My Top 7 Things To Do Since I Stopped Drinking

I’ll be honest, I was a bit scared when I decided to cut out alcohol. Not of the drinking part. Of everything around it. Nights out. Dinners. Weekend parties. Weddings. Vacations (especially the all-inclusive ones!). Just a drink with my girl on a Friday night. So much of my social life had a glass in it, and I had no idea what those nights would look like without one.

And yeah, not drinking means going out less. But it doesn’t mean staying home doing nothing! Isolating yourself is the WORST thing you can do. I want a full life, with people around me and things to look forward to. It took me a while to figure that out, and I’m still building it, but I’m learning that the answer isn’t less life, it’s a different kind. So here’s my top 7 of what I do now.

1. Playing sports with friends

I have a lot of natural energy, and for years a good part of it went into late nights. Now it goes into sports, and doing them with friends changes everything. You still get the laughs, the trash talk and the competition, and you can be as intense as you want without paying for it the next morning. I used to think I needed a few drinks to feel like I was really out with the guys. Turns out a good game and a good sweat do the job just fine.

2. Discover something new

I did a tea sommelier class lately, and in November I'm doing a cacao workshop. A while ago, signing up for something like that wouldn’t even have crossed my mind. Now I see it differently: it’s a night out where you actually come home with something. You learn, you taste, you talk to people you would never have met at a bar. And it’s the kind of night you remember the next day, which isn’t always the case with the other kind.

3. Game night

Didn’t see this one coming, but I’m hooked now! I’m competitive, so I take it seriously, and it’s the easiest way to have a full night with friends without going anywhere. Everyone sits around a table, there’s trash talk, there’s a lot of laughing, and nobody notices what’s in your glass because they’re too busy trying to win

4. Going to concerts and shows

I saw Jessie Reyez in Montreal recently and she was phenomenal, and I didn’t need a drink for any of it. Before, I would have had a couple at home first to get in the mood. This time the music did that job. I also went to a play with my mother-in-law, a stage version of a movie I love, and it was so good. You still get out of the house, just on your terms, and you leave when it ends, not when the bar closes.

5. Doing Brunch

The daytime version of a night out. Same friends, same conversations, same laughs, but it’s 11 a.m., the food is better and you still have your whole afternoon ahead of you. I used to love the spontaneity of a last-minute “let’s go” at 10 p.m. Brunch is a plan you make a week ahead, and honestly, I’ve learned to like that too

6. Cooking and Baking

This one surprised me. It slows me down in a good way, and I’m not someone who slows down easily. You make something with your hands, it takes the time it takes, and at the end you get to eat it, which is a pretty good deal. It’s also a good way to host: friends come over, there’s food on the table, and the evening has a shape without needing a bar

7. Taking me time

Spa night, a good book, a podcast, a walk with the dog. That’s not isolating, it’s recharging. I need it, honestly, because I always have something going, and these are the moments where I actually catch my breath. Then I’m back with my people with more energy. The difference is that I’m choosing it, not hiding.

Getting comfortable with going out less is one thing. Getting comfortable with being alone all the time is another, and I don’t want that one. A full life is people, new things, good food, a few laughs, and some time for yourself.

So no, not drinking doesn’t mean a smaller life. You just have to build it a little differently. Just don’t isolate yourself, that’s the worst.

SP.