Welcome to our festive round-up of our favourite digital detox presents! Whether you’re buying for yourself to use on your digital detox breaks, or buying for a loved one to gently encourage them in more time off-screen… these are the perfect accompaniment for your 2016 unplugged lifestyle.
Our top digital detox recommendation has always been to get a proper alarm clock. It makes it easier for you to keep your smartphone out the bedroom and guarantees a better night’s sleep – as well as stopping you from mindless scrolling in the middle of the night if you wake.
We love these really cool retro alarm clocks which come in a variety of colours. They’re not expensive so why not get a couple? Keep one permanently in a travel bag and one in your bedroom at home to guarantee a really restful night’s sleep.
Practising mindfulness is a key part of any really rewarding logging-off experience. On our digital detox retreats we’ve found that colouring-in has been the one mindfulness activity that everyone has loved.
This Secret Garden colouring-in kit has some beautifully intricate designs to get you really focusing and mindful. As an added benefit this one comes in the form of 20 postcards which you can then send to someone to let them know you’re thinking of them. So much nicer to receive than a text or iMessage we think you’ll agree.
There’s been a recent resurgence in demand for what we call the ‘anti-smartphone’, ie a phone that lets you call and text but doesn’t include a digital screen for getting online.
We’re big fans of this very cool version from Punkt which comes with the tagline ‘technology tamed’. Not only does it look good, but it enables you to swap a smartphone sim in and out of it, meaning you can keep the same number while doing a digital detox but still be contactable. How clever is that?
Photography is very popular on our digital detox retreats as a form of mindfulness and creativity. But with so many cameras now digitally-enabled most of them are banned from a digital detox break.
However, we’ve sourced some great retro-style instant cameras to take with us on our digital detox holidays and the Instamax 90 is our current favourite. In two retro colours it’s very compact, incredibly easy to use and the quality of the prints is great. You can see some of the results on our Instagram feed!
Finally, our digital detox gift guide wouldn’t be complete without a plug for one of our own t-shirts. Our ‘offline’ design comes in a fun (and very practical) bright blue design for kids – and a stylish pale grey colour for both men and women. All tees are available on the shop on our site!
Our seasonal digital detox challenge is to put connection over consumerism this Christmas.
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