Offline holidays: A chance to get away from it all – but not without tensions

Smartphones and digital media are useful, but many feel overloaded and try to take breaks. Digital detoxing means avoiding smartphones and screens for a designated period, while “unplugged” and “offline” often describe a digitally restricted holiday. Studies show that people unplug to reduce stress or enhance relationships. While unplugging on holiday is a way to regain lost aspects of travelling, it is not without tensions. Most people do not desire a total break but an escape from intrusive communication.
 
Did you look forward to a holiday where you would spend long evenings chatting with your friends in a beautiful location? Did you expect to meet new people and have meaningful conversations? Were you planning to enjoy long walks and play board games with your family? Did you get disappointed because all you experienced were travel mates unreachable behind their phones and headphones, kids obsessed with TikTok, nature reduced to the background for selfies on Instagram, and conversations interrupted by work mail notifications?

Digital media and smartphones have invaded our lives. The last decade has seen intense digitalisation but also rising frustration over pervasive connectivity. Everyday situations are transformed as households, schools, workplaces, and leisure activities go digital. In my 2020 book Digital Detoxing: The Politics of Disconnecting (1), I identified presence, productivity and privacy as three values perceived to be threatened: people reacting to their attention being constantly interrupted by notifications and messages; to the difficulty of concentrating on tasks such as reading; and concerns rising over shared personal information. As noted in my book, logging off has become a way to handle the situation in Internet-rich countries.

While it is difficult to unplug during work and school days, holidays may still offer the chance to have some unmediated time with others. As early as 2012, the unplugged holiday was identified as a new trend in the travel industry. A decade later, the offer for digitally restricted holidays is varied and widespread. For example, a study of the Polish market lists digital detoxing options, such as farm stays in rural areas, spa hotels focusing on well-being, and monasteries and convents where you are encouraged to turn off your phone and leave the pressures of everyday life behind (2).

Areas that are not digitally connected or with poor connection often offer holiday options in this direction (3,4,5). In Norway, where a large part of the mountain area is unconnected, trekking and skiing holidays are promoted with invitations to “leave the mobile” or have a “retro Easter”, bringing back memories of pre-internet times. The huts in these areas invite guests to enjoy traditional activities such as reading and playing board games, there are animals for the children to play with, and nature can be enjoyed without constant picture-posing (3). Studies of establishments in the scenic atmosphere of Salzburg, with its beautiful architecture, old town charm and alpine setting (5) show how the opportunity to log off is marketed as part of a package that includes nostalgic images, heritage and access to pristine nature.

Parallel to studies of holiday options, studies of tourists’ motivations and experiences demonstrate how digital detoxing may enable a greater focus on the present, enhanced well-being and strengthened relationships (6-12). While most studies deal with how individual travellers limit their use of digital devices, some discuss experiences at specific locations such as campsites with poor internet connection (13), retreats where phone-use is discouraged (14), digital detox camps where adults can play, cook, talk and sit around the campfire without being interrupted by smartphones and social media (15), and off-the-grid mountain huts where guests can have a wilderness experience without digital navigation tools (3).

Through such studies, one gets a sense not only of specific motivations and experiences but also of loss – the experiences reflect a longing for pre-digital holiday pursuits. Unplugging is not only a way to achieve specific benefits but can be seen as a means to regain what is perceived as classic ideals of travelling. Below I point to how studies illuminate three such classic ideals: to escape everyday constraints, adopt a slower pace, and get an authentic connection to nature and heritage. While these values may be nostalgic and unattainable, they are nevertheless present as pervasive cultural imaginaries (16).

A sense of escape: Escaping everyday connections and pressures is perhaps the most important ideal underlying the need for holidays (17). However, constant connectivity massively eradicates the border between “home” and “away”, and many family and work relations expect each other to be constantly reachable (12). You are never more than a text message away from complicated work problems or intricate family affairs. Studies discuss how the smartphone facilitates mutual surveillance between family members, peers and colleagues, while unplugging allows travellers more autonomy and a renewed sense of escape (12). A study of backpackers in their twenties observes out how mobile phones have increased parents’ remote control over their adult children, who in turn decide to leave, hide or turn off phones to gain more freedom (8).
 

Slow adventure: The primary trend in adventure tourism is towards Instagram-friendly experiences where nature is commercially packaged to guarantee thrills. A typical example is bungy jumping (18), which critics see as “adventures in a bun”, standardised mechanistic adventures served up globally like a McDonald’s hamburger (19). Slow travel is an emerging counter-trend; here, the adventure is more about adapting to the pace of the surroundings (20). Clocks and smartphones can be put away to regain a slower sense of time; notifications can be deactivated to achieve a greater presence in the place visited; and social media apps are removed to deepen relations with co-travellers and new aquaintances (21). In my research on Norwegian mountain offline tourism, doing nature activities during the day and something cosy together in the evening is perceived as the most genuine way of being together on holiday (3).

Authentic connections with nature and heritage:  Authenticity is a critical value in the tourism industry and a desired experience for many holidaymakers (22). Still, authenticity is an ambiguous concept, often associated with nostalgia and fabricated qualities (23). For instance, the term “museumification” describes how destinations are preserved as old-looking to attract tourists (24). For holidaymakers, the experience of being in a natural or historical setting may be weakened when busloads of selfie-taking tourists arrive, the site is gamified with points awarded for activities, and an app must be downloaded to get food and transport (25). In contrast, unmediated experiences in the landscape, enjoying the silence and atmospheric sounds, may satisfy a longing for deeper connections (2, 5, 24, 26). Areas without internet or phone connection may also allow hikers to explore the landscape without constantly consulting navigation and weather apps (3).

While most studies of unplugged holidays show a positive motivation for restricting online use, they also demonstrate difficulties. The digitalisation of the travel industry has produced valuable services, and holidaymakers appreciate the possibilities for online booking, downloading maps and guides, logging exercises with smartwatches and holiday posting on social media (25). Furthermore, safety is for them a predominant concern and a reason not to log off, especially in unfamiliar and wilderness areas (3). At last, people who are travelling together may not agree on the benefits of being offline. Indeed, holidays can become a battleground where conflicts erupt with co-travellers, and attempts at unplugging may be temporary, hesitant and tension-filled.

Surveys exacerbate the image of online travel as an area of ambivalence. In a representative survey, only 2% of Norwegians said they always put away their smartphones on holiday, while 50% say they do it often or sometimes (27). Hence, when and where it is suitable to unplug on holiday may cause conflicts. It may also be different opinions on what to disconnect from. In a different survey, 11% of Norwegians stated their interest in an entirely phone-free holiday, while 37% said they would like to be away from social media, and 13% would like a holiday without access to email.

Removing oneself from smartphones and social media is complicated as holidaymakers have diverging and often contradictory needs. Hence, digital detoxing and unplugging do not guarantee a successful holiday. Nonetheless, unplugged breaks reflect deep longing for authentic escape, adventure and connection to nature and historical heritage. Digital-free holidays are not just indications of how digital tools have invaded everyday life; they also offer an excellent illustration of the sense of loss experienced by many holidaymakers.

Trine Syvertsen

References

1. Syvertsen, T., “Digital detox: The Politics of Disconnecting”, 2020.
2. Pawłowska-Legwand, A. and Matoga, Ł., “Disconnect from the digital world to reconnect with the real life: An analysis of the potential for development of unplugged tourism on the example of Poland”, Tourism Planning and Development, 2021.
3. Syvertsen, T., “Offline tourism: digital and screen ambivalence in Norwegian mountain huts with no internet access”, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 2022.
4. Gretzel, U., “Travel Unplugged: The case of Lord Howe Island, Australia”, in Annual Proceedings of the TTRA, 2014.
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17. Sthapit, E., and Björk, P., “Activity participation home and away – Examining the spillover theory among families on holiday”, Anatolia, 2017.
18. Cater, C., and Dash, G., “Karl Marx: Alienation and false consciousness in adventurous activities“, in Outdoor Adventure and Social Theory, 2013.
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20. Varley, P., and Semple, T. (2015), “Nordic slow adventure: Explorations in time and nature”, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism.
21. Syvertsen, T., and Enli, G., “Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity’, Convergence, 2019.
22. Yu, L., & Duverger, P., “Tourism and economics: Technologically enabled transactions”, in The Future of Tourism. Innovation and Sustainability, 2019.
23. Enli, G., “Mediated Authenticity: How Media Construct Reality, 2015.
24. Ronchini, C.,“Cultural paradigm inertia and urban tourism’, in The Future of Tourism. Innovation and Sustainability, 2019.
25. Romero Dexeus, C., “The Deepening Effects of the Digital Revolution”, in The Future of Tourism. Innovation and Sustainability, 2019.
26. Smith, C. A., et al., “Disruptive silence: deepening experiential learning in the absence of technology”, Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 2018.
27. Digitox, Digital Detox survey. A representative survey conducted by Kantar for Digitox, unpublished, 2023.

Received: 27.01.23, Ready: 27.01.23,. Editors: Jessica Brown and Simone Redaelli