Sometimes you just need to disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature and your health. A digital detox vacation can be the ideal solution for a reset. Taking a trip or vacation allows you to remove yourself from your daily routine and recreate healthier habits. Nature is a sure bet for jump starting your parasympathetic nervous system, that allows you to relax. Also, going with a travel partner or group can be a bonding time to reconnect with others in person vs social media. Here are 12 tech free travel ideas for rejuvenation and renewal.
Related: 14 Therapeutic Ways Travel is Healing
Think more Green time and less screen time!!
Fact about your Nervous System: Your sympathetic nervous system is your fight or flight mechanism that deals with stress. When you are in overdrive for a long time this also begins to deplete your adrenals, leaving you feeling fatigued with brain fog. Long term overuse on technology feeds this sympathetic cycle promoting anxiety and muddled thinking. In contrast, the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) is what allows us to relax, meditate and recharge – all enhanced from being in nature. So, think PNS for your vacation and digital detox. And the common denominator for balancing the body, mind and spirit is NATURE, grounding and inspiring us for renewal.
10 Tech free Travel Ideas for Renewal
Ocean, Waterfall or River Getaway
Ever wonder why whenever you spend a day at the ocean you feel so invigorated and relaxed? Moving water, such as, waterfalls and ocean waves create negative ions that produce biochemical reactions in the body, increasing levels of serotonin to activate the PNS. This boosts our mood and alleviates stress and depression. Even just one day can make a world of difference if you don’t have much time. Other ideas include a fishing trip or river rafting for boosting those ions and serotonin.
Related: Oregon’s Top 8 Breathtaking Waterfalls’ Tour at Columbia River Gorge
Forest Bathing
Forest-bathing or Shinrin-yoku is a Japanese concept for cleansing our energies by spending time in the trees. Being in the forest allows you to engage from the symbiosis with the trees: receiving their oxygen and offering your carbon dioxide. This reciprocity is a focus for true meditation. Once again, even just a day or a couple hours can put your body back in parasympathetic mode for relaxation and a more positive reset.
Related: Forest Bathing in San Francisco’s Muir Woods, Exploring the Redwoods
Hiking in Nature
Walking is a nice level of exercise that is not stressful on the body. And the path you choose can be a bonus for what you need to rejuvenate. Whether you hike in mountains among elevation and trees or stroll along the ocean shores, nature will facilitate the process by activating your PNS. Additionally, the exercise will release your endorphins, giving you an overall double dose of feeling so good you forget about your technology.
Related: 20 Amazing, Must-Do Hiking Trails in Washington State
Digital Detox Retreat
There are many sites for a formal Digital Detox Retreat. Some individuals really need that structure with the full intention to follow through with a digital detox. Just google the internet and plenty of choices pop up. The common denominator for all of them is nature and structure. Plus, there is group support from others seeking the same peace of mind minus technology.
Camping or Glamping
Once again, nature is the answer. Plus, the remote areas are often not conducive for WIFI. Choose a spot in the forest next to a river or creek and you have a combined dose of forest-bathing and ions from moving water. If you’re not quite for roughing it with traditional camping, consider glamping. This provides the dose of nature under more luxurious conditions.
Spa or Resort Vacation
This offers you ways to combine a nature break along with nice facilities for bodywork and nutritious meals. Many of these spas are based on rejuvenation through reconnecting with the body. This is a wonderful way to facilitate reconnecting with your physical needs and leaving technology behind. Are you suffering with aches, pains and adrenal fatigue? Maybe a spa retreat is what you need for renewal and connection with self for a reset with less technology and more wellness.
Related: Iceland’s Healing Blue Lagoon’s Highlights for a Spa Day
Yoga or Meditation Retreat
These retreats are usually in a relaxing sanctuary with intention for personal enrichment. And the great thing about undergoing either yoga or meditation retreats is that they offer tools for managing stress, that you can use when you return to everyday life. These healthy tools can over the long-term replace some misused technology time. Vipassna Buddhist Meditation Retreats are an extreme version, where you do not talk and just meditate. This can be a dramatic life changer for some people.
Shamanic or Ayahuasca Retreat
It doesn’t get more extreme than this, but it probably works every time for leaving behind technology. From the Amazon Rainforest, the indigenous shamans have traditionally performed Ayahuausca Ceremonies. The ayahuasca is a hallucinate drink made from the bark of the Ayahyasca tree in the Amazon. Normally, in a retreat you undergo the ritual process of taking this hallucinogen under the guidance of a Shaman. The properties will take you on a soul journey for insight and revelation about yourself without your technology.
Another option not so extreme is a shamanic retreat that undergoes journeywork through drumming. This also takes you into hypnotic states for revelation with self- awareness and connection with ancestors.
Art or Writing Retreat
Taking a retreat to delve into your creativity also gives you tools for reconnecting with your heart and Muse. Both art and writing take you on an inward deep journey to awaken parts of yourself that can be buried by stress or technology. And the end product can be a piece of beautiful art or the start of a book.
Take a Cruise
I know, after the Covid crisis, many may say I will never take a cruise. However, once things clear up (I’m hopeful) consider a cruise. First off, the WIFI on cruise ships is painfully slow and expensive. Cruise ships internet access sends a signal 22,000 miles to a satellite, then 22,000 miles again back to earth. From working on cruise ships as an Acupuncturist, I know this one very well. Trust me, don’t bother with internet (except check email for any home emergencies) till you reach land.
Related: Cruising the Majestic Glacier Bay in Southeast Alaska
Overall, Tech free Travel Ideas
It’s all about bringing balance to your life to live your best life! All of us need a timeout every now and then to recharge and reset. Like anything, technology has many advantages for our lifestyle, however, when overused it leaves us unwell. So, consider a digital detox for a recharge, where you allow yourself to connect with nature and health, not WIFI.
