My thoughts on drinking

Sharing this for visibility and permission.

Alcohol is a drug. Period. I treat it as such now, but it wasn’t always that way. Happy hours, special occasions, Fridays, Saturdays, client dinners, New Year’s, birthdays, Thanksgiving, holidays, conferences, parties, dinners—name it.

About five years ago, I decided to navigate every kind of “special occasion” without drinking.

No one could make me drink. No pressure, no FOMO, no “you’re not fun” comments—none of it worked. I legit don’t give a f***.

Why share this? Because, honestly, I like my friends more when they’re not drinking. And if you haven’t guessed, this isn’t a “don’t drink” post—it’s a “drink when you want to, or don’t” post.

What I’ve always hated about drinking was the routine:

“Oh, it’s Friday—let’s drink.”

“Oh, it’s steak—let’s pair it with wine.”

“Oh, so-and-so is coming over—we have to have a drink with them.”

Nah.

If this post does anything, I hope it gives you permission to do it your way.

I’ve always been mindful about not letting drinking become a routine—a cycle of hangovers or something bigger. That’s never been my goal.

By and large, I probably drink fewer than 30 times a year. Most of those occasions are random and unplanned. For some reason, Anthony Bourdain comes to mind—when he was on tour in Seattle, he said something like: “I’m not gluten-free, vegan, or anything else restrictive. If I’m with people or in a scene where the food is part of the experience, I’ll eat it.”

I apply that to drinking. If the setting feels right, I’ll have a martini, Manhattan, or tequila—it depends. This approach works for me.

Champagne in France? Yes.

A hidden mezcal bar in Oaxaca? Bring it on.

The perfect dive bar on a random night? Maybe.

Drinking because it’s a birthday? No.

Drinking because it’s Christmas Eve? No.

Let’s grab drinks? Sure, I’ll have sparkling water with a lemon—and yes, I eat the lemon too.

Here’s the greatest hack: work out early—5 a.m. or 6 a.m. You’ll almost never drink the night before. And when you fall out of that routine, you start to see if drinking has become an issue or not.

Ultimately, I’ve found an approach that works for me. No one can pressure me to drink. No one can say anything that will make me drink—and that’s okay.

The comic below perfectly captures how I think of alcohol: pick your poison “Ill have a martini”

“Ill have a martini”