camping

I am a member of a few sober curious groups on Facebook and there are many posts from people trying to fulfill their sober curiosity but who are dreading upcoming camping trips that they strongly suspect will be filled with pressure to drink alcohol.

I know this scenario well. It is so tough to consider gathering around a campfire without a mug of whiskey in my hand. So hard to enjoy s’mores without a good slug of red wine. Unimaginable to enjoy camping with kids, in general, without a cold, relaxing beer or two.

Drunk camping

And yet, drinking and camping has ended in mishaps for me before. Or more specifically, an eye infection. After having plenty of whiskey by the campfire, binge drinking fueled by the yummy pairing of booze and toasted marshmallows, I was left putting my youngest kiddo to bed whilst my eldest got a little more time to play with camp friends. I had planned to do my Mum thing and then carry on by the campfire. However, drunksie me = sleepy me.

I passed out on the blow-up bed with my little guy and didn’t wake up again until waaaay into the wee hours of the morning, by which time my filthy campfire face was swollen and my eyes were red raw as I had fallen asleep with my contact lenses in. I dragged my ass out of the tent and into the camp facilities to wash my hands, remove my contact lenses and clean myself up. Back to bed on a wobbly blow up mattress, I tossed and turned until an early awakening by the birds/kids and then spent the rest of the trip with my head hung down in shame and shatters over being a not-so-classy camper with red raw infected eyes.

Sober Furious Camping

Camp Curiosity

We have recently transitioned from being tent campers to being travel trailer glampers and with that comes many opportunities to amp up the sober curiosity. A great way to scratch that sober itch is to lean into mocktails, kombuchas and non-alcoholic beers while away on a trip. Our little travel trailer is kitted out with some decent travel mugs and acrylic glassware plus a mini fridge freezer. We have ice on tap, a place to chill cold drinks and decent vessels to serve them in. What’s more, I have gotten savvy to the power of pairing good food with great non-alcoholic drinks. One of my weird joys in life is prepping the snacks and food for the camping trip and this last trip I included a chocolate croissants, cape cod trail mix, veggie straws, lemon peppercorn dip, baby carrots, hot chocolate, popcorn, kettle chips, tortellini, kale salad and a pre-prepared chicken curry and rice. From a drinkie poo perspective, I packed plenty of LaCroix® and GTs Kombucha Sacred Life so I could prepare a Blue No More mocktail. I also included a delicious Blackberry and Mint Jun Kombucha from the fabulous Wild Tonic. But the hero of the trip was limited edition Tucker’s West Coast IPA from Athletic Brewing Co. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am somewhat obsessed with Athletic’s line up of fabulous non-alcoholic beers, and this IPA holds no punches. It surprised the heck out of me at first sip and continued to delight as I made my way through a six-pack. This beer is part of Athletic’s Pilot Program, and I am not entirely sure what that means except I hope it doesn’t mean it goes away any time soon because this bad boy is a genuine game changer.

Tucker’s is true to the West Coast style IPA that inspired it. It has a nice balance of citrus, pine, and tropical fruit notes. This brew has enough malt character to hold up the hops, while not overpowering them. 

Athletic brewing company

Have a great glamp! 🏕