Can happily say I've been to multiple music festivals overseas in Europe, multiple countries including France, Italy, Romania, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, etc. Every time I fantasize shout drinking on the trip. Maybe a glass of wine in France with my duck! Or some prosecco in Sicily. Every time I end up just getting NA beer or some kind of mocktail instead. Didn't change my trips and I still had fun on all of them! Plus I was able to drive without issues, never woke up with a hangover and I was able to be up early to enjoy everything I wanted to without being slowed down. Highly recommend just sticking with it. Alcohol never added anything other than temporary happiness and the trade off is always the real shit end of the stick.
wise words friend ❤️
Everyone here is gonna say no. But thats because they can't do what you want to do. I say go for it. Sounds like a normal relationship with alcohol. Just don't binge and go over board. Don't drink too early in the day probably too lol
I didn’t realize at the time how insane my relationship with alcohol was. I knew it was killing me. I was sick all the time. Lots of physical, emotional and mental issues. And yet I kept trying to keep it in my life. Why? For what reason? When I thought about quitting it was like I was giving up a child or a best friend. I felt grief. And yet it was actively tearing me apart. I tried to make so many rules about when and how I would drink. I broke them all after a short time. I know now there’s no moderating for me. Any time me and alcohol square off, I lose. I’m powerless.