How to actually unplug while travelling

You leave "to unplug." And then you take your phone, check your email "just two minutes" at the airport, take 200 photos a day, post on social, check Google reviews before every restaurant.

After a week, you feel like you've lived the trip through a screen. And you come home almost as tired as before you left.

Unplugging on a trip isn't just turning off the phone. It's a real choice, to be prepared upfront. Here's how to build a trip that really lets you switch off.

1. Why we can no longer unplug

Several reasons add up: work demands that bleed into the trip, FOMO (fear of missing out), the habit of checking everything in real time, the constant urge to optimise ("what's the best restaurant within 200 m?").

The result: no more room left for emptiness, boredom, or the unexpected, yet that's exactly what a trip needs to actually rest you.

2. Deciding to unplug before departure

Unplugging isn't improvised on the plane. It's decided beforehand, as a commitment.

Define clearly what you accept to check during the trip (nothing? email once a week? nothing except family?)
Tell work very clearly: who the backup contact is, when you'll be back
Turn on a proper out-of-office and stick to it
Remove work apps from the phone (Slack, Teams, work email)
Mute social notifications and addictive apps

3. Picking a destination that helps

Some destinations make unplugging far easier. Others make it almost impossible (a city break with wifi everywhere, cafés full of screens, urban demands).

Nature: Iceland, Norway, Patagonia, Lapland
Remote lodges: Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania
Slow-paced islands: Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde, French Polynesia
Wellness retreats: Bali, Sri Lanka, southern India, Morocco (countryside riads)
Treks: GR20, Tour du Mont-Blanc, Camino de Santiago, Himalayan treks

4. Picking accommodation that helps

Good accommodation can literally take the phone out of travellers' hands: no wifi in the rooms, a terrace facing sunset, a shared local kitchen, conversation with the hosts.

Lodges deep in nature
Human-scale guesthouses
Wellness retreats with built-in digital detox
Cabins, eco-lodges, unusual stays

5. Adapting the itinerary to unplugging

An overpacked itinerary inherently blocks unplugging: you optimise, you calculate, you plan constantly.

Limit the number of stops (2 or 3, max)
A single highlight per day, sometimes none
Leave real windows of free time
Prefer slow activities (hiking, reading, swimming, watching)
Avoid long, frequent transfers

6. Concrete tools and rules on the ground

A few simple rules, set before departure, make a real difference.

Phone on airplane mode by default, switched on only when needed
No screens in the morning before breakfast
No screens in the evening after dinner
Photos reserved for chosen moments, not constantly
A paper notebook to jot things down without picking up the phone
No social media for the duration of the trip (set this from the start)

7. The role of a tailor-made travel planner

A large part of a trip's mental load comes from what you have to manage constantly: next stop, next meal, next activity, next transfer.

A tailor-made trip transfers that load to the travel planner. You receive a clear travel folder, centralised bookings, on-the-ground advice, and a contact in case of need. The result: your mind no longer has to carry the logistics.

Paradoxically, that's one of the best ways to actually unplug: no longer having to organise, just living.

Conclusion: an unplugged trip is built, not improvised

You don't unplug because you've arrived at the destination. You unplug because you've set the conditions to do so: a clear frame, a destination that helps, accommodation that invites you to slow down, an itinerary that breathes, and simple rules you allow yourself to honour.

With a tailor-made travel planner, that frame is set before departure. You leave genuinely light, with no logistics to manage, ready to live a trip that rests you as much as it lets you discover.