What if your next holiday could tell you more about your drinking than any ordinary day? Anna Donaghey is joined by travel writer and longtime non-drinker Teresa Bergen to explore why holidays are such a flashpoint when it comes to alcohol.
They unpick the cultural scripts that equate travel with "letting go," the invisible pressure to drink in airports, at resorts, and on work trips, and how travel can act as a mirror for your relationship with alcohol. Teresa shares decades of sober travel, surprising lessons from writing The Sober Travel Handbook, and the vividness of seeing the world clear-headed.
Listen to rethink your travel story and design holidays that match what you actually want.
Here are the Highlights:
00:00 Intro: Rethinking drinking on holiday
01:29 Teresa’s story: 38 years as a non-drinker and the “holiday script”
05:19 Why do we link travel to letting go of alcohol?
10:13 The bizarre normality of airport drinking at dawn
14:12 “No drink = no fun” & what it’s like to break the social norm
18:11 Why holidays reveal our biggest beliefs and fears about alcohol
23:30 The benefits of holidays without drinking
27:11 Building holidays around your real interests, not just the booze
46:48 Practical tips for a non-drinking holiday
49:00 Find links to Sober Travel Handbook & travel ideas in the show notes
50:02 How to rethink your “holiday script” and try something new.
FREE WEBINAR: How to Get Unstuck: A Year Inside a Community That's Changing Lives.
Anna and fellow coach Tabbin Almond are excited to announce they’re hosting a free webinar on Thursday 9 July to share what they’ve learnt about what women actually need when they want to change their relationship with alcohol. You can register to grab your spot here: https://www.thebigdrinkrethink.com/webinar
Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!
Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/
The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/
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About the host Anna:
Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.
Connect with Anna:
Website: thebigdrinkrethink.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonaghey
Instagram:instagram.com/bigdrinkrethink
Produced bywinteraudio.co.uk
About Teresa Bergen:
Teresa Bergen is a travel writer and long-time sober person who wants to help others in recovery see the world without picking up a drink.
She's the author of Sober Travel Handbook: Navigating the World Alcohol-Free, in which she shares tips for avoiding airport bars, business networking without the booze, navigating well-meaning friends who want you to drink with them, and many other common situations. She helps non-drinkers strategise and plan for travel so that they can confidently experience other places and cultures and have new adventures while minimising their chances at relapse.
Connect with Teresa:
Teresa’s website: https://teresabergen.com/
The Sober Travel Handbook: https://teresabergen.com/easy-portland-outdoors/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teresa.bergen/
Some sober travel links recommended by Teresa can be found in The Big Drink Rethink Toolkit here: https://www.thebigdrinkrethink.com/toolkit-optin
