Postcard Cabins

Unplugging from our technology is an important thing to practice if we’d like to live truly connected and fulfilling lives. For Day 2 of our 12 Days of Disconnection, we tapped into our incredible community for tips on how to unplug. Here’s Rebekah of Organize For Love.

While getting away in the middle of a hectic workweek, school semester, or just while living in the city may seem unrealistic, it may just be the remedy you need to unplug. Getting away can be possible when you plan ahead and incorporate regular breaks in your year. Breaks come in all shapes and sizes; big, small, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Breaks allow you to unplug from the life that you’re always plugged into. I’ll share three simple ways to unplug.

Change Your Environment

If getting away isn’t possible, changing your environment is a great alternative. You can change your environment in small practical ways like; eating your daily lunch at a different location than you usually do, taking a different route home or to work, visiting a friend who lives in another neighborhood, working in a different part of your home, trying a new/different restaurant, going to a social event in a borough you don’t typically visit. You change your environment in big ways like;  driving to a cabin in the woods or taking a plane to another country.

Spend a Weekend Off Social Media

If you can’t change your environment, spend a weekend away from social media. In order to plug into yourself, you must detach yourself from others. Try unplugging from social media Thursday night to Friday morning, but be intentional. Be sure to replace the hours you’d spend on Instagram with another activity. Sometimes, what’s important to us slips away while we scroll for hours thinking about all the things we wish we could do. Without intention, social media can pull you further away from yourself. Hence why it’s so important to unplug so you can return to the things that are important to you. Before you spend a weekend off social media, know why you’re doing it, and what you want to get out of it. Unplugging from social media for a weekend will help you to reconnect with yourself, giving you the (mental, emotional, and physical) space you need to return to you.

Go to Bed Without Your Phone

If unplugging for a weekend (or Thursday night to Monday morning like I suggested) feels too extreme, another simple way to unplug is by going to bed without your phone. This means leaving it out of your bed and out of your bedroom. I’m biased but this has to be the worst bedtime habit that we’ve adapted. When you wake up AND go to sleep tuned into your phone, it’s harder to create boundaries between your life and the world. The idea of unplugging gives you the opportunity to recharge, restore, and reacquaint yourself with yourself. But when you’re always plugged in, where is the time/space to do this? When we lay down as overstimulated as we are with our supercomputers, we rob ourselves of the opportunity for true rest. Remember that? It feels like we’re trying to return to simpler times. And it’s possible with just a few, small tweaks. Try having your phone on the other side of your room for a week, then try to leave it outside of your bedroom for a night or two. Done consistently, you will notice the quality of your sleep improve, and the pace of your morning slow down.

Ready to unplug? Book your Getaway here.

The Holiday season is a time to put aside your everyday distractions and spend time with your loved ones. To help you focus your time and energy on your family and friends or activities that will help you reconnect to yourself, we’ll be sharing 12 ways to do so in our 12 Days of Disconnection.

While the 12 days of Christmas doesn’t technically start until, well, Christmas, these tips can help you live mindfully throughout the year. In that spirit, we’re starting a little early with our very first tip.

Try a New Recipe

Today’s tip is to try a new recipe. While you’re cooking and eating meals with your loved ones, this is a great time to turn off your devices, catch up, and enjoy the great food you’ve prepared.

Jasmine of Sweet Simple Vegan shared a quick but delicious recipe with us that she made during her Getaway. You can make it at home – or even better, over the campfire outside of your tiny cabin (just be sure to bring a cast iron skillet with you). Pro tip: print this recipe ahead of time to go totally screen-free while you’re putting your meal together.

Vegan Campfire Hash Recipe

Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons avocado oil
1/2 large onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 heaping cups chopped kale, stems removed
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Salt and pepper, to taste

Serve with
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish
1 large avocado, sliced
Toasted bread

Instructions

1. In a large cast-iron skillet, add in 2 tablespoons of oil along with the onions, garlic, bell peppers. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until softened.
2. Mix in the potatoes and the old bay, and carefully cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until the potatoes soften, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the potatoes to cook for 2 minutes more, or until browned.
3. Stir in the kale and black beans. Allow both to heat through and the kale to turn bright green, about 3 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from heat and season with salt and pepper as desired.
5. Serve warm with a garnish of cilantro and avocado plus a side of toast. Enjoy.

Want to try cooking this recipe over a campfire? Book your Getaway today.

The pressure of holiday season can feel like a lot, especially if you’re looking at long gift lists, and not sure where to start.

Something we could all benefit from this time of year – and year round – is a little extra dose of mindfulness. You know, that mindset that helps keep us present, grounds us in the moment, and ensures that we’re aware and at our best.

To keep you and yours in a mindful mindset – and to inspire some of your holiday gifting – here’s our mindful gift guide.

Mindful Gift: Gift Meditation

Meditation doesn’t have to mean going on a retreat with a group of likeminded people. We love apps like Headspace or Calm or centers like The Den in Los Angeles or MNDFL in New York, that bring the idea right to your home or close to it. Meditations can be just a few minutes, and it’s as simple as loading up an app, taking some deep breaths, actively listening, and clearing your mind. They’ll love this gift that keeps on giving.

Mindful Gift: Try a New Experience Together

Gift an experience that’s totally out of your comfort zone – and of theirs too. Make sure it doesn’t have anything to do with your work; the goal here isn’t to be productive, it’s to enjoy something that keeps you in the moment together or separately. It may be a cooking class, trying your hand at pottery, even axe throwing or a fencing lesson. The goal is to take a moment from optimizing all of your time, and enjoy the act of simply doing.

Mindful Gift: Give a Journal

Journaling can be a deeply mindful exercise, and it’s an affordable and beautiful gift to give a loved one. Sometimes the best way to stay centered in your thoughts is to write them all down on paper, even if they are never shared with another person. The practice of Journaling to relieve stress or gratitude journaling is a great exercise in mindfulness, and one that can continue long after the moment you give this thoughtful gift.

Mindful Gift: Gift Some Time Away

Taking a moment to get out of the city, practice some forest bathing, and enjoy all of those analog activities like building a campfire or reading a book, that feel so far away in our routines, is the ultimate act in staying present. It’s why at Getaway, we have cell phone lockboxes in each cabin, and all of the things you need to just focus on your loved one, your kids, your dog – or just yourself.

From now through November 24th, give them a Getaway gift card and save on your next escape. Gift $100 (or more), get $25 toward your next Getaway. Gift $300 (or more), get $100 toward your next Getaway. Your credit will be added as a promo code in your account.