Unplugged Retreats (go off-grid for the weekend!)
Unplugged is a unique company, which offers off-grid cabins in nature, where you can switch off completely for three days. With over 20 nationwide locations (all near a city and public transport). Then just a short taxi ride from a parking space to your cabin of choice. Some cabins offer hampers (you have to pre-order veggie options).
Some cabins are dog-friendly, do check as others are not, to protect both dogs and wildlife (due to unfenced areas).
All cabins are sustainably-built in remote areas, with solar-powered showers, kitchens and comfy beds. But there are no phones or wifi, so you won’t be checking your phone within 15 minutes of waking up! It’s time to refresh your mind (not your browser!)
Guests are asked to voluntarily lock away phones and laptops on arrive (there is an old Nokia phone for emergencies). Then just take in views from panoramic windows, or read one of the books or play a board game. There is also a radio, to wind down for early nights, as you immerse yourself in nature.
Unplugged was founded by two young men, who thought that getting away from it all and being in nature should be simple, without any ‘woo-woo’. You don’t need to chant mantras or take crystals, or belong to some religious sect. You can just find somewhere nice to stay without technology, and wind down simply.
Founded by Two Burned Out Businessmen!
Working at a tech start-up, they in the past were working up to 11 hours a day online, then partying hard to wind down after. When they realised this lifestyle was not working, they slowed down, and now help others to as well.
So one went off a fortnight in the Himalayan mountains for some peace, quiet and reflection. He was so refreshed on his return, that he immediately quit his job, to avoid going back to the same lifestyle. Realising what just a few weeks could do for others, the business idea was born.
His co-founder was ‘far less Zen’ and had no intention to go off to meditate with monks. But seeing how his friend’s time away had benefited him, he was willing to get on board to help himself and others have more ‘life time’ and less ‘screen time’.
Little Luxuries
These are not scruffy tents! They are luxury little cabins with proper hot water showers, luxury linen bedding and all the home comforts, but without TV, laptops or phones. And you get solar-powered cabins with picture windows, so you can watch nature spectacles outside. Far more interesting!
Most are just 1 to 2 hours from a city, and have their own parking spaces. The kitchen has all mod cons (along with your basics like good tea, coffee and olive oil), although there is no oven (so it’s pasta tonight!) You’ll find a nice bathroom with modern composting toilet and even a selection of wellies for use outside the door!
The breaks are quite pricey (around £400 for 3 or 4 nights). But if you think that most hotels charge £100 for bed-and-breakfast, these are luxurious in their offerings. And the idea is that you can really wind down and have a life inventory.
So when you go back to ‘normal life’, you likely will be so used to the simple life, that you’ll spend less anyway. Parts of the lifestyle you ‘take up’ here will soon become part of daily life (nature walks over ‘getting smashed’ in the pub). And quiet simplicity, over shopping malls! And making home-cooked simple meals!
