Off-The-Grid Retreat Ideas to Escape Your Digital Life – Men’s Journal

As appealing as it sounds to unplug from all your electronic devices for a week, it’s hard to imagine a “convenient” time when this could happen while still maintaining obligations and responsibilities in the real (digitally-obsessed) world we live in.

But now is a better time than ever to digital detox for your mental health and overall wellness. With Google searches for “smartphone addiction” always on the rise, the habit-forming nature of social media platforms likened to cigarettes, these past few years have been touted by many health and wellness experts as a great time for a tech diet.

Major companies—even within the tech sector—are starting to recognize our reliance on devices isn’t healthy, and specific retreats and programs to counterbalance culture are cropping up globally, like London’s It’s Time to Log Off, and major hotels like Westin Paris and Mandarin Oriental New York pioneering some truly innovative—albeit a bit pricey—digital detox experiences.

Dan hawk GovernmentCamp TrilliumLake MtHood
Government Camp, Mt. Hood. Photo: Courtesy of Dan Hawk/Unsplash

We all need ways to disconnect from technology and reconnect with ourselves, sans a 24-7 revolving feed of everyone else’s lives.

What if the next trip you took doubled as a way to unplug from all that digital chatter and actually spend time outside, uninterrupted by the constant dinging of your iPhone or emails looming in your inbox?

If that sounds as glorious to you as it does to us, then let this list of off-the-grid destinations inspire your next “MindCation.”