Disconnect and unwind at a digital detox retreat

In the midst of our “always-on digital culture”, more of us are looking for ways to slow down and “disconnect”, said the BBC’s Laura Hall.

Hotels and travel companies are increasingly offering “digital detox” retreats, where guests agree to immerse themselves in an “internet-free environment”, usually in a beautiful setting, said Shannon Sims in The New York Times. On these “off-the-grid” experiences, laptops are banned and you are encouraged on arrival to put your mobile devices into a safety deposit box, where they stay until you leave.

Booking a special holiday to switch off might sound silly, said the BBC’s Hall. But getting away from screens is trickier than it sounds: “habits are hard to break and digital addiction is especially tough”.

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Samsu, a collection of off-grid cabins in rural Ireland, was set up by Rosanna Irwin in reaction to her “chronically online life”. The cabins have no Wi-Fi or other digital technology, “so the only tweets guests will hear are from the birds”. There are “simple cooking facilities”, and guests are provided with board games, books and a radio. Guests are encouraged to keep their smartphones in a lockbox, although each cabin has a basic phone, preloaded with music, podcasts and an emergency contact number.

Hector Hughes had a similar idea. In 2020, he co-founded Unplugged, a roster of “tech-detox cabins” scattered across the UK and Spain. Like Irwin, he had been suffering from “burnout” but he had an “epiphany” while on a technology break at a Buddhist retreat in the Himalayas. His solar-powered cabins, in rural locations from the “green fields of rural Cheshire” to the “forested mountains” of rugged Catalonia, also feature lockboxes for guests to stow their devices in.

In Suffolk, sisters Lauretta and Sharon Gavin run a series of weekend retreats at The Detox Barn. Despite the name, you won’t find any “stuffy, silent classes” or “meals that leave your body rumbling with hunger” here, said Ali Pantony in Condé Nast Traveller. Instead, guests are treated to “delicious vegan meals”, “guided countryside walks” and sound bath experiences – in a laid-back environment with “plenty of laughs” (the sisters are a comedy double act). And of course: no phones allowed.