Going on holiday without alcohol can feel terrifying – especially with family dynamics, all‑inclusive buffets, and airport Wetherspoons in the mix. In this episode, we unpack sober holidays with real stories, practical tools, and a lot of honesty (and laughter).

We talk about:

• First alcohol‑free holidays (city breaks, all‑inclusive, family trips)
• Common trigger points: airports, poolside, cocktail hour, family stress
• How to prep like a “sober holiday prepper” (visualisation + planning)
• Sensory toolkit: headphones, essential oils, movement, journaling
• Protecting your nervous system while you travel
• Non‑alcoholic “ritual swaps” for cocktail hour and welcome drinks
• Accountability on the go: sober buddies, messaging, photos-as-check‑ins
• When big emotions or grief hit on holiday – and why that’s not “failing”
• Reframing “holiday” back to “holy day” and making real memories

If you’re worried about staying alcohol‑free on holiday, you are not alone, and you don’t have to white‑knuckle it.

Grab a cuppa and let's chat.

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For support and community:

• Love Sober – lovesober.com
• Soberistas (UK)
• She Recovers and other sober communities online

In this episode of Love Sober Podcast, Kate talks with Victoria Vanstone, founder of Sober Awkward, writer, podcaster and author of A Thousand Wasted Sundays.

Victoria shares her journey from Reading pub culture and wild backpacking years (including blowing off part of her finger with a firework) through motherhood, anxiety and the moment she realised she could “step off the roundabout” and choose a sober life.

Kate and Victoria explore people‑pleasing, self‑abandonment, ADHD and rejection sensitivity, perimenopause and midlife rage, and how sobriety becomes a messy, beautiful “welcome mat” back home to yourself.

• Growing up in Reading pub culture, wild backpacking years and a Millennium firework accident that blew off part of her finger – Victoria Vanstone always wore chaos as a badge of honour.
• Motherhood, anxiety and Sunday shame finally brought her to a quiet rock bottom: “I just can’t f*cking do this anymore.”
• We talk about people‑pleasing, self‑abandonment, ADHD and rejection sensitivity, perimenopause, and why sobriety is the most interesting thing she’s ever done.
• Plus: social pivots in midlife, sober retreats in Thailand, the chicken dance, and rediscovering childlike joy without alcohol.
• Listen now on Love Sober Podcast and share with a sober or sober‑curious friend who needs this.

Links & Resources

Victoria Vanstone / Sober Awkward

• Website: [Sober Awkward] https://www.soberawkward.com/
• Podcast: https://www.soberawkward.com/
• Books: 1000 Wasted Sundays and Mumming: A Year of Trying and Failing to Be a Better Parent – [Book links]https://www.soberawkward.com/
• Thailand sober retreats with Sober Dave: https://www.soberawkward.com/

Kate & Love Sober

• Love Sober website & programs: [Love Sober] https://www.lovesober.com/
• Group program: Love Your Sober Summer – 6‑week group coaching for navigating summer triggers, holidays, nervous system regulation and boundaries: [Love Your Sober Summer] https://www.lovesober.com/love-your-sober-summer

Books & ideas mentioned

• The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober – Catherine Gray
• Hagitude – Sharon Blackie
• Women Who Run with the Wolves – Clarissa Pinkola Estés
• Creatrix / Burning Woman – Lucy H. Pearce
• ADHD & Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)

https://www.soberawkward.com/

Vic's new book 'Mumming - A Year of Trying to be a Better Parent' is out now!

Grab a cuppa and let's chat x

What if the cracks aren’t something to hide?

In this episode of the Love Sober Podcast, we explore the Japanese art of kintsugi — the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold — as a powerful metaphor for the sober journey, midlife healing, and self-compassion.

Together, we work with a kintsugi kit and reflect on the principles of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. We talk honestly about what happens when life doesn’t go to plan, when coping mechanisms stop working, and how recovery asks us to show up gently, consistently, and truthfully — one day at a time.

Rather than striving for perfection or a “fixed” version of ourselves, this conversation explores the possibility that healing might actually deepen us. That the places we’ve cracked open can become places of wisdom, softness, creativity, and connection.

In this episode we explore:

• What kintsugi teaches us about sobriety and recovery
• The emotional weight of perfectionism in midlife
• Why self-compassion matters more than self-criticism
• Impermanence, nervous systems, and learning to stay present
• How alcohol-free living creates space for repair and reconnection
• The beauty of becoming whole — not flawless
• Small daily practices that help us keep showing up for ourselves

This is a gentle, reflective conversation for anyone navigating sobriety, burnout, perimenopause, emotional healing, or simply the messy beauty of being human.

You do not have to become perfect to begin again.

Where in your life are you being invited to soften rather than fix?

• Kintsugi: the Japanese art of repairing pottery with gold
• Self-compassion in recovery
• Nervous system regulation and embodied healing
• Midlife sobriety and identity shifts

If this episode resonated, share it with a friend or leave a review — it helps more women find the conversation.

Let's grab a cuppa and chat

Kate & Helen x