Dry tripping: the sober travel trend, explained (with the real numbers)

Dry tripping is a holiday without alcohol. That's it. No secret rules, no membership card, no matching T-shirts. You travel, you eat well, you see things, you sleep, and the minibar stays a fridge for water. The phrase sounds like a new invention, but the idea is as old as the morning after. What is new is how many people are choosing it on purpose, and how quickly hotels have started to notice.

I run an alcohol-free month for up to four guests, so I am not neutral here. I will try to keep the tone even anyway: the trend is real, some of the headlines are bigger than the data, and a dry trip is not for every traveller or every trip.

Please read this first. If you drink heavily or every day, stopping suddenly can be dangerous. Talk to a doctor before you stop. The Quiet Month is not medical, not therapy and not rehab. More in our questions.

Where the name came from

The term was popularised by Expedia Group in its Unpack '24 travel trends report, published in late 2023 by Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. Expedia's own magazine credits the phrase to Melanie Fish, who tracks trends for the company's brands. The report listed "dry tripping" next to other trends with equally catchy names, which tells you something: travel companies like a label, because a label sells.

That does not make it fake. It just means the word is marketing, and the behaviour underneath it is what matters. People were taking sober holidays long before anyone named them. The name simply gave them a hashtag.

The numbers behind the trend

Here is what the original survey said, as reported by Hotels.com in its 2023 release and in UK press coverage of the same study (about 2,000 adults in the UK sample):

• More than 40% of travellers said they were likely to book a trip built around cutting out alcohol in the next year. (The survey used a word for it that I don't use on this site. You can guess which one.)
• About half said they would be interested in hotels with easy access to alcohol-free drinks.
• One in four said their top reason for drinking less on holiday was to stay in control and feel better, emotionally and physically.

In April 2026, Business Insider quoted Melanie Fish again: in a survey she cited, 74% of Gen Z travellers said they were interested in hotels offering alcohol-free options.

A word of caution. These are company surveys, and companies that sell hotel rooms have a reason to find new reasons to book hotel rooms. "Likely to book" is also not the same as "booked". I could not find the full method behind every figure, so read them as a sign of interest, not a head count.

The wider picture is clearer

Independent data backs up the direction, if not the exact size. In August 2025, Gallup reported that only 54% of US adults say they drink alcohol, the lowest figure in its nearly 90 years of asking. For the first time, a majority, 53%, said that drinking in moderation is bad for your health. Among adults under 35, the share who drink fell from 59% in 2023 to 50% in 2025.

Health bodies have shifted their tone too. In January 2023, the World Health Organization's European office said plainly that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health. You don't need to agree with every word of that to see why more people are asking, "Do I actually need a drink on holiday?"

Why people choose a dry trip

From what travellers say in these surveys, and what I hear when people write to me, the reasons are mostly practical:

• Mornings. A holiday has a fixed number of mornings. Losing two of them to a headache is a poor exchange rate.
• Money. Hotel bar prices are a hobby in themselves. Many people report the drinks bill was the biggest surprise on their last statement.
• Control. In a new place, with a new language, many people simply prefer to keep their wits. One in four in the Hotels.com survey said exactly that.
• Sleep. Alcohol tends to make sleep lighter and more broken in the second half of the night. My guide to sleep without alcohol covers what people often notice when they stop.
• Remembering it. You flew a long way. It seems a shame to be fuzzy about the best dinner of the trip.

What hotels are doing about it

Expedia's report described hotels stocking minibars with zero-proof options and offering mocktail-making sessions. Press coverage since then has listed hotels with their own alcohol-free spirits, full zero-proof drinks menus, and even whole hotels that serve no alcohol at all.

Two honest notes. First, a fancy mocktail can cost almost as much as a cocktail, so the money argument depends on what you order. Second, "alcohol-free" on a menu sometimes means "up to 0.5%". If you need zero, ask. (And if you don't, don't stress about it either.)

Dry tripping on the plane

The trip starts at the airport, and so does the temptation: the lounge, the free wine, the "well, I'm on holiday now". Here is a small piece of research worth knowing. In 2024, a team at the German Aerospace Center published a study in the journal Thorax. They had 48 healthy young adults sleep for four hours in a chamber set to the air pressure of a plane at cruising height, some after drinking the equivalent of two beers or two glasses of wine. Alcohol plus cabin pressure lowered the oxygen level in their blood and raised their heart rate for long periods during sleep. The authors suggested that limiting alcohol on long-haul flights should be discussed.

It was a small lab study, not a real flight. But if you needed a reason to order the sparkling water, there it is.

How to try dry tripping: three sizes

The weekend

The easiest place to start. Two nights somewhere close, a long walk, a good lunch, an early night. If the evenings feel odd, that is useful information, not a failure. A weekend shows you where the urge to drink lives: the sunset, the dinner, the hotel bar, the person you are with.

The week

A week is long enough for the novelty to wear off, which is the point. By day four, the "I'm not drinking" sentence stops feeling like an announcement. Pick a place with plenty to do in the evening that isn't drinking: walks, swims, night markets, a cinema, a long café dinner.

The month

This is the size I know best. A month is long enough to build a routine instead of a holiday, and to notice what you actually miss. It is also long enough that you need a plan for the evenings, real company and a reason that holds up on day 17. My guide to planning a month off alcohol goes through it step by step, and places that suit a sober month abroad covers how to choose a base.

Ten small rules that make a dry trip easier

1. Decide before you leave. "I'll see how I feel" is how most dry trips end on night two.
2. Tell your travel companions early, and keep it short. "I'm not drinking this trip" is a full sentence.
3. Have a go-to order. Sparkling water with lime, a non-alcoholic beer, fresh juice, mint tea. Saying it fast saves a long talk.
4. Plan the 6 pm to 9 pm slot. That is where the old habit waits. Book the sunset walk, the early dinner, the evening swim.
5. Eat properly. Hunger and tiredness make every bar look friendly. My keto travel food guide has simple ways to eat well anywhere.
6. Get up early once. The first dry morning in a new place, out walking while everyone else is asleep, sells the whole idea better than I can.
7. Skip the party districts. You can find calm in almost any country, but not on every street.
8. Watch the "free" drinks. Lounges, welcome glasses and minibars are designed to be easy. Make your choice once, at the start.
9. Don't preach. Your friend's gin is their business. The best advert for a dry trip is you, cheerful at breakfast.
10. If you slip, carry on. One drink does not cancel the trip. Tomorrow is still a dry day if you want it to be.

Who dry tripping suits, and who should think first

It suits people who are curious about drinking less, people who are tired of losing holiday mornings, and people who want a clear break to see how they feel. It also suits people who simply don't drink and are tired of being the odd one out.

It is not a plan for someone who drinks heavily every day and wants to stop suddenly abroad. That needs a doctor first, at home, before any trip. A holiday is a bad place to find out you needed medical help.

Dry tripping vs a sober retreat

Most people should try a dry weekend or week first. If the evenings are the hard part and you want a longer, quieter version with company, that is what The Quiet Month is for. My guide to alcohol-free holidays has more on choosing a trip.

Try it at home first, for free

You don't have to fly anywhere to test this. The free 7-day plan for a quiet week at home has walks, simple low-carb meals, short meditations and a printable checklist. The 31-day planner is a whole month on one page. If you'd like the week by email, join my occasional letters; one click to unsubscribe.

If you want the month version

1. Apply, then a free video call. No commitment on either side.
2. Country and city, told to you after the call and before you sign. I never publish where I am.
3. A written agreement with my full legal name, then a US$1,000 deposit by bank transfer or Western Union. It is part of the fee.
4. You book your own flat from the listing I send, then the balance is paid in two halves, on day 1 and day 15.

The minimum stay is one month, at US$10,000. I can't promise who you'll be at the end of a dry trip. I can promise good mornings, good food and company that isn't ordering another round.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Expedia Group newsroom: Introducing Unpack '24, the trends in travel from Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo (late 2023; dry tripping among the trends; hotels adding zero-proof minibars and mocktail sessions)
2. Expedia magazine: Travel trends, Unpack '24, dry tripping (term credited to Melanie Fish)
3. The Yorkshire Post: Four in 10 adults are looking to book a trip in the next year (Hotels.com study) (headline shortened; 2,000 adults; four in 10; half want easy alcohol-free drinks; one in four: stay in control)
4. Travel Noire (Brunno Braga, November 2023): dry tripping travel trend (Hotels.com figures; hotel examples)
5. Business Insider via AOL (April 2026): the vacation flex is waking up without a hangover (74% of Gen Z interested in hotels with alcohol-free options, cited by Melanie Fish)
6. Gallup (Lydia Saad, August 2025): drinking rate at new low as alcohol concerns surge (54% of US adults drink; 53% say moderate drinking is bad for health; under-35s 59% to 50%)
7. WHO Europe (January 2023): No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health
8. Elmenhorst et al. (2024), Thorax: moderate alcohol and hypobaric hypoxia on long-haul flights (48 healthy adults; lower blood oxygen and higher heart rate in sleep)
9. German Aerospace Center (DLR), June 2024: drinking alcohol on long-haul flights could affect sleeping passengers (plain-language summary of the study)

Prices and facts were checked on 23 October 2026. Prices change; always check the source before you book anything.