Booze Free in Music City

Hi, my name’s Malia, I don’t drink alcohol and every so often I lead bar crawls down Broadway. What kind of sentence is that? Anytime I tell people I started leading bar crawls last summer; they are shocked and amazed at how someone can be around drunk people in Downtown Nashville at night- when they are stone cold sober. I don’t know- I don’t want to say it’s a superpower (because it’s not saving lives, and it’s not my life’s calling or anything), but it’s something I can do.

              So, how did I even get into this? A friend had reached out saying she knew someone who had a Bar Crawl business in Las Vegas, NV, and they were extending into Nashville and needed someone for a one-time only gig leading a Bar Crawl down Broadway. My day job is working for a travel company, and I’ve been on work trips where I’m mixing and mingling with adults I don’t know and trying to be positive and professional for days on end with them. I’ve also seen how our Tour Directors guide people through various International cities, and strangely I thought, “huh- I could do that”.

              I found out about the opportunity to lead a bar crawl in June of last year, and at that time I was going on 3 months of no longer drinking alcohol. By that point I had already gone on an International work trip without drinking, but I remember thinking that I’d never be able to go out on Broadway ever again- because any time you’re out there dudes are trying to buy you drinks or it’s too hard being out in that area because everyone around you is drinking a ton of alcohol- and people get sloppy. When my friend reached out to me with the gig opportunity / favor to help a friend, I guess I felt like this opportunity could help me to bridge a gap- if I’m working out on Broadway, then it’s a way for me to still be out and social at night but I have the excuse of not being able to drink because I’m working. Plus, it’s the coolest feeling ever to know I’m making money instead of spending a crazy amount of money out on Broadway.

              After that one and done bar crawl gig, I thought it was fun but didn’t really think much of it after that. I was coming up on a month-long trip abroad, and things back in Nashville were the furthest thing from my mind. After a month of traveling around Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa, I got back in August 2024, and they reached out to see if I could do another one. I would say August, September and October were pretty consistent with Friday / Saturday gigs.

              So what is it like leading a bar crawl down Broadway? I really don’t think it’s that bad, but I make sure I come mentally prepared. I have to arrive at the meeting point a little before 9 pm, so if I’m scheduled to work, then I do my best to eat, rest a little bit, have some “me” time and/or do something with friends beforehand. If it’s a Friday, and I worked my regular job during the day, then chances are I tried to get at least a one-hour nap in, just so I can say I had some quiet time to myself before all the chaos starts. If it’s a Saturday, then there have been times I went out to dinner with friends and then started heading downtown closer to 8 o’clock. And how do I keep my energy levels up? I drink coffee while I’m getting ready. If I’m out before that, I try to order a non-alcoholic Espresso Martini, but either way I do something to help kickstart my desire to be awake.

              One thing I make sure I do when I’m walking to the Bar Crawl meeting point is put in ear plugs. Since my energy level is not at the same place as everyone else’s, Lord knows I don’t need my ears being blasted out from all of the loud music and people screaming their lungs out as they’re walking by. I feel the hardest part of the evening is always the initial walk down Broadway- here I just came from a quiet place and now I’m in an extremely loud area, and people are stopping in front of me and bumping into me. Once I make it to the meeting point, I generally have up to an hour of waiting for the guests to arrive. Going into this, I automatically thought I’d get non-stop bachelorette groups, but that’s not really the case. Sometimes they join us, but it’s a lot of birthday groups, families, bachelor groups, friends from all corners of the US reuniting and smaller groups joining to meet other people. Groups of men have always been super respectful. The only time a guest has made me slightly uncomfortable, was when he made a comment to his wife saying, “You don’t drink, you don’t go to Casinos, then what do you do here in Nashville?” That was truly the worst of it. During my first Bar Crawl, the primary guest of an all-male group told me that if anyone from his group made any advances at me, or made me feel uncomfortable, then he would give them the boot. So all in all, I’m always super safe and never put in a weird situation. I’ve only had one group that I felt weren’t the right fit for the Bar Crawl. I honestly didn’t stay with them for that long because they acted like a bunch of wet rags, and didn’t want to be at the types of establishments that Broadway has to offer. Other than that, people have been really cool- and if anything, it has been fun to see people celebrating being out with their friends and family, and you can tell they are really great people. I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone be overly dramatic, or ruin the group’s evening but if anything, it has been a joy to me to be around groups of good people who love and care for each other.

              Now here’s the big question, and I’m sure what everyone is here for- do I ever feel the pressure to drink? And here’s the thing- people do offer me drinks. They offer to buy them for me during the Crawl and even at our last bar when I am technically done or off the clock. I have never felt “pressured” to drink per se, but I just see it as people just trying to be nice. Especially by the end, we’ve bonded in a way, and they are celebrating so when they are buying a round of drinks a lot of people ask if I want one as well. I’m always honest and make sure I tell them I don’t drink and try as hard as I can to make sure it’s not weird or awkward. If I feel like I need to make an excuse, I tell them I’m driving home, or on the clock, or don’t want to make a bad impression in front of the security guards letting us in. Keep in mind, all those guys (the security guards) know I don’t drink, so I want to make sure they know I’m being mindful and respectful of their establishment. Going back to my first Bar Crawl, the group of men were awesome and at the last bar they asked me if they could buy me a drink as I was off-the-clock at that point. It was about 12:30 pm, and I told them I had to start heading home. That’s right- if it gets down to it, and I’m being offered drinks at the end of the night, I can just leave!

              Finally, the good news is that I’ve never had to take care of someone who drank too much and I’ve never had to deal with someone getting drugged. The bars we go to offer great drink deals, and people do drink a lot, but no one has gotten sick or out of hand. I will admit there was one time someone in a VIP area (not on the crawl) ran by me with their hand over their mouth and puke spewing out the sides as they were hauling ass to the bathroom (yes, a little bit of someone’s puke got on my pant leg) but that was the worst of it. I truly think this is a cool opportunity for someone in sobriety to still be out and social, but not have to be drinking. Obviously, this isn’t for everyone, and the person has to feel this would be a good fit for them. So, if you feel like this would be something of interest to you then definitely hit me up! My favorite part of all of it is meeting new people, being a safe space for them, and sharing my love of Nashville ❤