Retail sales between November 2023 and January 2024 (seasonally adjusted and excluding automotive and gasoline) grew 4.3% and totaled $1.49 trillion, according to the U.S. An early holiday shopping report is forecasting a moderate increase in retail sales, as consumers continue to deal with inflation. From beaches to mountains, there is a destination perfect for newly sober you. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing getaway or an adventure – there are endless options; these spots offer plenty to do without any boozy temptations. Check out some of the best places for sober trips, including Sober Living in LA.

Support Your Recovery

• It is easy to let the holiday demands and activities disrupt our daily patterns and routines.
• She now fears for the months ahead – and says she’s lost faith in Labour as a lifelong supporter of the party.
• Sarah Allen Benton, M.S., LMHC., LPC, is a licensed mental health counselor and author of Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic.
• What’s most important in the event of a relapse is how you respond to it.
• Financial strain is a common stressor during the holidays.

Eat healthy, and try to take some quiet time for relaxation or meditation. For example, help others, or spend quality time with loved ones. These activities can help you feel connected to others, which is an important part https://ecosoberhouse.com/ of self care. For others, the taste of alcohol may trigger them to want more. Speaking with you sponsor as soon as possible can help you navigate the feelings that arise and put a plan in place to avoid further relapse.

Avoid Relapse Triggers

Instead of dreading the onset of a holiday, spend the time planning, thinking through possible outcomes, and what to do in response. Staying sober from drugs and alcohol during the holidays, for some, is only half the battle for staying grounded and secure in recovery. Winter holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve may involve stress, which for people in recovery, can be a trigger. It is also a fun night for many adults, who may celebrate by throwing a party that involves drinking alcohol or using drugs.

How To Set Boundaries With Your Loved Ones

Mindfulness is one particularly helpful strategy to combat stress. This technique involves staying in the moment and quieting your mind. It’s about tuning into the sights and sounds around you allowing anxious thoughts to drift away.

Therefore,  it’s important to have a solid plan in place to help you navigate through the holiday season without compromising your sobriety. The holidays are a time to celebrate, and that involves drinking. But you don’t have to drink the same old Christmas drinks every single year. Try some non-alcoholic eggnog, a cranberry spritzer, or a Shirley Temple. The holiday season is all about being thankful and sharing your gratitude with others. This is the perfect time to remember that sobriety is a gift.

• Here at Ethos Recovery, we want you to enjoy your sobriety during the holidays.
• For many people, including those in recovery, the holidays stir up difficult memories.
• When she needed a break, she locked the bathroom door and took five minutes to get quiet and read a slogan.
• No matter where you go, a sober vacation can be a great way to get away from all the bad stuff and focus on your health and well-being.
• A sober family member can unintentionally hold a mirror up to their alcoholic family members and this can inevitably cause tension.

Tips for a Sober Holiday

For most of my adult life, I loved traveling and drinking in equal measure. The pleasure of visiting Argentina came both from the grand, crumbling 19th-century architecture of Buenos Aires and the grand Malbecs I gulped under Mendoza’s Andean skies. My husband and I brewery hopped in spots from Asheville, North Carolina, to Istanbul, Turkey.

Five Practices for Staying Sober During the Holidays

An estimated 46.3 million Americans have substance abuse problems, and I’m one of them. I suffer from alcohol use disorder (the National Institute for Health’s preferred term), colloquially known as alcoholism. I’ve learned how to thrive without sauvignon blanc, but figuring how to travel “dry” in a booze-soaked world has been a whole different journey.

Reach Out for Support

The pressures and high expectations we place on the holiday season sometimes cause us to feel overwhelmed with stress and anxiety rather than merriment. The holidays can make it tough to stay sober, especially with all the parties and get-togethers where there’s usually alcohol around. It can also be stressful and carry a lot of social pressure. Although relatively small (with a population of slightly over 10,000 people), it’s an ideal destination for sober travelers early in their recovery.

Have a Holiday Party Plan

• Spend some of your holiday hours visiting with shut-ins, working at a local food bank or soup kitchen, or donating your time in other ways.
• Moments when friends ask why you’re not indulging in the spiked eggnog, or insist that you participate in a champagne-fueled toast on New Year’s Eve.
• Packed airports, tight schedules, liquid lunch for Aunt Sally.
• They also might involve drinking, which people in recovery from alcohol addiction often find to be another trigger.
• After all, the holidays can kick off a perfect storm of family and money stress.

Caring for yourself will give you the reserves to manage both holiday stress and drinking urges and help you to feel your best throughout the season. If those thoughts begin to creep in—those rationalizations about your eminent capability to now handle your liquor—shut sober holidays them down immediately. Your abstinence did not, in fact, teach you how to control your drinking, because abstinence didn’t rewire your brain to be non-addicted. A mistake is not a relapse, and it’s not going to land you in rehab, but those secrets might.