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For example, you might want to discuss how you’ll handle attending events where other people might be drinking alcohol. If you are newly sober and fresh out of holistic rehab, reconsider leaving home for your vacation and plan a staycation instead. You have certainly earned a rest after working so hard to be substance-free, but this is not an ideal time to break out of your newly established schedule. Work, exercise, meetings, and extracurricular activities have been carefully balanced to give you full and healthy days, so you stay occupied and not tempted by drugs or alcohol. Many people assume that being sober means giving up things you used to enjoy.
How do you have fun on vacation sober?
- Look for Alternative Imbibing. It might seem like bars and restaurants oozing with alcohol are the only “fun” hang-outs.
- Pamper Yourself.
- Think Outside the Tourist Box.
- Renew the Night.
- Explore the Outdoors.
- Indulge Your Taste Buds.
- Choose the Right Traveling Companions.
Another thing to keep in mind is who you are traveling with and their goals. If you are traveling with someone who is all about partying and bar hopping, reconsider your traveling https://ecosoberhouse.com/ partner. Try traveling with someone that has like-minded interests so you can enjoy the same things together. Try looking for something that fits your current lifestyle habits.
tips for traveling during eating disorder recovery
If your travel companions aren’t supportive, this is an indication that you may need to take a step back and reevaluate the relationship. Here at Riverside Recovery of Tampa, recovery is personal for us. Seventy-five percent of our staff has gone through the recovery process and have experienced firsthand what it feels like to walk this path. Things may happen during your travel journey that you simply cannot prevent.
Have plane snacks for traveling, purse snacks for sightseeing, and suitcase snacks for when you’re in your hotel. That way, regardless of the eating challenges you encounter, you can supplement with your own food. While planning your holiday vacation in recovery can be stressful, remember that vacationing in recovery you have options and resources available to help you manage and cope with various events and situations. With the world opening back up, for some people that means traveling, whether that be to another country, city, or beach. Others may opt for camping or RV trips to state and national parks.
Staying Sober on Vacation
Be honest about any behaviors, intruding thoughts, and compulsions. The sensations of hunger and thirst can heighten a craving for drugs or alcohol. Have food and drinks on hand wherever you are, so that your natural body rhythms don’t talk your mind into thinking you want something that you don’t. If you are traveling for one of the first times after committing to a life of sobriety, you need to have an unwavering resolve to keep your own promise to yourself. Visualize yourself power-walking past airport bars and ignoring drink menus at restaurants. Whether you are traveling to the beach, the ski slopes, or the African Sahara, alcohol is likely to be involved in the leisure of the journey.
Recovery is tough, and it’s extremely hard to do it all on your own. Even during relaxing times, you might need help staying sober. Sober travel is a great way to get out, meet new people, and experience new things. However, it is not without its challenges, particularly if you’re in the early stages of recovery. If you’re struggling to find sobriety-friendly vacation options, consider moving into a sober living house. A sober living house is a shared living environment where you’ll live with other people in recovery and have access to support and socialization opportunities.
Planning a Vacation with a Loved One in Recovery
Pack an appropriate amount of easy-to-consume snacks and plenty of water. Consider the challenges of managing recovery in an airport and on long flights. Food choices are limited, timing is off, everyone is in a rush, and you might be unable to access food whenever you want.
- Our goal at Talkspace is to provide the most up-to-date, valuable, and objective information on mental health-related topics in order to help readers make informed decisions.
- 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.
- It’s hard enough getting dressed in the morning, but now you’re going to the beach!?
- Going to new places can appear to be difficult when you are in recovery.
- Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.