reaching out to sober groups when you're getting sober and how at first that can seem such an awful

thing to have to do with all these sober people. But in fact, it can really help you

on your sober journey. And we thought it was a really important thing to talk about. Yeah.

I've actually been asked by a few people about, you know, where can I find sober groups and

things like that. Yeah, it's usually where people start off, isn't it? It is. When you're questioning, when you're sober curious, you start off wondering what are the first steps and this is probably one of the first steps. We're actually going to cover this over two podcasts because the next one's going to be about your first sober social or step-by-step guide. So this is more of an introduction to that, I guess, Lucy, isn't it? And this is more about going out with other sober people, just a group of sober people. Whereas the next podcast we're going to talk about going out with people who are probably going to be drinking, say, at a wedding or some sort of event. Oh, they're the worse. Sometimes I don't know. I mean, what is worse? Is it worse going out when you've been a drinker for years and years and you've always hung around with people who are drinking? Is it harder to go out with a group of completely sober people? Yeah. To go out with a group of really pissed people. Yeah. But they're both things that, well, you don't have to find a sober group, but we feel there's a lot of benefit in it.

And for me, there was.

Yeah.

And it was kind of how we met as well.

So, shall we, shall we start?

Let's begin.

Let's go.

So if you've reached a stage like Vic and I had where alcohol was a hugely significant part of your life. You might be wondering and worrying about what

happens to your social life when you quit and going out no longer means getting wasted.

I mean, are there really other sober people out there? And if so, what do they do and where are

they hiding? And if you hunt them down, will you be able to connect with them based on just one common goal?

Sobriety.

The thought of discovering and finding a place in this seemingly parallel universe can be overwhelming.

For us and for many, the worry of finding kindred sober spirits, excuse the pun,

is yet another excuse to stick to the comfort of old mates and old habits. Oh yeah, that's a

comfy place. Old mates and old habits, isn't it? Bloody out down the pub. It's in a cozy corner

with a fire on a couple of pints. Yeah. Give us a stellar. Trigger warning. What we want you to take away from our podcast today is to understand how we felt about finding Soma communities while we were still drinking and how we got over this mindset and eventually reached out for support from them. We'd like to share with you the kind of

spaces we found and how they helped us in the hope of inspiring you to find similar spaces

...