Victoria Vanstone on Drinking Culture, Motherhood & Midlife
About this episode
Kate Baily interviews Victoria Vanstone about her journey through drinking culture, motherhood, and the challenges of midlife, emphasizing the transformative power of sobriety.
In this episode of Love Sober Podcast, Kate talks with Victoria Vanstone, founder of Sober Awkward, writer, podcaster and author of A Thousand Wasted Sundays. Victoria shares her journey from Reading pub culture and wild backpacking years (including blowing off part of her finger with a firework) through motherhood, anxiety and the moment she realised she could “step off the roundabout” and choose a sober life. Kate and Victoria explore people‑pleasing, self‑abandonment, ADHD and rejection sensitivity, perimenopause and midlife rage, and how sobriety becomes a messy, beautiful “welcome mat” back home to yourself. Growing up in Reading pub culture, wild backpacking years and a Millennium firework accident that blew off part of her finger – Victoria Vanstone always wore chaos as a badge of honour. Motherhood, anxiety and Sunday shame finally brought her to a quiet rock bottom: “I just can’t f*cking do this anymore.” We talk about people‑pleasing, self‑abandonment, ADHD and rejection sensitivity, perimenopause, and why sobriety is the most interesting thing she’s ever done. Plus: social pivots in midlife, sober retreats in Thailand, the chicken dance, and rediscovering childlike joy…
People in this episode
Host: Kate Baily
Guest: Victoria Vanstone
Topics covered
- drinking culture
- motherhood
- midlife
- sobriety
- anxiety
- ADHD
- self-improvement
Keywords
- sobriety
- motherhood
- midlife rage
- ADHD
- anxiety
- self-abandonment
- people-pleasing
- perimenopause
- sober retreats
- childlike joy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Sober Awkward
Books & works: A Thousand Wasted Sundays
More episodes of Love Sober Podcast
- Kintsugi for the Sober Journey: Embracing Imperfection & Healing
- Tiny Joy for When Life Feels Like a Lot
- Reparenting Explained with Cybele Botran
- Midlife Alchemy: How Sobriety Becomes Your Superpower
- Exploring the Sober Journey with Maggie Klaassens - The Sober Summit
- How to Fall in Love with Sober October Casey M Davidson
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