Mindful Drinking Advent 23: Travel Tactics for a Clear Arrival

GET READY FOR YOUR BEST (ADULT) CHRISTMAS YET & GET YOUR FREE MINDFUL DRINKING ADVENT CALENDAR AT http://mindfuldrinkingadvent.com/

On Day Twenty-Three of the Mindful Drinking Advent, we focus on travel days — one of the most overlooked trigger points of Christmas. 

From packed trains and traffic jams to airport bars and trolley services, this episode explains why planning ahead matters if you want to arrive feeling energised rather than depleted. 

You’ll hear practical travel tactics, from bringing your own “journey juice” to setting expectations with hosts in advance, so the festivities don’t start with exhaustion before you’ve even unpacked.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

It's day 23 of our mindful drinking audio advent, and today we're talking about travel tactics. So yesterday we were looking at hosting at home, but today we're looking at those times when you might be traveling to somebody else's home. So travel days can be a testing time. We all know that travel, particularly with kids, is hard. They don't listen, perhaps they're running around, they don't move fast when you need them to move fast. Um, so it can be stressful, particularly if you're like me, and terrible at timekeeping. So you're always running late for things, no matter how hard I try. Um, and then especially at Christmas time when there are so many other people traveling as well. So whether you're driving and the motorways are jam-packed, uh the train stations are full, there's just so much to contend with. And there is always, particularly if you're going by public transport, uh, there's always a pub or duty-free shop or trolley service or or something like that on your way to your travel utility, whether it's by the train stations, whether it's on the train or on the plane itself, there's always somewhere that you can get yourself a drink. And the temptation is to think, well, sod it, travel is awful, and I have earned this, and maybe you have, but do you want to arrive at your destination already foggy, already feeling subpar? Or do you want to start your Christmas in this new location feeling rejuvenated and excited and ready to go? Drinking whilst traveling has particularly flying, particularly flying. I always found that when I drank alcohol on an aeroplane, it had some very strange effects on my body. I'm presuming it's something to do with the pressure and the compression. Uh, I'm sure someone out there can tell me. Please drop me an email and let me know. I'm fascinated as to know why I always felt nauseous as soon as I had alcohol on a plane. It it didn't stop me, but I always felt terrible. Um, but yeah, it does. It leaves you feeling tired and dehydrated and like you've spent all your energy before you've even got where you're going. And then you get off the plane or you get off the train, you get out of the car if you're sort of the passenger, and you're just like, oh, I feel sticky, I need to have a shower, I'm I need to go to sleep. And that's not really what you want. Traveling is like running a gauntlet in December, but you can get through and arrive with your intentions intact. You just need to plan. So bring your own drinks with you. If you know that you are going to be tempted to get the trolley service, to pop into MS at the train station, make sure you've got some low no and light, um, ready-to-drink drinks with you, whether those are beers, pre-made cocktails, uh, little mini wines or whatever it is. Make sure you've got those with you in your little cooler bag that you take on picnics. Yeah, those are great. Great for traveling. Um, protect your energy, stay hydrated. Um, when you get to your destination, take a moment before you just accept whatever drink is thrust into your hand by a well-meaning host, and be clear about what you want to have and how you want this time to go. Um, bringing your own journey juice for the actual travel is an easy win, as I've said. If you don't have anything with you to bring, maybe you've drunk all your drinks already. Um, railway stores and that sort of thing now have a really good selection, actually. So, right there, um, and it's just a matter of how well you think you can handle the temptation, because right there next to the pre-mixed uh JD and Cokes will be pre-mixed alcohol free gen and tonics or mojitos or bellinis. Um, so many brands now are in the low, no, and light space are producing sample sizes or individual serving sizes, and they're putting them into places like train stations and airports so that people can have them on the go because they know that that's where people are demanding them. Um, ask your family or ask the people who you're going to visit this Christmas to make sure they've ordered some low-no drinks for you. Don't feel awkward about doing this, okay? You are perfectly within your right, particularly if your friends or family that you're going to are full-strength drinkers themselves. If they are big drinkers, they are not going to know what to get you. They are not going to think to plan ahead and make sure that you've got a good selection of drinks that you can enjoy for the time that you're going to be staying with them. So, two things you can do here: one, tell them, give them a call before you're coming. You know, obviously give them a bit of notice and say, look, if you go to this place online or if you go into this supermarket, can you grab me a few of this, that, and the other, and then I'll be absolutely fine for Christmas. Or better still, your second option is to place your own order. Why not? Order yourself some drinks from Wise Bartender or Dry Drinker and have them delivered to wherever it is that you're going. Uh, obviously, if you're going international, that's a different thing. Um, you can order from whatever is the local alcohol-free online retailer where you are, and that they are prolific all over the place at the moment. Um, but order them, choose what you want, have them delivered to your friend's house so you don't have to travel with them yourself. And this does two things. One, it takes the pressure off the host. So they don't have to worry about getting you the wrong thing. Uh, you're picking exactly what you want. And two, it educates them. They will see what's uh available, they'll get the box, they'll open it up, and they'll be like, oh, okay, this is what they like. And next time you come, whether that's for Christmas or for summer or just for a weekend, they will have no excuse not to make sure they've got some of those amazing drinks ready for you. Behind today's door on the Mindful Advent, I've shared a few journey juice options. I heard that phrase a while ago and I really like it. I'm keeping it. Uh, some journey juice options that you can find at most uh railway station shops, everything from uh GTs to uh my hub, my husband's favorite travel alcohol-free lager, uh, to some cocktails in a can. So go and check those out. And where uh feasible, there is discounts that you can use, but obviously, if you're buying them from the uh physical shops, then you'll just have to pay whatever they charge you. That's it for today. I will see you tomorrow for day 24. That's Christmas Eve. Also happens to be my mum's birthday. Until tomorrow, cheers to a Christmas less intoxicated.