4 Stunning Places Perfect For A Digital Detox
I’ve been a freelance writer from the time I graduated college. By 2016, I had started writing for a travel publication, and was taking on as much work as I could because I truly loved it. I was writing, editing, sourcing photos, working on social media, and writing some more - in my six years with this publication, I penned almost 5,000 pieces - including 1,620 articles about Delaware, 989 about Wyoming, and 985 about Iowa. I can talk blue crabs, Chugwater Chili, and breaded pork tenderloins til I turn blue in the face.
Sorry - back to my point here. I was writing most of the time, and researching the rest of the time. In 2019, I attended a conference in Nashville with a handful of other writers, and we spent one day out exploring the city. We realized that night that it had been the first full day we had not opened up our laptops in nearly three years. Since then, I’ve made it a point to schedule at least one “unplugged” trip ever year, and here are my favorite places for a true digital detox.
Québec City, Québec
Walking the cobblestoned streets of Old Québec, it's easy to lose track of not just your phone, but the entire century. The UNESCO-designated old town is the epitome of a slow travel destination - and you’ll be so mesmerized wandering through the alleys and twists and turns that you won’t have time to worry about your inbox. If you’re hardcore, visit in winter - you won’t want to take your gloves off to scroll through texts the whole time you’re outside. On a serious note, though, winter is actually my favorite time to visit. Unlike a lot of destinations, Quebec really embraces the season, and nobody is trying to hide away until spring. Other activities you can enjoy where you definitely won’t want to take your phone out: Canot a Glace (ice canoeing) on the St. Lawrence River, progressing from Green to Double Black Diamond sledding slopes at Hotel Valcartier, and dancing with Bonhomme at the Winter Carnival.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone is where I go when I need to step away from the screen, but I’m feeling weak to my doomscrolling addictions. It’s nice, because the park doesn’t really wait around for you to put the phone down.. there’s just simply not a great cell phone signal throughout most of the park. Easy to ignore notifications when you don’t get them. Even if there was a strong 5G signal throughout the park, there’s something truly mesmerizing about the big skies, the thermal features, and the wildlife that makes you put the phone down and take a deep breath*.
Yellowstone, on its own, feels more disconnected than the Tetons just due to simple geography. In the Tetons, you’re never far from Jackson, where you can find all the busy restaurants and shops that bring you back to the real world. Spending a full day in Yellowstone means that at any given point, you’re probably hours from anything that resembles a town. It’s kind of refreshing, especially if you go during shoulder season, or in the winter.
*Don’t take a deep breath if you’re at the Mud Volcano.
Kananaskis Country, Alberta
Less visited than Banff and entirely non-commercialized by comparison, Kananaskis offers a rustic, grounding mountain experience. The landscapes are spectacular. You're here to hike, ride, or simply exist in one of the most beautiful mountain environments in North America - forget the gondolas taking you up peaks or tour busses stopping and waiting for you to go take a photo. In winter, the Nordic skiing and snowshoeing trails feel like your own private world. This is where Canadians go when they want to escape the crowds at the more famous parks, and they're right to keep it close.
The Catskills, New York
You don't need to go far to go somewhere that feels genuinely far away. The Catskills sit close enough to New York City to be easily accessible for millions of people and far enough in spirit to feel like a full departure. Dense forests, quiet hollows, farm-to-table restaurants dot the landscape up here, and there are plenty of beautiful waterfalls to discover on hikes both long and short. The region has seen a creative revival in recent years, with many people fleeing the city to find their own way of life in the mountains, and that means there’s a lot of new things to discover.
I love the stories I find on my trips to the Catskills. My favorite place to stay is a former motor inn turned Scandinavian-style retreat, and the owner’s wife has decorated each cottage and room in a unique way. When I was there last, chatting over a farm-to-table dinner with some ingredients foraged right on property, the owner was laughing about all of the road trips he goes on to pick up the latest Marketplace furniture finds.
It’s those details - one room has wallpaper ordered from a boutique maker in England, the other has a vintage low table from an attic in Maryland - that makes Eastwind a world away from any standard “hotel” room.
Beyond the lodging, though, the waterfall hiking and back roads make cell phone service unimportant. Set your out of office message and take the time to get truly out of the office.
