Sober holidays are trips away where you stay sober. They’re holidays like any other, with somewhere new to see and time to slow down. The difference is that your recovery comes along too, and so do the situations that can test it.
On holiday, you might be handed a welcome drink at check-in. Bars and restaurants are full of people drinking, and you have hours to fill and nowhere you need to be. That can be hard in recovery.
A few decisions made early make the trip a lot easier to enjoy, like who you travel with and what you’ll do if the trip gets hard. If you’re travelling with someone in recovery, you can make those decisions together. Planned well, a sober holiday protects your recovery and still feels like a well-earned break.
What are sober holidays?
A holiday doesn’t pause your recovery. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) compares addiction treatment to treatment for asthma or heart disease – as with those conditions, you keep managing it while you’re away.
A sober holiday is a holiday that you plan around protecting your recovery. For many, it’s a milestone and testament to how far they’ve come. It can be an ordinary trip or an organised one, such as the sober getaways and sober retreats you may have seen advertised. You may also see them called recovery holidays.
Some trips go further and call themselves a rehab retreat or advertise rehab holidays. Check what they offer and who runs them, because treatment is something you arrange separately from the trip.
Who are sober holidays for?
Sober holidays are for anyone in recovery from alcohol or other drugs who finds travel different now. They suit you if you’ve recently left treatment or you’re planning a first trip in early recovery, and as much if you’ve got years behind you and travel still feels harder than home.
The same planning applies whether you’re going with family or on your own, for pleasure or for work.
A first trip brings a lot of decisions at once, so a short trip close to home is an easy start. Talk it through with your team before you book anything, and decide together when a trip suits you, and where.
What makes planning a sober holiday different
At home, your support is close by and easy to reach. On holiday, you’re in unfamiliar surroundings with that support a long way off.
The most common triggers for relapse are reminders of past use, such as people and places, and being near alcohol or drugs. On holiday, alcohol is hard to miss, celebrations are often part of the trip, and both can sometimes lead to relapse.
You may also feel pressure to join in, which can play a part in relapse likelihood. It can be direct, like someone urging you to drink, or indirect, like being around people who are drinking.
You can’t avoid every trigger, so you will need to practise ways of coping. How people cope with risky situations can help predict whether they relapse or stay sober. You can learn those skills through cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It teaches people to spot the situations where they’re most likely to use, and how to cope with them.
You’ll find more in our guide to managing alcohol cravings and triggers.
Who to travel with
A 2019 review of 321 studies found that having supportive people around you helps protect against relapse. Choose people who understand your recovery and have no link to past use. Arguments and difficult feelings are behind more than half of relapses, so pick someone who’s easy to be around.
Agree ground rules before you book, such as what you plan to do in the evening and how you’ll leave a party or dinner early. If you’re travelling alone or for work, tell someone at home your plan and arrange to check in.
Sober companion support can help on the trip itself, offering encouragement and helping with the travel arrangements.
Practical planning
Small choices that look harmless can leave alcohol within reach. Someone in recovery might buy a bottle “in case guests call round”. It feels sensible at the time, but now there is alcohol in the house. On holiday, the equivalent is a stocked minibar, so ask the hotel to empty it. Plan your days around things you enjoy too, so you aren’t left with hours to fill.
If you take medicine for your recovery, such as naltrexone or acamprosate, pack enough for the whole trip, plus extra. National Health Service (NHS) Fit for Travel advises keeping it in its original packaging, carrying a copy of your prescription, and checking each country’s rules with its embassy.
You can also join meetings while you’re away. The Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting finder covers Great Britain and continental Europe, including online meetings. SMART Recovery (Self-Management and Recovery Training) runs free online meetings too.
Check in with how you’re feeling in the weeks before you go. If worry is building, tell your team.
If you lapse while away
You can plan perfectly, and still end up relapsing. Most people who stop for good have a lapse or relapse along the way.
A lapse is a drink or drug use after a stretch without.
A relapse is a return to regular use.
If you do have a drink, stop and leave the situation safely. Then get in touch with your support or treatment team. You decide whether to tell people, but telling your recovery worker helps them provide support.
Try not to read a lapse as proof you’ve got no willpower. People who see a lapse that way are more likely to keep drinking. There is a physical risk to relapse if you use drugs. After a stretch without, your body is no longer used to your old amount, and taking that amount again can cause an overdose.
“I contacted Castle Health [formerly CATCH] with a view to getting online support after a period in rehab. They recommended recovery coaching and arranged for me to meet my coach in person as the first of 10 meetings. I continued the coaching on Zoom as I live in France. I was very happy with my 10 sessions and feel I am in a good place to continue my recovery.”
Signs your holiday plans might benefit from extra support
It’s easier to ask for help planning your trip before you book than after. Extra support can help if any of these sound like you.
- The logistics feel like too much to plan alone.
- You expect one situation, such as an airport or a family meal, to be hard.
- You’re unsure how you’ll handle someone offering you a drink.
- You haven’t decided who to travel with yet.
- You’re travelling with people who don’t know about your recovery.
Your treatment team or a peer group can help you think it through.
How Castle Health can support your planning
If you’ve had treatment at Castle Craig, continuing care picks up where residential or outpatient addiction treatment left off. Continuing care runs online through our partner services, and in-person in local clinics in the Netherlands and some UK locations.
If you’re still in treatment, your team will go through your continuing care plan with you later on, and you can bring up any trips then.
Recovery coaching for ongoing support can help you with planning a sober holiday. If a destination or a companion is on your mind, our team can talk it through with you.
Planning a sober holiday?
If you have any questions, never hesitate to reach out to the team.
If someone in your life is planning a sober holiday
It’s easy to worry about saying the wrong thing. Ask them what would be useful before you go, and agree how you’ll handle drinks when you’re out together. Ordering a soft drink when you’re with them takes some of the social pressure of the holiday off.
The decision to stay sober is theirs, but you can look out for them. Offer to be someone they can ring if the trip gets hard, and if they have a drink, try not to take it personally. Remind them what has worked before, and tell them you believe they can do it.
Supporting someone’s recovery can be tough, so set limits that protect you too, such as time apart each day.
At Castle Craig, family therapy is part of residential treatment, and families of people in treatment can join online workshops. Our page on support for family members navigating a loved one’s recovery covers it in more detail.
We’ve helped many people turn their lives around
Frequently asked questions about sober holidays
Where can I find alcohol-free retreats and resorts in Europe?
You can search for “alcohol recovery retreats” or “alcohol-free resorts”. Many people also search for “holidays for recovering alcoholics”. We never use the word alcoholic, but that search may give you good results on Google. Ask each option whether alcohol is on site or in the room. Ask what support is on hand if you need it while you’re there. Your treatment team can help you weigh up the answers.
Where can I find premium non-alcoholic drinks while travelling?
It depends on the country. In the UK, Drinkaware says most alcohol-free drinks contain 0.05% alcohol or less, but some contain up to 0.5%. Low alcohol drinks can contain up to 1.2%, and they aren’t suitable if you need to avoid alcohol completely. Ask yourself whether a drink that tastes like beer or wine helps you or tempts you.
Planning with confidence
Before you book a sober holiday:
- Write the plan down and share it with the people who support your recovery, including who you’ll ring if the trip gets hard.
- Decide what you’ll do at the times you expect to be hardest, such as the first evening.
- Save your support team’s number and a meeting link on your phone.
- Book a check-in with your team for when you’re home, and get in touch sooner if you want support.
