Traveling Sober: Tips for Vacationing Without Jeopardizing Your Recovery
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Spontaneity is often a good thing for helping you to take advantage of those exciting moments of opportunity that somehow arrive when you venture out of your comfort zone. You can still leave room for those unexpected moments of fun in your travel plans. However, it does help to have some structure in place when you are determined to stay sober.
Do Have a Plan
There are times when I travel with people that drink alcohol too. I have learned to stay in my own lane when it comes to drinking. I have fun with my friends that drink and they are respectful of my choices. They support me in finding menus with alcohol-free drinks. Our connection is our conversation and friendship, not alcohol. We have stayed up into the wee hours of the morning playing cards, listened to live music, made friends with strangers, and danced on tabletops together.
What are some sober activities I can enjoy during the holidays?
It’s more than possible to enjoy a vacation while avoidingtriggers and maintaining your sobriety, and Recovery Centers of America is here to help! We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
For Loved Ones: How to Support a Loved One’s Mental Health
- Identify times throughout your trip to check in with a sponsor, attend a meeting (more on this below), or reflect on your progress.
- It also allows you to participate in social drinking situations without feeling left out or drawing unwanted attention to your choice not to consume alcohol 4.
- She enjoyed the feeling of her belly being overly stuffed after a dinner out with her family.
We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specificdisabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs. By submitting this form, you agree to Asana Recovery’s Privacy Policy. You also consent to Asana Recovery contacting you by phone, text message, and email regarding your insurance benefits and treatment services. Visit Centered, where mindfulness-based, non-12-step approaches empower you to achieve lasting sobriety and mental well-being. It is almost impossible to avoid all locations with alcohol, such as restaurants.
Communicating with the person or people you’re traveling with will be crucial to your success. Let them know what you’re dealing with and what you’ll need to avoid. For people on a recovery journey, it can be a challenging experience.
Planning a Vacation in Recovery: Do’s and Don’ts
Once you’ve reviewed the most likely triggering scenarios, it’s time to decide how you will react to them. You can learn from other people’s experiences by following the tips they used to stay sober on their heroin addiction travels. Instead of planning trips around nightlife and parties, explore interests you never knew you had. Wellness retreats, natural wonders, and meditation workshops enhance your travel plans and support your journey of personal growth. The smell of the ocean, taking in new sights and being embraced with different languages and cultures are some of the most exciting things about going on vacation and getting away. You get to experience new sights, sounds, tastes, and every sense in the body becomes heightened, especially when traveling abroad to a foreign country.
Sober Travel: A Guide to Planning a Vacation Without Relapse
A vacation might be used to get away from a lot of things, but it should not be used to get away from your recovery meetings. The support attached to these meetings is important to your continued sobriety. And more importantly, they can be found most anywhere you choose to travel. Alcoholics Anonymous even offers adirectory of online meetingyou can participate in while you travel.
- Hobbies provide a constructive outlet for your energy and creativity, reducing stress and promoting mental well-being.
- Be sure to eat right, get adequate sleep and find some quiet time to check out and recharge.
- If you have a history of alcoholism, it’s probably not the best idea to go on a wine-tasting tour.
- By choosing activities and destinations that support a healthy, balanced lifestyle, such as a hike, beach trips, or outdoor sports, you can find the right balance between well-being and routine.
- The resort packages guarantee an incredibly special vacation, so you can choose barefoot luxury, all-out glamor, family-friendly fun, or another version of bliss.
Speak with someone who is familiar with you and your recovery. So now that you know what you should do when planning your vacation, there’s several things you should not do as well. The important thing is to stay in tune with your mind and your body and know when to take action to avoidrelapse. You’ve come a long way — take some time to reward and pamper yourself. Get a spa treatment, see a show or check out a local bakery. View each small step or accomplished goal as an achieved victory and congratulate yourself for a job well done — and invite others to join in.