Review: We stayed at this Unyoked cabin in Lawshall, near Bury St Edmunds, to get away from technology

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? If you’re like me, you grab your phone to check the news, social media updates and everything else.

Adults spend an average of six-and-a-half hours a day on their smartphones, according to The Independent, so it’s no surprise that we seem increasingly glued to our devices – myself included.

With this in mind, my partner and I decided to ditch the screens and venture off-grid to a cabin in Lawshall, near Bury St Edmunds, immersing ourselves in the Suffolk countryside.

Similar to booking an Airbnb, we booked our stay with Unyoked which offers remote cabins across the country, complete with a bed, a small kitchen, a shower, a toilet and a fire pit… And that’s about it.

Unyoked has four cabins in Suffolk – Rocco, Isla, Otis and Sage (where we stayed) – and it cost us just over £300 for our stay from Wednesday afternoon to Friday morning.

The company’s message is to reconnect with nature and ‘do nothing.’ In our busy daily lives, we often feel guilty for not being productive, so the challenge to ‘do nothing’ can be surprisingly hard without that guilt.

No television, no internet, no phone signal and no screens for two days. Sounds easy, right? Not at first.

Studies have shown that high levels of screen time can negatively impact our mental health, potentially causing symptoms of depression and anxiety. This is especially true for young people who grew up with smartphones and other devices.

I got my first smartphone at 12 and I’m ashamed to admit just how many hours I’ve spent staring and scrolling on my pocket computer, which I seem to carry with me everywhere.

It’s sad to say, but my phone feels like a part of me at this point and I can quickly feel lost when I don’t have it on me.

With this, it was surprisingly difficult to disconnect at first. I knew group chat messages would be pinging off without me and any breaking news would go unread (and as a local reporter, I love to stay updated with what’s happening in Suffolk).

However, after getting lost in a good book, lounging in the sun, playing card games around the fire and finally ‘doing nothing’ without guilt – I had a truly enlightening experience.

Unlike other nature retreats where you’re encouraged to lock your smartphone away and only use an emergency phone, we did use our devices to set timers while cooking (and to take one photo of my perfectly roasted marshmallow – call us cheaters if you must!)

Most of us think of a holiday as going abroad to soak up the sun or visiting a bustling city for a long weekend, but if you fancy something different which is relatively cheap in comparison to some holidays, I highly recommend Unyoked.

Away from people, daily stresses and our tech-filled lives, it was the first time in a long while that I felt truly recharged after a holiday – especially without the travel chaos of going anywhere far away.

There was no itinerary, no planned activities – just a simple trip to relax and spend time in nature, something we don’t often get to do since we moved from Bury to a nearby city last year.

To find out more about Unyoked and to book your cabin, click here.

I will definitely keep the company in mind the next time I fancy a couple of days away from technology.