Why partying in more than one place doesn’t increase the FUN

You’re ready for a night on the town… a little eating, a little drinking, a little dancing – FUN, FUN, FUN.

To optimize your body chemistry, try to have ALL the FUN in one location.

Two plus location parties

The idea of two location parties is relatively new, but it is an idea that has caught on, so it is pretty common. So what is the deal ?

A two location party begins somewhere “NEUTRAL” – typically in a not so happening place. Someone’s garage, the park or even the car.

The point of the exercise is to get IN THE MOOD for the REAL party.

The definition of being IN THE MOOD

is to be relaxed enough to act seriously COOL
to feel a little invincible
to be genuinely happy to talk to friends and strangers
to be a little BUZZED, so you feel COOL

Mood making

The quickest way to get IN THE MOOD, is to embark on a little pre-partying alcohol consumption i.e. to enjoy a few alcoholic beverages, quick, quick.

The pre-drink / frontload

Potentially a smart move, especially if drinking at THE REAL PARTY is likely to be “challenging”. And it can be….

The two biggest challenges

Economics – happening locations charge more for a beer, than the local liquor store
Access – if you’re underage, buying a beer can be a major hassle.

As I said…… potentially a SMART MOVE – party optimization !

Hang on a minute, is it REALLY a smart move ?

A smashing good time

Maybe not.

It turns out, pre-party drinking, results in much more alcohol being consumed, typically double the amount ends up being consumed. And much more alcohol in, increases the chances you drink until you are “motherless” – which is never a health move.

This is the what Swiss researchers discovered when the tracked the drinking habits of 183 young adults (97 women and 86 men), in their early twenties.

Cell phone tag

The team used a fancy internet based cell phone technology (ICAT) to follow the PARTY.

Participants were texted regularly, over five consecutive weekends, to assess their current location and alcohol consumption levels.

7828 assessments were provided, which corresponded to 1441 “HAPPY” evenings.

Double the trouble

On evenings when the party began at one venue, before moving to the final location, participants averaged 7.1 drinks. This is a lot more than at one location bashes, where alcohol consumption was restricted to 4.2 drinks on average.

The extra alcohol consumption during two location revelry, resulted in significant more trouble, self-reported troubles included :

Hangovers – click here to learn how to use a little biology to avoid a hangover 295
Unplanned susbstance use
Blackouts
Unintended or unprotected sex
Injuries to themselves or someone else
Property vandalism

Party rules

Sorry to be a party pooper, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out, for better body chemistry you want to keep the number of drinks in an evening, on the low side.

Doubling your alcohol consumption – pretty much doubles your troubles.

This research suggests, one way to do this is to party in one location, something that is not that hard to do. Changing where you’re partying during a night, increases the odds that you’re end up having a little TOO MUCH alcohol.

PARTY SAFE. Party in one location.

Drinking Before Going to Licensed Premises: An Event-Level Analysis of Predrinking, Alcohol Consumption, and Adverse Outcomes. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (2012) Florian Labhart, Kathryn Graham, Samantha Wells, Emmanuel Kuntsche.

Want to learn how to party safely ?

Subscribe to E-spoons, to get e-mail updates once a month to learn how to keep your body chemistry balanced during your busy days and WILD nights.

NOTE : Privacy & spam policy. Spoonful of Science will not rent, trade or sell the e-mail list to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link.