The Birth of Hooked Alcohol-Free Travel
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour. I’m your host, Jake White with Vive 18 and today we are hanging out with a new friend, Darcy. And Darcy is the founder of Hooked, alcohol-free travel. Darcy, thanks for being on the show today.
Well, thanks for having me Jake. I’m excited to be here. Of course, and it was just maybe a month ago that we were having Chipotle together out in Florida at the Amplify Sober Voices Conference and learning all about your program.
We were. It was a mighty cold day in Florida, in the sunny state of Florida. It was extremely cold, but yeah, no, it was so great to meet you and hear about what you’re doing and you are just making such a difference and I love following you.
Aw, thank you, Darcy. Same to you. And I was, I’m so excited for our listeners to hear about what you’re up to because, it’s alcohol-free travel. You caught my, like my ears talking about a senior trip, like a sober senior trip. And I just want you to tell us a little bit about you and how you came up with this idea.
Sure, I mean there’s a bit of a backstory to it. So if you don’t mind, I’m just going to circle back. So I opened Hooked Alcohol-Free Travel four years ago and my intention was to have it for people in my age demographic, like from 40 to 60 kind of years old and people traveling the world and doing whatever, right? That was the intention. So my son was graduating from high school and I had 14 people going to Italy on this tour and we were a two-week tour in Italy and my son was graduating from high school. And I’m like, you know what? I want my son to come. I want him to have an international experience. And I don’t care what anybody thinks that’s on this tour. I’m bringing my son. So I told my son that for his graduation present, I was giving him this trip to Italy and that he would be going with a bunch of alcohol-free travelers. And he’s like, super cool, mom. That’s fantastic. And then about a week later, he goes, mom, can I take my friend Josh?
And I was like, hmm, I don’t know about that. To be quite honest, Jake, I went into a little bit of shame and like, what’s Josh’s mom gonna think about me? Like I’m leading this alcohol-free lifestyle and I didn’t want that broadcasted to my son’s friends. I don’t know why I was embarrassed because I was, you know, that’s my own stuff that I was working through at the time.
But I was like Dayton, you know, Dayton, my son, I’m like, I don’t know if that’s really appropriate. And he’s like, mom, come on, come on, come on. I totally want Josh to come. Right. And I’m like, okay. So I swallowed my pride and I said to Josh’s mom, you know, I’m taking Dayton to Italy with a group of alcohol-free travelers and Dayton would really like Josh to come. And she didn’t ask where we were going. She knew it was Italy, but she didn’t ask like what cities we’re going to. She didn’t ask the departure date. She just simply said, where do I sign? Right? And I was like, wow, that is the quickest sale I’ve ever made in my life. I couldn’t believe it.
So much for my shame and whatever I was going through, right? She was just like, where do I sign? I’m like, okay, so that was done. And then about a week later, again, Dayton and Josh are coming up to me and they’re like, we would really like our friend Trevor to go. And it was the same thing. They didn’t ask the cities, they didn’t ask the day. It was just like, where do we sign? I was like, okay, there’s something to this, right? It’s these people were so excited to send their child away. But what I was embarrassed about was exactly why they wanted their child to go with us. They knew their child was going to be safe. They knew that they were going to have an international experience with people that were not going to get in trouble. They weren’t going to get a call from the jail cell saying that they’re… It was great. We integrated these three teens into our group and it was really fun. It was a perfect little trip.
That being said, I’ve morphed it and what I’m doing now is a dry grad program. So people can come with their teenager or they can choose to stay home and let their child go with the group. We had five teenagers in Thailand and three adults.
The Impact of Alcohol-Free Travel on Youth
Yeah, it was a small group, but the Thailand dry grad trip was strictly focused as a dry grad trip, right? There’s so many opportunities for, you you go and you build a school and it’s through a church and whatnot, right? But this is strictly secular. It’s just people that don’t drink and we’re taking them abroad to have crazy full sensory experiences.
Right. I love it because you don’t need alcohol to have a good time. this is such a good model to prove it to somebody. I love the fact that it grew organically too. Your son was like, yeah, well, I’ll go, but can I bring a friend? Which is so natural, right? But then for them to say, we want to bring somebody else and the parents to be so on board with it. I also love the fact that you are a little insecure about it and that those, those insecurities were completely squashed. the funny thing about the pressure or that voice inside our head that’s totally wrong telling us that we’re, you know, we’re not good enough or we’re the weird or the odd ones. It’s like no one else is thinking that. And it’s so refreshing to hear your story end that way of they completely trusted you because this is a safer place or a safer way for my student to travel.
Exactly, right? Exactly. I had a mom, I was booking just a normal trip for her and her family because you know travels my my occupation and I was telling her because she has a child that’s about to graduate this year about my dry grad program and she said to me she goes you know Darcy that is so cool you’re teaching these kids how to have fun and I was like whoa like mic drop right like Yeah, I mean you do that all the time going to the schools and speaking in gyms and talking to so many youth about having fun without alcohol, but this is on an international scale and going abroad can be really quite scary, right?
And when people are scared, they might go to a vice to calm that fear and they might be attracting people that they wouldn’t necessarily want to attract and they might not be the safest people, right? But when you remove that element that you’re traveling with a group of people that that’s just not even on the table, it’s just not on the table, then you’re organically just having amazing what I call full sensory experiences in these destinations.
I love that. And that’s the funny thing is like the people that have chosen to use at whatever time in their life, if they do, they’re either looking to dull their senses or heighten their senses. But anything a drug can do, your body can do anyway. Like our body and brains are such miracles. So it’s releasing the same chemicals, but it is at different levels and everything. So I love what you said. It’s like you’re teaching them to have fun because when we go and speak, they’re able to live vicariously through a story and they can relate to it.
What’s really cool about hooked alcohol-free travel is you’re allowing them to learn it through their own experience and creating their own story. And that moment when they were so scared to get on a plane for the first time, when they were so scared in Thailand to walk up to an elephant and touch its trunk, those are life-changing experiences because they were so scared, they were so emotional, and they learned, I can do it. So the amount of confidence they come home with is probably just completely life-changing.
Oh, geez, Jake, I could talk about, she’s given me permission to talk about it because in Thailand in 2025, this girl, Lily, was on our trip. And honestly, I was questioning myself day one. like, maybe I’ve made a mistake with this whole dry grad program because she was.
And again, she’s given me permission to talk about it. She was so upset. She was she was crying. She didn’t want to get on the plane. She almost didn’t get on the plane. When we got to Thailand, she had her passport and like the immigration officer border person. She she kind of chucked it like aggressively at the border guy. And I was like, my goodness.
You don’t want to make them mad. And she was talking to her boyfriend the whole time and her dad and she was constantly on her phone. And I’m like, okay, so do I tell her like, so that’s learning for me, right? Like, okay, we can’t be on our devices that much, maybe 20 minutes a day type of thing. But and she did let that go. But It was what I was experiencing at the beginning, like, I don’t know about this. I don’t know about this. And she was afraid to go to the elephant sanctuary. She was like, maybe I won’t do that portion. Maybe I’ll just fly home early. She didn’t want to get in the water because even though she was a lifeguard, but that’s a pool. She didn’t want to be in the water with things that were moving and had living organisms in it, right?
Day three, she was rock climbing. She was having the time of her life. She was making testimonials on her phone. She was like doing you TikToks and stuff and teaching me how to do TikToks. She was jumping in the water and swimming with the sea turtles. She, at the end of the elephant sanctuary that she didn’t want to be at, she wanted to sign up and volunteer by herself for the following year for two months. Like, he was, I actually just got goosebumps telling that story.
She had this like absolutely life-changing sequence of events that took place, right? And she attributes a lot of that to the program, just the dry grad program that she was forced to go away. And she made these decisions and had these experiences and you know, it’s completely changed her rooting in life.
Yeah, that’s it. That’s an experience that will completely change the trajectory. what’s, my gosh. So in the beginning, you were literally thinking, I should not have brought her. She’s not going to have any fun. She’s going to stay on her phone. She’s going to complain the whole time. And because she had no other choice, right? She grew. She grew from it. That’s amazing Yeah, and that’s what she said. She’s like, well, I just kind of had to give it up because what was I going to do? was in Thailand, right?
Yeah, that’s incredible. That’s so cool. And you have awesome stories from that trip. Are those videos on your website? Well, we have clips all on Instagram and whatnot. And then I did do a podcast with the teens speaking to their experience, which was kind of cool. Yeah. Yeah.
That’s what it was. Yeah. I’ll get that clip from you because I think you sent it to me and I’ll link it here too, in case you want to dig into that. it’s so fun to live vicariously through them talking about the trip and seeing their faces light up when they talk about getting really interested in elephants and turtles and stuff like that and different adventures like zip lining or things like that. Yeah, yeah, can, I’ll send you some other good stuff and you can just kind of choose what little tidbits and gems that you want and yeah. Yeah, that’s great. what’s, tell us about the program. Like year after year, you pick new locations. If there’s a good one, do you go there again? How do you view what’s happening in the future for this?
Creating Safe and Memorable Experiences
Okay, so like I said, Italy was a by accident and then Thailand was on purpose. It was intentional, right? The Thailand itinerary, when I think about it, just, I mean, I’ve been in travel for over 20 years, but when I think of that itinerary, it’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect. We did the rock climbing, we did the cooking lessons, we did the bioluminescence, which is just a fun word to say. I love saying it.
I’ll luminescence. We did the snorkeling. We did the hiking. We did the food tour in tuk-tuks like these neon tuk-tuks around Thailand. And then we had the elephant sanctuary for two weeks. And two weeks is a perfect portion of time too. The only thing that I did change, excuse me, is we’re doing the elephant sanctuary first because it is, I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit grueling, right? You’re there and don’t forget, this is a life-changing trip. So if I’m saying some things that are like, I mean, it’s all for a reason and it is amazing. But you’re on the elephant timetable. So when they wake up, they wanna be fed at six o’clock in the morning the accommodation is a bit grueling. You have like a mosquito net. There’s no air conditioning. We’re there in summer. We’re there in Thailand heat. They do have fans. And it was like a shared bathroom situate, like a fancy campsite, right? And then the eating area was all under a big tent and the food was delicious.
But what I was saying was about the hours. You’re literally up at six and you’re working till six. And we did crazy things like the Mahuts, a Mahut is the elephant trainer or elephant companion basically, right? And they would go out and they would chop down with machetes these banana trees, which are thick trees, okay? And we would have to carry these things on our shoulders and fill up the lolly and then take these banana trees back and peel them, make them more edible, arrangements for the elephants.
Yeah, it was heavy duty work. And this one elephant, bless its heart, was afraid of seeing things that were moving in water. So there’s 21 elephants in total. This one elephant was afraid of things moving in water. So we literally had to clear out the lily pads. So lily pads, James are like rooted to the bottom of the pond. Okay. So it’s not just like scraping up. Like you gotta pull these suckers. So we literally cleaned a lake. So we were cleaning lakes. We had the banana trees. We were making food, bathing the elephants, walking the elephants, and definitely cleaning up their poop. There was a lot of cleaning up poop. But, It’s not like a, you’re not riding elephants for sure because I these elephants have been written in the past and they have the hook marks to prove it.
These are abused elephants and they’re just spending their final years in a loving, caring environment and yeah, but like I said, that was kind of grueling and we did that at the end last year. So we did the snorkeling, the cooking lessons, the rock climbing, all that fun stuff at the beginning and then ended with the elephant sanctuary. So we’re going to reverse it. Like let’s start with the hard part so that you have that like, oh, I’m going to go snorkeling and be in the sunshine when I’m done. Right. So just reversing the itinerary.
The Thailand itinerary will be offered annually because it is an absolutely perfect itinerary and we might row different ones out here and there. I know my I have four boys crazy I know but my next son that’s graduating he really wants to do Spain so I’ll offer the dry grad program in Thailand and then I’m gonna put something together for Spain for him and and market it and see who wants to join him because I know a lot of his friends want to travel with him from his particular school but of course you know anybody from any school worldwide really can join us yeah.
Yeah. Well, I’m so excited. Emily and I invited ourselves, but the dates didn’t line up this year. So next year, we are definitely hoping to join y’all on that trip. It would be so fun. And I’ll be making an invite, of course, our audience having youth who are drug and alcohol free that are looking for life-changing experiences. mean, this is such a good opportunity. And why I wanted you on the show is like, everybody should know about this opportunity. It’s so cool.
And I hope that you have hundreds of students and you have to recruit different tour guides and volunteers to help you manage how big this program can be. It’s just so exciting.
Yes, well thank you. That’s my dream and like to have you there and experience it. my gosh and to add that to your program or your speech when you’re in front of the kids. I mean I think that will just add value to what you have too. Like you can do this internationally you guys.
Yes. my gosh. That, yeah, it’s, we’re so, so pumped for it. I want to, like you, I want to ask you personally, what’s the most rewarding thing for you? Cause it is a lot of planning and I’m not a planner. like, maybe that’s part of your personality, but, you have to be the one to manage all this and do all this and you’ve been practicing for a long time because you’ve been in the travel industry, but what’s been the most rewarding thing for you of, of planning this kind of event most rewarding is seeing it all come together. But it’s the after. It’s the after Jake. When you’ve come home and you’ve had this glorious experience, there’s actually a bit of a let down because every high has to be followed by a low, right?
So when you come home, it’s a little bit like, I had such a good time and now I’m back home. But then you balance out as we always do. And when that balance out period happens and you’re reflecting and like, It’s the reflection. It’s the reflection. It’s going through the pictures. Like I can’t go through the pictures without bringing myself to tears. Like every single time I’m like, my gosh, when so and so did this and so on. Well, that cooking lesson was amazing. I can’t believe we learned how to do that. I was seeing like Lily get to the top of that wall and how proud she was of herself when she finished that that climb. Like, yeah, it’s the after. It’s the reflection and hearing them talk, my goodness, and their gratitude, that’s what’s in it for me personally, right?
That’s so good. You’re the right person to lead that trip, Darcy. To have a figure like you to enjoy the experience with, it’s so cool. Well, thank you. I’m always present to bringing on something that engages all your senses because when we engage all our senses at the same time, that’s when those overwhelmed feelings come. it’s like, goodness, I can’t believe this euphoric, like natural high. I can’t believe this is happening to me. Right. And to get those in Thailand. my. Because Thailand is kind of known for full sensory in all the wrong ways.
So to do that and to see these youth walking the streets when all these options are laid out, you know, like booth after booth or store after store of not so healthy choices and for them to be thriving with healthy choices is pretty phenomenal. Yeah yeah, it’s incredible. Well, Darcy, let’s make sure everyone knows how they can sign up and share this with their high school graduates who are seniors this year. If they want to sign up and go to Thailand, where can they go?
Well, my website is the best way to go and it’s pretty well documented of the Top Bar Dry Grad program. And it’s hooked hyphen on hyphen travel. Okay, cool. love that. Hooked on travel with the hyphens in between. That’s so cool. Exactly, that’s right. You’re getting that natural dopamine, real experiences you don’t even want to escape from because they’re so good.
I love it too, right? It’s like hooked on the good stuff, right? Awesome. Darcy, well, this was incredible. I want to thank everybody who’s listening to our show because you’re doing life-saving work and please share this episode with somebody you think would enjoy a dry grad trip. And I know Darcy, you also do other vacations for people our age. So if you’re on the website and you see something that catches your eye, definitely let Darcy know. She’s a wonderful person to be with.
I could say that from experience, spending time in Orlando with her and hopefully going on the trip to Thailand next year. But for everyone watching, you’re doing life-saving work. Keep it up. You are incredible. And we’ll see you next Monday for another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour.
