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AIBU?

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Original poster

If you don't drink what do you do in the evenings on holidays?

93 replies

ParisDispatches · 01/09/2023 21:03

This is a genuine question. We don't do resort holidays so no all inclusive hotels or hotels with evening entertainment.

Most of our holidays are in cities - places like France / Italy.

By day we explore, sightsee etc & in the evenings we love to go for a glass of wine or aperitif, then dinner with wine. Sometimes beer for dh.

After dinner we stroll & find a nice looking place & then we sit & chat & watch the world go by with another glass of wine or two. It's my favourite way to spend an evening.

If you don't drink do you bother going on after dinner or do you go back to the hotel/ apartment?

We have the odd night when we're tired & might not stay out long after dinner but we're active & generally cover a lot of ground during the day.

OP posts:
Puffalicious · 01/09/2023 21:50

OrigamiOwls · 01/09/2023 21:07

Er...the same as you do but without alcohol?

Yup. Honestly FFS. Just like I'm going out tomorrow night to the pub to hear music, chat with my friends, have a non-alcoholic drink. You know, like a standard adult. This country's attitude to alcohol annoys me.more & more.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 01/09/2023 21:50

Wow, just wow. I didn't get the memo that us tee totalers can't enjoy views or conversations over a drink. I had better down my fruit shoot and get to bed quickly before mummy notices I'm awake after dark.

Butchyrestingface · 01/09/2023 21:52

OP hasn't been back probably pished Grin

Amethystanddiamonds · 01/09/2023 21:53

We indulge in our favourite pastime of judging people that are reliant on alcohol to have fun.

Or maybe we sit and do the same with a soft-drink or ice-cream. Or go for an evening swim. Or go to attractions open late. I mean if you don't drink there is also the opportunity to drive to other places!!

Maireas · 01/09/2023 21:57

Butchyrestingface · 01/09/2023 21:52

OP hasn't been back probably pished Grin

😂

Cantstaystuckforever · 01/09/2023 21:57

By day we explore, sightsee etc & in the evenings we love to go for a glass of wine or aperitif, then dinner with wine. Sometimes beer for dh.

After dinner we stroll & find a nice looking place & then we sit & chat & watch the world go by with another glass of wine or two.

Literally all those things can be done without alcohol. I do drink but lots of my family don't, and I don't drink alone so many of my holidays are alcohol free. Any loss of looseness in the evening is more than made up for by the extra spring in my step in the morning! Even if you don't like soft drinks or tea, are you massively dehydrated that you need so much fluid? If not, then I'd question why you can't imagine being happy wandering around chatting with your DH unless you've had the best part of a bottle of wine first.

PutinSmellsPassItOn · 01/09/2023 22:00

Play trivial pursuit......the last time it was one.of those kids and adult questions ones.......so.I switched my cards for kids ones. DP was nearly in tears of.frustration as I obliterated him, the most fun I've had in years 🤣🤣🤣

Takoneko · 01/09/2023 22:00

I do drink alcohol but don’t really drink very much on holidays. We tend to go to cities and generally do a lot of walking and night photography. DP likes city photography and architecture shots and I generally like street photography but that depends on where you are as the cultural and legal context around taking photos of strangers can really vary. If it’s not somewhere where street photography is the done thing, then I just wander around with a camera looking for something interesting. Sightseeing by night is actually my favourite part of most holidays. Seeing the sights by day and seeing them by night can be a totally different experience. We may have a drink or two over dinner but very rarely go and sit in a bar on holiday.

Bluejaybean · 01/09/2023 22:04

UNO?

DonnaBanana · 01/09/2023 22:05

Such a weird question, I like to spend time with my DH without being drunk.

TheWildRumpyPumpus · 01/09/2023 22:07

How can one not like ANY soft drinks? What did you drink as a young person before discovering alcohol?

mathanxiety · 01/09/2023 22:10

Same but with fizzy water. Or back to the accommodation to have a nice long shower, read a bit..

lljkk · 01/09/2023 22:10

Usually I'm at the 'home' base resting & planning the next day. I do very active holidays so takes a lot of planning one day to the next.

Maybe when I'm like 70 I'll wake up & be brain free all day about what to do next. But right now... I have a job where I sit still indoors most the day. On holiday I want to be outdoors in daylight moving most of the day time. It takes me a lot of planning to do that.

I like alcohol. I like socialising. But being on hols with other people means doing stuff they like to do which is probably what I find dull. So ... I go on hols by myself or have together-apart hols, where we have one shared base in evenings but I'm off doing my own thing all day.

Hooplahooping · 01/09/2023 22:11

One of the reasons that I started drinking less was because I find that alcohol creates the illusion of fun - and was stopping me from seeking out the activities etc that I truly loved.

I drink pretty rarely now, but I don’t go to bed any earlier. Or dance less. I just do it with people + in places that make me really happy.

I don’t speak for anyone but myself - but the less I drink, the more present I am in the moment, and the more comfortable my mornings (it wasn’t the hangovers that stopped me, it was the post wine anxiety!) when on holiday I still stay up late + listen to music + eat the snacks + stroll around people watching. I don’t think the shape of my holidays has changed at all

zero judgement on people who want to drink while they’re doing those things. But it’s not the only way to enjoy evening life!

Skybluecoat · 01/09/2023 22:11

This is such a weird thread @ParisDispatches. Are you for real?

My holidays are very much like yours. I do all the same things as you, but the only difference is that there’s no alcohol in my glass.

Did you think people who don’t drink alcohol don’t go out for dinner? Don’t go to bars? Don’t socialise?

It sounds like booze plays a HUGE role in your life if you can’t imagine something as ordinary as a meal out without it.

keffie12 · 01/09/2023 22:12

I do not drink. I haven't for 20 years. There are millions of us who don't drink. There are millions who drink who it would be better for everyone if they didn't.

I/we don't do anything different from what drinkers do, in the sense of activities. We have soft drinks.

What is different is no hangovers, knowing what I have done the next day and more money in my pocket

AnnaMagnani · 01/09/2023 22:12

I would do exactly the same things in the evening on holiday whether or not I was drinking alcohol

DH and I will go to a restaurant and have a leisurely meal and talk about all the sightseeing we have done/what we are doing tomorrow

At least one night we'll go to a concert

In Italy you can always go and find a gelato place

And if we have the energy we can go home and read our books

Cannotthinkofanametoday · 01/09/2023 22:13

I don’t drink alcohol or caffeine due to a heart murmur, but I still enjoy a relaxing holiday with a non gin G&T, a mocktail or a decaf coffee.

MouseMinge · 01/09/2023 22:13

I get where the OP is coming from. I don't drink much so if I'm on holiday and I'm not in the mood for alcohol, I eat my dinner silently, not looking at anyone in case my non-alcohol infused face damages their enjoyment of the wine they are quaffing, and then as soon as I'm finished I rush to bed where I lie on my back staring at the ceiling until the sweet relief of sleep comes to take me away.

Silvers11 · 01/09/2023 22:15

Floralnomad · 01/09/2023 21:20

We do the same as you but without alcohol , I find it a bit odd that you think that you need alcohol to watch the world go by .

Agree with this. We do have a drink sometimes - but we mostly buy soft drinks or water

maclen · 01/09/2023 22:17

thdskdrggs · 01/09/2023 21:08

We've decided to go sober for September and I'm wondering how to get through a Friday night, never mind a holiday 😂

This!! Grin

Skybluecoat · 01/09/2023 22:19

MouseMinge · 01/09/2023 22:13

I get where the OP is coming from. I don't drink much so if I'm on holiday and I'm not in the mood for alcohol, I eat my dinner silently, not looking at anyone in case my non-alcohol infused face damages their enjoyment of the wine they are quaffing, and then as soon as I'm finished I rush to bed where I lie on my back staring at the ceiling until the sweet relief of sleep comes to take me away.

Oh yes, that’s right 😂

NudeLouboutins · 01/09/2023 22:19

Have sex. Any other questions? 😋

Oh and watch the sunset occasionally, without a drink

Teder · 01/09/2023 22:20

MouseMinge · 01/09/2023 22:13

I get where the OP is coming from. I don't drink much so if I'm on holiday and I'm not in the mood for alcohol, I eat my dinner silently, not looking at anyone in case my non-alcohol infused face damages their enjoyment of the wine they are quaffing, and then as soon as I'm finished I rush to bed where I lie on my back staring at the ceiling until the sweet relief of sleep comes to take me away.

I giggled considerably. 😂

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 01/09/2023 22:27

I don't drink alcohol at all (except Amarretto in marzipan at Christmas that I make ) . I don;t like fizzy drinks either .

So orange juice or water . And coffee .
Especially coffee late at night.