Who is Gabriela Flax?

When I was a child, my mom joked that I went to sleep with my passport under my pillow. I’d stay up late, flashlight in hand, earmarking places in National Geographic magazine that I would one day visit. Unbeknownst to me, the country I was seemingly most drawn to – a place filled with fairy pools, cavernous glens, and unspoilt lochs— would become my home.

In September 2013, I stood on Scotland’s east Fife coast for the first time: the North Sea transformed from a glossy magazine picture to a place that would become my sanctuary. Scotland’s coastline taught me the power of healing in nature. While I would not start my sober journey until years later, my daily walk on the Fife Coastal Path (a walk I did nearly every day for four years of university!) taught me the importance of taking pause, reflecting, and processing my accomplishments and setbacks.

My time in Scotland and subsequent alcohol free journey have rendered a new life path that quite frankly, I could not be more excited about. Drawing from these experiences, I’m building a business focused on helping others engage with the power of alcohol free living, nature, and movement.

How did you become inspired by sober living?

In December 2021, I picked up the phone to call my grandmother. I’d been feeling out of alignment with my career, certain friendships, and my own relationship with self—and was tempering these feelings with a glass of red wine or two at the end of the day.

No one prepares you for the moment a loved one cannot remember your face. But there I was, smiling at a woman I’d known for twenty-six years as she smiled back at a stranger. While I had been aware of her Alzheimer’s diagnosis for some time, that moment shattered my belief that health was something solely considered when sick.

I resolved in that moment to do everything in my power to avoid this scene from happening in future. Except in this new story, it would be me who picked up the phone, unable to recognise my own granddaughter.

I dove headfirst into every podcast, book, and scientific journal to educate myself on the catalysts of neurodegenerative diseases. I was frustrated by what I learned, especially when two of the most commonly cited drivers were commonly accepted and even socially praised: stress and alcohol.

When I woke up on New Year’s Day 2022, I promised myself I would put my health first and share the power of elective sobriety with others. It’s been 629 days at the time of writing.

What is your favourite sober experience?

I woke up in Sydney, Australia on January 1, 2023, with a goofy smile on my face. I threw on my trainers at 5:30am and set off to watch the first sunrise of 2023 at Bondi Beach. Much like my time in Scotland, I sat in the sand and focused on what emotions were coming up. My commitment to myself in this practice is to always accept what my mind brought up, even if it was uncomfortable. This time, my smile returned as I welcomed an overwhelming sense of pride, excitement, integrity, and peace.

I’d gone a year without drinking and had never felt happier in my life than I did sitting in cold, wet sand watching the sun rise on a new year. As the sun peaked through, I wrote a short essay about that moment in my Notes app. I’ll be in Florida this coming New Year’s Day and plan to write another essay filled with new reflections and perspectives.

Maybe one day I’ll publish my “January 1 st ” monologues.

How do you connect with the outdoors?

I love this quote from Greg Child, “Somewhere between the bottom of the mountain and the summit is the mystery of why we climb.”

When I moved to London in 2017, I knew I needed a new way to connect with the outdoors. The city’s parks were a haven, but nature was calling me in a new way that would highlight my limits and inspire me to push beyond them. Around this time, my family moved to the small town of Jackson, Wyoming – best known as the home of Grand Teton National Park, hundreds of grizzly bears, and some killer skiing.

Being in the Grand Tetons feels like peace. Even when I’m above 10,000ft of elevation, heart rate raging above 170BPM on 15% grade trails, and feeling lightheaded from the thinning air, the stillness comforts me. Hiking in these conditions reinforces the confidence and tranquillity that sober living has provided, encouraging me to continue moving.

There is a sense of accomplishment when you reach the summit of a mountain. It’s the most common spot we take photos to show our friends and families, “Hey! We did it!”. And while important to celebrate those milestones, I’ve found it’s the moments on the trail, with the wind whistling by, an eagle soaring overhead, icy peaks peering down, and the next switchback just ahead, that I feel most connected to myself and the great outdoors. I crave the stillness of it all.

Where are you heading next?

Serendipitously, I am writing this post on the 7am LNER train from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh, Scotland. We’re about an hour outside of the city, somewhere between Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border. The North Sea has just come into view outside the right-side window:

To round out 2023, I’ll be visiting Portugal, Spain, and Palm Beach, Florida before new adventures in 2024.

Thanks for reading along & see you on the trail,

-Gabriela

You can follow Gabriela’s adventures here.