Unplugged.

We went down a different path on our next travel. Not the usual crazy itinerary that seems to be our signature style but the complete opposite. This was about getting away from our busy lives and being still. It provided different types of challenges! Not about passenger locator forms, not about plane or train schedules but how to keep warm in a small cabin, surrounded by nature and no other humans, and how to cook on a two ring gas hob. LOL! This was more scary for Mum than crossing countless boundaries.

It was Darcy’s birthday weekend and Mum wanted to go where we could look at the night skies and find the Ursa Minor (Little Bear/Little Dipper) constellation where her star is located. Well, we found the best place to do so – at one of the Unplugged cabins.

Unplugged is a place where you go to unplug, to recharge. For three nights, hoomans lock their phones away in an off-grid cabin so they can completely recharge. There’s no wi-fi, no television and in fact no oven, no microwave and heating meant making a fire!!!

We arrived at Unplugged’s cabin, Koya situated amongst a cluster of trees in the middle of open fields. Thankfully all the storms were behind us and we were very lucky with the weather. But the previous week of storms left muddy fields!

The taxi dropped us off us at the bottom of the field and we loaded our bags (one for clothing and one for food) in a trolley to wheel to the cabin. The directional sign suggested it was a 3-minute walk.

We proceeded along the path that led to the cabin but soon discovered it was at a slight incline, and the further along we went, the muddier it became! The trolley, further weighed down by the bag of logs and fire kindlers (Mum wanted to be sure we won’t be cold) was wobbling along as Mum treaded carefully along the slippery muddy path in her Penelope Chilvers Chelsea boots – that had no grip. She was trying to walk on the side, away from the much traversed muddy path when the trolley toppled over!

We were only half way up the path! She decided to leave the logs and kindlers behind whilst she grabbed our bags and me – and proceeded walking towards the cabin.

As we turned the corner of the path, there we saw nestled amongst the trees in the middle of open farmland is a black rectangular cabin.

After she managed to open the cabin door and ushered me inside, she returned to the toppled trolley and after putting it all upright again, pulled the lighter load up the hill. It was still a struggle but she managed.

So the 3 minute walk was more like 30 mins. All along the way, Mum was thinking – where are the bell boys and butlers?!?!? They would never have allowed this to happen. LOL! Come on, Mum, this is a new experience.

She finally managed to get everything inside the solar-powered cabin and had a good look around. Well-designed, compact and basic – only what was needed, no excess.

There’s a lock away box to put away the phone … which Mum didn’t for legit reasons. As she is Little Tyke’s guardian, she needed to be accessible at all times (good reason!).

An instant film camera – which she had to figure out how to use but finally managed on the last day. A selection of books, boards games and a cassette player – which she surprisingly knew how to use! LOL!

And importantly, a Nokia phone that connected to the support team – who found themselves inundated with voice messages and texts from Mum. How do you make a fire? How do you light the gas hob because the lighter wasn’t working? She was trying to refill the lighter with butane gas when it was already full!

Yeah, Mum was a bit flustered. But she did manage to make a fire, rather fires – making sure it never died down because she didn’t want to start another. But it got so warm in the cabin that night that she threw away the covers!

Before it got dark, we ventured out to the fields … to take in the vast horizon.

As the light began to fade outside, we sat on the raised bed and looked as the sun was setting. It was a good thing we did because somehow sunsets seem to bring calm to the end of the day, and makes us grateful for what we have. The annoyance of a 3-minute walk that turned out to be 30 minutes and figuring out things unfamiliar to us really wasn’t anything to fret about in the bigger scheme of things.

Mum did manage to light the gas hob and made herself something to eat, and fed me too!

When Mum took me out for my last bathroom needs, it was dark outside.

When she looked up at the heavens, she gasped! Against the darkened skies were countless pinpricks of light. Just then she remembered the reason why we were there.

She scanned he skies looking for Ursa Minor. Where was it? Maybe it wasn’t so easy to spot it. She walked to the other side of the cabin and as she looked up – there was Ursa Major (Big Bear/Big Dipper) … and next to it, not yet fully visible was Ursa Minor!

We wouldn’t have been able to see this in the London skies! This is why we came to an Unplugged cabin – to get away from the light pollution in city skies.

The remaining days there were filled with walks around the fields (avoiding all muddy paths) …

Mum did not bring her computer. Instead she sat at the table and wrote with a pencil in her notebook as we listened to Mozart (cassette tape) in the quiet of the day.

In the mornings, we watched the light break the darkness as the moon lingered way into the morning sky.

Mum would make herself a cup of turmeric latte and we’d sit outside … listening to the birds singing and feeling the warmth of the rising sun.

And every evening, we watched the sunset whether standing in the fields, appreciating the reflection on the window or enjoying the view from the cabin. We couldn’t get enough of it.

Just as we were getting used to the routine of basic living … it was time to go back to the city.

We came, we saw, we didn’t quite conquer, we managed!

May’s comment: This is a different type of travel from what we usually do – there’s no room service, no concierge, no Deliveroo – just me and George in a minimalist cabin surrounded by the beautiful English countryside. Not another human in sight for three days and three nights.

I must admit I was definitely nervous, worried about being cold, what if I ran out of food, what if something happened to me or George. But I wanted to be away from it all and this was an opportunity to do so.

Unplugged is pitched as a digital detox getaway. I didn’t go for that but as I explained to them, I wanted to be able to see the night sky for this special weekend. And they kindly made it happen.

I had suggested maybe we’d stay just two nights but in the end I realised why three nights were just right. The first day was getting used to a new way of living. The second day was discovering things and appreciating what’s around us. On the third day I finally felt comfortable enough to relax into being there.

“Going out into the country after living in the city is a loss of control.” Christopher Bollen

One of the books in the cabin I picked up to read was Wabi Sabi by Beth Kempton. Wabi sabi is a Japanese philosophy about life. In a chapter titled, “Pondering – Try It”, it suggested to spend time in nature contemplating:

• the transience of life
• the beauty in the light and darkness
• the tiny details and the vast horizon
• the seasonal clues and gifts
• the sensual experience of the weather

Subconsciously, I did do all that.

Of course the transience of life was about Darcy. On the last night, the 26th February, we lit a candle for Darcy and spent a few minutes in the cold looking up at the heavens. I still find it hard to reconcile the fact that she’s not just away at the House of Mutt having a good run around but that she’s never physically coming home. She has left this earth. And I want to believe in the After Life and take comfort in that we will see each other again some day.

One of the best things about the cabin was the picture window.

I slept next to it and every time I awoke, I looked out at the view – day or night, taking in the beauty of the skies in the early morning to sunsets and starlit night skies.

We looked out at the vast horizon as well as treaded carefully amongst the trees and fields.

I would like to have experienced a storm whilst safely in the cabin, watching the skies grow dark and angry with rain pelting down on the window.

The weekend was a staycation of a different sort to what we know, and one which took us away from the constant bombardment of social media, emails and everything that seems important. It was a time to live in the present and to breathe, giving ourselves a chance to recalibrate.

Would I do it again? Absolutely, a resounding YES! Just me and George. Unless you’re a couple I wouldn’t want to share it with another.

Unplugged has so far eight cabins – each located in isolation, just under two hours from central London. It’s such a great concept – to unplug, to recharge.