Swapping Alcohol for Chai Lattes

Why I decided to stop drinking alcohol at festivals (and beyond)

Picture this, you're travelling home after a festival. You're sticky. Probably from the beer and drinks that were poured over you over the weekend. You lost count of the number of drinks you consumed. You were lucky if you ate one meal a day. You slept a total of 3 hours in 3 days. Your head feels fuzzy. 5 days later you still feel the same as the come down / hangover / lack of food / lack of sleep is still casting it's shadows over you. You know the festival was bloody AMAZING. Everyone says it was amazing. But you can't remember most of it. You end up leaving work half way through the day with a trip to hospital because you think you have food poisoning when really you know it's from the substances consumed at the festival. You're questioning life. Promising yourself you won't drink alcohol again. Until the next festival / night out / event comes around..

Sound familiar? This was me 5 years ago. Consuming so many substances at festivals and events I could barely stand up. Don't get me wrong, I was having an amazing time, at the time, but the damage I was doing to my body would leave me feeling so weak I would have sleep paralysis and low mood for days. Wiping out the entire following week.

Fast forward to July 2023. Scanning my ticket at @westival entrance in a field on the south coast of Wales with my tent and a backpack full of festival clothes slung over my shoulder. The difference this time? I have an intention of spending the weekend alcohol-free.

I've been on the journey of reducing my alcohol intake for over two years. It started with a full 3 week detox on my Yoga Teacher Training, then continued as I was living in the jungle, and in remote parts of Central America where I had no access to, or interest in, drinking alcohol. I haven't been so strict with myself all of the time since then, I will have a wine or a cocktail now and again, but have been increasingly conscious as I started feeling clearer and more productive.

Hence my intentions for an alcohol-free fezzy in which I could continue to live life as a normal human being the following week. It did help that I was also guiding yoga classes every morning which meant early starts to stretch everyone out before boogying for the rest of the day.

My little monkey mind was telling me that I'm crazy? I can't go to a festival with no alcohol? But I kept reminding myself of the power I feel inside when I stand strong and confident in my knowledge that I don't need alcohol to party. So for my first full weekend festival in three years I committed to three good meals a day. I brought plant-powered energy drinks. I started my morning with ginger and lemon shots. Sipped on a hot chai latte (because typical UK it rained like CRAZY and was pretty cold at points). And had an almost entirely alcohol free weekend.

Did I have any worse of a time? No. In fact actually the opposite. I remembered everything, have no hangover, my bank balance is still healthy, my body feels the same if not better from all the dancing (aside from a husky voice).

If you've come back from one festival or event too many with the dreaded hanxiety (hungover anxiousness), and are thinking about reducing your alcohol intake the next time round, my top tip is to remember your WHY when you feel tempted to have a drink or people start giving you sh*t. Sooo it might be beneficial to start with figuring out why that why is if it isn't so clear to you. Also. Pack kombucha. It is a genuine life saver.

When you realise you can genuinely have just as much fun with natural highs it turns partying into a sustainable hobby that we can do for the next 50 years instead of slowly letting it eat away at us until the point of no return.

I know I still want to be going to festivals when I'm an old lady. Cutting out alcohol is just one stepping stone to dancing with my sisters and brothers for years to come.

If anyone else is also thinking about cutting alcohol out I would love to hear about your journey if you're comfortable sharing..

PS this is in absolutely no way a post telling you to stop drinking. If you love alcohol, go for it :) I'm just sharing my experiences and what I have found works for me.