SOBER CURIOUS?
THE FIRST TIME I remember hearing about the concept of not drinking in July, I was with my basketball mates after a pick-up game in an area of my home city known for its night-life. This was a winter evening more than a decade ago, over a table of chicken sandwiches. One guy, who worked in commodities, was explaining to a group of us how, after the excesses he tends to fall prey to during the colder months, he liked to take a month off drinking. To detox. To refresh. To healthify. It felt like a strange secret from a better, more progressive place – particularly coming out in this post-game huddle. That night, the sweaty dude was just full of rarefied wisdom. And I was curious.
Nowadays, the concept of a sober July doesn’t feel so exotic. In fact, as known by its pop-lexicon title, “Dry July”, it’s practically a brand. According to the Dry July Foundation, in 2019 more than 43,000 people signed up to go grog-free. And, chances are,
