Booze Free in Music City

I get it. Nashville and not drinking alcohol don’t seem like they should belong in the same sentence. I mean, this city was literally built on Tennessee whiskey and strawberry wine. So how did I get here? How did I decide to start a blog, a social media account, and ultimately a community, for those who want to see the alcohol-free side of Nashville? Well, it was because I was tired of drinking and finally ready to put a stop to it.

Before I even moved to Nashville, in the Summer of 2021, I knew someone who was a musician here and never drank alcohol. I remember asking him about it, and he said he’s lived the majority of his adult life not drinking alcohol. He was a cool guy, and he said he went to Germany in high school and came back to the US and felt it was “lame” to put such an emphasis on alcohol and getting drunk. He felt he was cool enough to be at a party sans alcohol, so he wasn’t going to use it as a crutch when he was out with friends. And that was that. I didn’t think much of it, but now that I live here- I believe you run into it more and more. As of January 2025, I’ve met a lot of people who live in Nashville and don’t drink. Some because they had a problem with it, and others because they didn’t want to suffer from hangovers anymore.

Don’t get me wrong- Nashville is a fun city. It’s a city where there’s always something to do, and it’s a city where friends & family want to come visit you. And they want to be shown a good time while they’re here. You could say- the party never stops.

Call it post-Covid, or call it moving to a new city, but when I moved here I wanted to have a good time. Back in 2022, my full-time job got really easy. I’ve been at my company for quite a while, and our team was testing out a model where my role still got paid the same but I was able to hand over business at an earlier stage in our process. All of a sudden, part of my day freed up and I was able to be out and about. I would get off of work around 4 or 4:30, and go post up at a bar with friends. And that’s it. We would just drink. And every time I drank, I had no idea if I was going to be incapacitated and hulled up in bed all day, or somewhat okay and at least able to make it through the day with a dull headache. One time, years ago, a friend’s boyfriend asked me if I was allergic to alcohol. I don’t necessarily know. I’ve never been tested for anything like that, but I just know that I can’t drink as much as others. There was one time I had two glasses of wine at dinner, and ended up incapacitated and puking all day the next day.

As of Fall 2023, my job went back to being harder. My company ended the exploratory phase we were in, shuffled people around, and all of a sudden I had to learn an entirely new book of business. And I had to start from square one. Gone were the days of leaving in the early afternoon. I had work to do. I remember going out to my territory in November of 2023, and even though I was alone, I wanted to make sure I had a drink at any lunch or dinner I could. Albeit it was a mimosa or wine, but why did I feel like I needed that? I reflected a bit and realized that I had been drinking quite a bit since moving to Nashville. It was very rare that I had a night (or day) off from drinking. My body was craving mimosa bubbles. Here I was, able to expense my meals but paying money out of my own pocket to have drinks. Alone.

Fast forward to March of 2024, and I had the opportunity to go to Zurich, Switzerland, for a week for work. I was with a few other colleagues from other American offices, and we had a great time going to dinners and having drinks paid for by the company. And it was every night. And there was one day I had off, in the middle of the week, and one of my colleagues woke up and explored the city. Without me. Because I woke up with a crick in my neck and needed to find a masseuse asap. This has happened to me before while traveling abroad for work too. I guess the hotel pillows really jack up my neck, but it only happens when I’ve been drinking. So, there I was, trying to find any available massage therapist near our hotel- and a McDonald’s- and my colleague got to check out floral installations set up in different fountains around the city. I flew all the way to Switzerland to essentially sit in an office all day or be hulled up in my hotel room. Despite feeling shame that I missed out on exploring the city, I drank at the dinner we had on our final night together. Once again, alcohol was free. I didn’t want to turn down free.

I woke up the next morning and could barely get myself out of bed. I knew the absolute last second, I could remain laying down and I didn’t want to move until I absolutely had to. Then I had to drag myself and my suitcase out of my room. And then I had to schlep my stuff onto the train. And then I had to navigate the airport, and airport security, and get food and get to my gate. It was torture. All I wanted to do was go back to bed. Be in a bed. Sleeping. I sat by one person on the flight back to the US, and while I had the window seat, it was still torturous because I couldn’t just get up and go as I pleased. Luckily, I didn’t have to vomit, but I hated that this other passenger stood in the way of me and the bathroom. And don’t even get me started on ascending and descending. My bones were shivering from how much I wanted to crawl out of my skin when we landed.

After that ordeal, I knew I needed to take a break from alcohol. I’ve kinda done it before. But not really. And not in a city that’s known for partying. But I set a date- I wasn’t going to drink for the month of April. I made it through that whole month. I still went out with friends, but I told them I wasn’t drinking for 30 days. People were okay with it. I was doing okay with it. I didn’t want to stop.

Now, fast forward to January of 2025 and I’m currently 9 months alcohol-free. It’s a flash in the pan, but at the same time, I’ve never gone this long without drinking alcohol. And I have no desire to drink alcohol. I don’t ever want to feel the way I felt on that plane ever again. Throughout this blog, I will share personal stories about my own journey being alcohol-free, and I will also do features on local businesses and restaurants who are paving the way in Nashville’s non-alcoholic space. If you aren’t already, please make sure to follow me on Instagram, Tiktok and Threads.