Recent Entries

• Sober Chiang Mai: 8 Things to Do After the Night Train

  by Jay Hon Aug 17

  I lived in Bangkok and Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่) for years, and have taken the night train between them many times. Everything in this article is something I truly love, and writing it has me itching to do it all again. You board the sleeper in Bangkok in the evening, and somewhere in the night the...
• Sober Bangkok: 7 Things to Do Before the Night Train

  by Jay Hon Aug 16

  I lived in Bangkok and Chiang Mai for years, and have taken the night train between them many times. Everything in this article is something I truly love, and writing it has me itching to do it all again. Bangkok has a reputation, and if you let it, the city will hand you a bucket of something neon...
• Sober Summer in Minneapolis: 8 Things to Do

  by Jay Hon Aug 7

  I lived in Minneapolis, and summer there quietly ruined me for everywhere else. It is a city built around water and long light, and almost none of what makes it great asks you to hold a drink. My favorite weekends there were free, or close to it, and I never once missed the bar. If you are sober...
• Things to Do in Nashville That Don't Involve Drinking: On and Off Broadway

  by Jay Hon Aug 6

  Broadway gets sold as one long party. Here's the version where you skip the drinking and have a better time anyway. Nashville gets sold as a party town, and if that's all you do, that's all you'll get. But take the drinking out and the thing underneath, the reason the city exists, is the music....
• 10 Tips for Sober and Sober-Curious Travel

  by Jay Hon Jul 8

  Sober travel isn't a niche anymore; it's one of the fastest-growing trends in tourism. Nearly half of Americans say they're trying to drink less, and the travel industry is chasing that shift: adventure operators are building entire itineraries around trekking, kayaking, and cultural immersion...
• Sober Summer in Philadelphia: 6 Things to Do

  by Jay Hon Jul 3

  Philadelphia doesn't get talked about as a sober travel destination, but I lived there, and it's one of my favorite cities in the country. It's a history city before it's anything else (you can't walk three blocks without passing something 250 years old), and that's part of what makes it such a good...
• 6 Things to Do in Tampa Bay as a Sober Couple

  by Jay Hon Jun 27

  Tampa Bay doesn't get nearly enough credit as a sober travel destination. I live here, and honestly, I'm still discovering things. If you're visiting (or you live here and haven't explored it properly), here's what I'd tell a sober couple to do with a few days in the area. 1. Pickleball at Dill...
• Bangkok to Luang Prabang the Slow Way, and Why I'm Finally Going

  by Jay Hon Jun 25

  I've taken the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai more times than I can count. For years that meant boarding at grand old Hua Lamphong, the century-old station in the middle of the city. These days the sleepers leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal instead; the station changed, but...
• The Chao Phraya River Taxi: My Favorite Day Trip from Bangkok

  by Jay Hon Jun 21

    This might be one of my favorite things to do in Bangkok, and I should know: I've done it more than a few times. Every time I had a visitor come see me, or just wanted to do something totally local, this was my go-to. The river taxis on the Chao Phraya are a great way to see the city from...
• The Articles That Changed How I Think About Sober Travel

  by Jay Hon Jun 21

    I've been traveling for a long time, and a few years back I made a decision to stay sober in life, and that included travel. For me the two had always gone together. Airport bars to kill time, local pubs as a way into a new city, hotel lobby bars where you end up talking to strangers at...