Where to travel

The Sober Travellers have been to some pretty cool places around the globe; from Mauritius to Milan, Japan to Java, Thailand to Berlin, Australia, Malta, Greece, Barcelona, America, France, Indonesia, Philippines, Norway, Uganda, Prague, Peru, Morocco, Poland, and more.

We’re still cooking up content for all of these, so please bare with – but do feel free to reach out directly for travel advice. 

In the meantime, our best advice for destinations to head to include finding spots that are not typically promoted as “party destinations”. You also need to be honest with yourself with the length and strength of the current state of your own sobriety. Firstly, travel within the early months of sobriety / recovery is usually advised against as there’s so much risk involved, so address this first, but once you’re in the clear with that, hop aboard matey!

Secondly, check in with your current sobriety state and ask yourself what’s going to serve you and what isn’t. 

For instance, the Southern islands of Thailand (e.g Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Koh Phi Phi) are all beautiful, but are notoriously known for their party atmospheres (full moon party etc). Obviously, if you’re in a bad state, then a full moon party is clearly not a healthy situation to put yourself in. However, if you’re in the green flag zone and this is your type of vibe then why not – we didn’t get sober just to sit on the side lines and watch 🙂

Of course, if you’re backpacking Asia then getting your Open Water in Koh Tao is high likely on your to do list – so just been safe and sensible about it (i.e. no party hostels, go with a safe companion, don’t put yourself in unsafe situations, have boundaries etc). 

Moving on, someone once said to me “sobriety is never stationery, you’re either moving closer to, or further away from a drink”. Good advice…because the truth is all places are essentially “safe”, but some places are going to carry more risk than others depending on where you are at on this invisible scale. Is somewhere like Barcelona with the drinking culture, or Amsterdam with the green-haze focus healthy for you right now? Or is somewhere like Morocco with it’s zen focus better? (Tip: certain countries do not allow alcohol to be sold or consumed due to religion, so you can travel safely in these areas without seeing mass marketing / lots of bars lining the streets which can be helpful).

Again – if you’re in green zone state, most places are safe. But remember: keeping sober is not just about picking up a drink, it’s about all the actions and behaviours you are exhibiting before it gets to that point, and everything you are doing to stop yourself from ever reaching that deadly crossroads. 

BUT: for argument’s sake, places such as Bali, Java, Sumatra, Mauritius, Peru, Morocco all feel like safe sober locations – DEPENDING on what you get up to whilst you are there!

Places such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Thailand, Barcelona, Japan etc may perhaps have more of a substance focused vibe and therefore may carry more temptation (Steins, Marijuana, Bintangs, Estella, etc). 

However: My goal here is not to discredit certain places at all, rather I want to advise you on how to navigate each place – so give us some time to whip up content 🙂