THE SOLO TRAVELLER
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The Alcohol Divide – A Health and Wellbeing Series
The Alcohol Divide
A Health and Wellbeing Series
Sacrifice to Bacchus. Oil on canvas by Massimo Stanzione, c. 1634.
Alcohol has long occupied a familiar place in travel, woven through celebration, hospitality, ritual, escape, and the stories we tell about being away from home. But the conversation around drinking is beginning to shift. Across generations and cultures, people are rethinking habits and approaching alcohol with a different kind of awareness. This series explores that changing relationship through the lens of solo travel, not as a case for abstinence or indulgence, but as a way of understanding how we move through unfamiliar places, social expectations, and informed moments of choice.
Why this matters to us at The Solo Traveller
It matters because travel often changes the way we see our routines, including the ones we rarely stop to examine. For solo travellers especially, alcohol consumption can take on a different shape – untethered from familiar settings, social patterns, and the expectations of others. The experience can be freeing, social, celebratory, uncomfortable, risky, reflective, or habitual, sometimes all at once. Exploring this space is not about judgement or prescription, but about paying closer attention to the role alcohol plays in how we safely connect, celebrate, cope, and experience the world around us.
Alcohol consumption is increasingly shifting from habit to consideration. From changing health evidence and generational attitudes to questions of confidence, safety and social connection, this opening piece in The Alcohol Divide explores the evolving conversation around drinking.
By Geoffrey Williams | 2 May 2026
Aaron Milne is a Winemaker for Edenvale Wines who has spent more than a decade working in dealcoholised wine. He is one of a very small number of people globally who has built and operated advanced dealcoholisation systems, giving him a rare perspective on the technical, commercial, and cultural realities shaping the future of no- or low-alcohol wines.
A Q&A with Aaron Milne | 2 May 2026
Mindful drinking is reshaping the way many people approach socialising, travel, and experiences traditionally centred around alcohol. Ange Chappel, Founder of Mind the Sip, shares her insights about the growing shift towards moderation, awareness, and participation without pressure, and why connection often has far less to do with alcohol than people assume.
A Q&A with Ange Chappel, Founder of Mind the Sip | 4 May 2026
As alcohol-free drinking continues to grow, wineries and hospitality venues are being challenged to think differently about inclusion. Dr Karina Joyce, Founder of NoLo Life, shares her experiences navigating wine culture as a non-drinker, the rise of alcohol-free alternatives, and why thoughtful hospitality should extend beyond those drinking alcohol.