How to Stay Sober While Traveling

How to Stay Sober While Traveling

Travelling is a fantastic form of addiction recovery. However, it’s also linked to a lot of temptations. The road to sobriety is often a rocky and unpredictable path. But with the right rehab, recovering from addiction may not be as difficult as you think. Checking into a rehabilitation centre is always the first step, and once you complete the program, you’re halfway through with your journey to recovery.

What happens after rehab, though? How can you stay sober and still enjoy the things you love to do? If you want to travel while recovering from addiction, you can make your journey easier with these useful tips:

1. Plan your itinerary well

Whether you are travelling alone or with a group, make sure you plan the itinerary carefully. If you’ve had an alcohol addiction, plan all the activities and destinations you will be doing, so you can avoid places where it is commonplace to drink. If you are going with friends or family members, make it clear to them that you will not be joining activities that might tempt you into a relapse.

2. Set your goals and stick to them

Before you even book your ticket, set your goals into stone. If you aim to not touch a drink the whole time you’re on vacation, make that commitment to yourself and to whoever you’ll be travelling with. However, don’t make your vacation all about avoiding temptations. While it’s essential to steer clear from substances that trigger you, your main goals should be having fun and working on yourself.

3. Take plenty of entertainment

When travelling, there are a lot of waiting times involved. At the airport, in bus stations, at restaurants–there’s a lot of instances where there’s a good chance of you getting bored, anxious, or both. And when your mind is unoccupied, your thoughts may stray to the very things you’re trying to avoid.

Therefore, make sure you have lots of things you can distract yourself with. You can listen to music, read books, watch movies or shows, and solve puzzles. If you want to keep your mouth busy as well, keep a bottle of water and a packet of snacks with you at all times.

4. Ask the hotel to take away the minibar

While booking your hotel, ask them to remove the minibar from your room. If you want, you can request that the alcohol be replaced with water and juice instead.

5. Look for other fun activities

If your idea of fun is going to clubs and partying, a vacation is an excellent opportunity to find something else that you enjoy. Instead of going to a bar or club, try going to a spa or cafe instead. There are endless alternatives to places that trigger a relapse; you just need to find what you genuinely enjoy.

Recovering from addiction can be a huge challenge. Taking a vacation while staying sober is another challenge that can make you stronger in your path to recovery. If the idea of travelling while recovering scares you, these tips should help you stay substance-free during the whole trip.