Let me backtrack to where it all began… 

I had a “normal” childhood. I went on all-inclusive holidays and a caravan. My parents often had people over for drinks, or we would go to theirs. I learnt from an early age that alcohol meant fun.

My parents divorced when I was 13, and I saw it as an opportunity to rebel and start drinking. I began raiding the drinking cupboard, filling a water bottle with a concoction of Martini, banana liquor, Pims, vodka, St Lucia Rum, Malibu, Gin, and anything that was there. I would take it to the school field to share. This is when I realised you can use alcohol to numb emotional pain temporarily.

I had an older cousin who lent me her ID, and some nights, we stayed out until the next morning to get the first train back. In my university days, I also worked in hospitality, so every day felt like the weekend!

I finished Uni and celebrated with a one-way flight to Ibiza. I come home to a graduate job, my first Mon - Fri, 9-5. I would survive the week, then by Thursday, all I could think about was using the weekend to go and get pissed.

I booked another one-way flight to Australia in October 2018. I drank every day for the first three months! And in my first two years, on average, five days. I loved being known as the ‘party girl’’. I lived to receive messages from people on Instagram telling me they looked forward to my IG stories on the weekend, ah cringe!

I went on a tourist visa for seven months in October 2020, waiting to be accepted to go on my partner’s visa. I knew with not having income coming in, I was forced to cut down on my drinking. I got my drinking down to two days a week. I began being consistent during the week, but everything I had worked on went out the window after a weekend.

I started to set myself alcohol-free challenges: 30 days, six weeks and eight weeks. I knew how much more I liked myself and life being alcohol-free, but I didn’t think it was possible to give it up for good; I thought that would be so boring! On the outside, I looked like I was thriving, but on the inside, I was only surviving, riddled with anxiety, not achieving goals, and on a rollercoaster journey with my health. That’s when I got sober curious in 2022 and started listening to podcasts and reading books.

And after a drunken family wedding holiday in Dubai, in February 2023, I realised that alcohol took away more than it gave. I spent mornings unable to get out of bed and not with family or sightseeing. And the time I was with family, I don’t remember as I blacked out. On that flight back to Sydney, I decided to do a 6-month alcohol-free experiment, where I discovered how much happier, healthier and wealthier I am. I’ve completed the 6-month experiment and have no desire to drink again.