The Luxury of Disappearing

We’ve officially entered a time where unplugged travel is becoming a highly sought-after form of luxury. People are understandably at their wits end with the constant connectivity, endless notifications, and expectations of availability. Even when you’re supposed to be on vacation and away from work, it somehow finds its way in.

At Nimmo, the ability to disconnect is natural. The remoteness of the Great Bear Rainforest means you’re far away from any cell towers. While there is WiFi around the resort if it’s needed, you’re set up to spend time off the devices. You won’t miss those artificial hits of dopamine from the doom scroll because fresh air, green space, and sunlight are natural energizers for the happiness hormones.

What Is Unplugged Travel?

Unplugged travel means taking a much-needed break from our devices. Currently, the average person spends between 6-7 hours a day in front of a screen. So, it’s a rare opportunity to step completely away from all tech for the duration of your vacation. This isn’t just about limiting screen-time while out on excursions or eating meals, it’s an invitation to commit to the process and completely disconnect from devices.

While it might seem daunting to self-enforce this digital detox, we promise that after the first day, you won’t even notice it’s missing. You’ll start to form deeper connections with your friends and family, and putting it simply, time away from your devices relieves stress and boosts your mood.

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Why does Disconnecting From Technology on Vacation Matter?

The Nervous System Finally Gets to Rest

About 50% of Canadians both start and end their day by looking at their phones. It can be alarming thinking that many of us spend the beginning and end of every single day staring at a screen. That endless scroll has been described as eating sugar, but for your brain. While it tastes good at the time and you’re hit with a burst of dopamine, there’s no real nutritional value associated with it.

The Physical & THe Mental

People experience both physical and mental symptoms from the increased attention that we’re giving to our phones. Just the act of staring down at the phone can cause eye strain, neck pain, and travel down into our shoulders and necks. I’m sure most of us have felt that type of dull radiating pain set in by the end of the day.

There’s also the issue of sleep. Screens emit blue light, and exposure can delay the release of melatonin from our brains. Melatonin is a hormone that tells your body it’s time to go to sleep. By forcing this process out of its natural rhythm, our bodies have difficulty falling asleep. And what about when we wake up? Many of us turn off the alarms on our phone and immediately check messages and start scrolling. This behaviour can actually jolt our nervous system awake, causing the body to go into fight-or-flight. A stressed state like that can have a lasting impact on you throughout the day.

The effect of social media on stress

Social media can also cause excess stress and anxiety. We’re bombarded by so much content at the tip of our fingers flying by so quickly. It can cause us to feel decision fatigue and lead to reduced attention spans. Finally, it’s important to point out the challenges screen time can have on our relationships. You can feel emotionally disconnected from your partner, family, and friends. Miscommunications grow and you might feel like conflicts start happening more often. With consistent social media use, we risk losing the ability to have meaningful, face-to-face conversations.

How can a digital detox help me on vacation?

So, what does all this mean? It’s a bit alarming to see all the negatives highlighted at once and it’s a reminder to start making some meaningful changes. Opting to go on an unplugged vacation can be an excellent opportunity to kick-start your journey to less screen time.

Even a short while into putting your phone away, your senses will start to heighten. Without the constant digital distractions, your brain can refocus on the sights and sounds in the physical space around you. Nimmo invites this kind of revelation. Prepare to be fully immersed in the smell of the salty air and the fresh pine needles blanketing the ground. Hear the sounds of waterfalls crashing and the beautiful flittering birds. You can experience nature like you never have before.

Conversations Go Deeper

Whomever you’re travelling with, you can expect to connect with them on a deeper level while at Nimmo. Without the temptation to pick up your phone at a moment’s notice, you can better tune into the body language, moods, and bids for connection that your friends and family are emitting. With our phones away, eye contact grows, it’s a meaningful way to say, I see you, I acknowledge you, and return a little bit of the empathy we’ve lost in a digital world.

HOw do I capture the moment during a digital detox when my phone is my camera?

You may worry about missing out on capturing your excursions in photos. But, as much as we all love taking photos of everything we do, it might not have the desired effect in certain cases. Some studies have shown that taking photos can in fact hinder our memory. It’s like an allowance for our brain to forget. No phones means you can be fully present in the experiences. Whether that’s on a hike through the giant old growth trees in the rainforest or seeing your very first humpback whale, leap from the water on a coastal safari.

Without thinking you must capture perfection in a frame, the performance fades away to reveal true, lived moments. And, if you really want to go lo-fi, Nimmo has disposable cameras that you can use during your trip. Blindly and playfully snap photos as you go and relive memories months and years down the line when you get the film developed.

Time Slows Down

Embrace the luxury of no schedules and a lack of urgency! There are no phones needed to book adventures and treatments at the resort. There won’t be any dings coming from your calendar letting you know you have to be somewhere. The expert team onsite at Nimmo is ready to curate your days, filling them with exciting plans, or complete relaxation. Either way, there is never a rush. You can take your time, your days will start to feel longer, richer, and more spacious. We make sure that you can feel complete freedom, taking care of everything before you’ve even considered it. This is such a rare opportunity in our overly scheduled and connected world, people are dying to take advantage of it.

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