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Dry Dating is the latest relationship trend you need to try
If you are a singleton who is observing the honored tradition of Dry January, then why not take it one step further and give Dry Dating a try?�
Each year, following a debauch Christmas period, around 10% of Americans do a total 360 as the clock strikes 12 on New Years Eve. They abandon their self-declared sinful ways and dedicate themselves to an array of missions like working out more and spending more time with their politically incorrect grandparents. Unsurprisingly, only 9% of people stick to their resolutions.�
Dry January is the clear inspiration
It is said that around 14% of New Years resolutions relate to drinking less, but some go one step further and cut booze out completely. Despite fewer and fewer people taking part every year, Dry January has become an unofficial holiday alongside Veganuary and Galentines Day.�
Noble ideas are as infectious as dangerous ones, and in recent years the idea of Dry Dating has become popular with millennial demographics and younger. As the name suggests, it involves not drinking while on a date.
The science says it all
The reason behind drinking on a date is fairly self-explanatory. As adults, when social situations become stressful or awkward, we turn to alcohol. Recent studies suggested that 47% of people turned to boozy dates for that specific reason.
Choosing to not drink on a date, or drink non-alcoholic alternatives, means that youre typically entering into that situation with a more level head. Not only does this provide immeasurable safety benefits, it also means that you can focus fully on the person sitting opposite you.�
Arguably the biggest benefit is the fact you don’t wake up with a banging headache, or that deep sense of shame and anxiety that drinking usually kicks off.
People report positive experiences
Singletons partaking in Dry Dating are largely reporting minimal issues, although most acknowledged that breaking the initial routine was difficult.�
Dates were starting to become more about where and what wed drink, Nina, from the UK, told us, adding that the best deals on booze would usually dictate the location of the meet-up. I would wake up in the morning and have a hard time thinking about the date beyond being drunk and having fun.
The first properly sober date I went on was a very very different vibe. We didn’t go to a bar, we met for a chilled coffee and went for a walk. I also didnt want to go out with guys who would be drinking, just so we were on an equal platform.
“For one, I remembered everything in detail. I felt more alert, more present.”
But there were some drawbacks, as she explained: There was like an initial awkwardness that I didnt usually remember when drinking. Long silences and stumbling over words that you couldnt blame on alcohol intake.
I havent drank on a date since, and my friends have started doing it too, she concluded.
The more nervous I was. The more Id drink, someone else said. But Ive Ive found drinking zero per cent alcohol is just as calming.
