I know we’re all becoming a little obsessed with the new iphone feature where you can see how much time you actually spend on your phone (it would appear I have a pretty solid relationship with mine lets just say that…). For me my phone isn’t the only culprit, I’m sat at a desk for 8 hours of the day, I’m watching an hour of Love Island – who else is invested now? so during the week I’m barely getting a break from technology and how fast paced everything is, and I’ve realised I absolutely need it.

A couple of weekends back (the hottest of the year so far in the UK if you remember it), Jay and I had absolutely no plans and after a really good experience camping in North Wales in May… We decided to do it again! Last time the tent was set up, we had a wood burner and a coffee machine, so kinda closer to glamping, this time we arrived, set up our 3 man tent up ourselves, and did PROPER camping. I’m gunna be honest, before this year I would have never considered camping to be a fun thing to do, but I’m really valuing moments where I can disconnect from everything, have no need to rush around and just be in the moment.

With Jay doing so much extra training with work it’s meant that a holiday abroad has been pretty much off the cards, but I felt like I was really missing that buzz you get when you see a new city or experience something new… So, camping has kind of become the new experience I needed (yes, I did go to festivals when I was 17/18, but camping at festivals is a whole different beast). Also, huge thank you to Regatta who kindly sent over all the camping bits we could possibly need to get started. They have an amazing sale on at the moment too!

The reason I’m tying a post about disconnecting with camping?

That weekend I realised how much I’m always in a rush, a ‘busy body’. There’s constantly something lurking on my to-do list, and without even realising that does add pressure to my day to day life and just makes everything feel hectic. I’m never going to escape this, but I can do things every once in a while that really take me out of that zone and come back feeling a little refreshed. Mindfulness definitely has the same positive effects for me, I’ve been using headspace for 15 minutes every morning and it really does work to just be a mini re-set before I start my day, but I feel like I need a full

With camping I really disconnected from my phone too. Kind of embarrassed to admit this, but those moments where I don’t have my phone it makes me realise how much I reach for it constantly, like it’s a safety blanket from nothingness and just being present. I’ve seen so many amazing posts about the benefits of a good old digital detox and I just wish I had listened sooner.

So, what did we actually do to fill our time? I did do a vlog of our trip where you can literally see everything if you enjoy a day in the life kinda vlog. We drank gin (Edinburgh Rhubarb and Ginger with Elderflower tonic as always), toasted marshmallows which was pretty lovely. We also attempted to make a giant s’mores, cos you know, camping, but actually we didn’t really end up eating that, the marshmallows were amazing on their own. I was kindly sent the toasting kit from The Naked Marshmallow Company, definitely recommend whether you’re camping or not – the Salted Caramel flavour was TO DIE FOR.

Another thing that really helped to disconnect was just being outside, I sit infront of a computer or some sort of screen for probably 85% of my working day so taking time away from that even just for the night was amazing (granted, we did get really lucky with the weather, it could be a whole different story if it was raining…). The whole experience has just made me want to do more to really put my phone down and enjoy each moment.

Camping isn’t something I see myself doing all the time, but on the odd weekend we’re going to try our best to pack up our bits, head to a new place in the UK and pitch up for the night. I’m yet to delve into two nights which at the moment I think would be my maximum (definitely enjoy home/house comforts for anything more). Even just day to day having time out has made me realise that throughout every day I need to take moments to just be in the present, not thinking about emails, clients or anything else.

How do you disconnect from everything?

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