Totally unplugged: a digital detox holiday in Cheshire

Would a stay in a remote off-grid cabin – with phones locked away – be respite from the madness of the Christmas season for this young family?

It was at the M6 toll plaza that I realised just how much I relied on my phone. An old-fashioned paper poster read: “No phone payments, card only.” I hadn’t used my physical bank card since before Covid. Cue me causing a major hold-up at the barrier, as I raced round to the car boot and rummaged through bags trying to find it.

I was on my way to try out a three-night “digital detox” in an off-grid cabin in the Cheshire countryside with my partner and three-year-old. The idea was to escape from the madness of the Christmas season. Unplugged has a selection of traditional, insulated cabins around the country, but until now they have been aimed at solo travellers or couples. After visitor feedback, though, this particular one (Luna, between the villages of Tarporley and Kelsall) had been enlarged with a single bed for a child.