These things usually start with a small moment of realisation. Like, you pick up your phone without really thinking about it… and then realise you’re not actually doing anything with it. Just scrolling, refreshing, checking, scrolling again. And suddenly it feels less like you’re using your phone and more like your phone is using you!
And at this point, it’s often when the idea of a digital detox starts to make a lot of sense to many people. Not necessarily as a dramatic lifestyle overhaul, but just as a well-needed mental break from the noise where you can disconnect with the tech and re-connect to yourself or maybe also to the person who you care about most in the world.
Thankfully for us, North Yorkshire is one of those places that naturally lends itself to this kind of reset. It’s open and quiet and unshowy, and somehow life seems to slow down here without needing to try so hard at it.
Find a venue that does the hard work for you
Tucked away near to the laidback market town of Easingwold, the brand new Taras Sarn Lodge is the sort of place that makes switching off feel less like a challenge and more like a natural consequence of where you are. Let’s be honest, digital detoxes sound pretty easy in theory until you’re sitting somewhere that’s still buzzing with distractions and stimulating your brain in more ways than you even notice it doing.
Taras Sarn sits quietly in the glorious Yorkshire countryside. It’s hidden away just enough that the world feels far off, but not so remote that it feels like an expedition to get there. And, yes there’s electricity but you would be forgiven for forgetting that it’s actually there. It’s more of a gently convenience than a constant presence. Yet, from the moment you arrive, things start to slow down on their own accord. It’s private, it’s peaceful, and it has been thoughtfully designed in a “you don’t need to do anything here” kind of way. Big windows look straight out onto fields, all around you is green, sheep are grazing and birds chatter to each other in the distance and the whole place feels calm without anything being forced.
Give yourself the permission to switch off
A digital detox works best when you set yourself up before you even arrive. Nothing complicated. Just a few key tick-offs…
- Turn off your non-essential notifications
- Set your out-of-office so your brain can stop ‘checking in’
- Decide in advance that you don’t need to be available for anyone during this time
- Download anything you might need, print it, then forget about it
And then just let it go for a bit.
Most people find that after even only a few hours at Taras Sarn, they stop thinking about their phone entirely anyway. It just sort of fades into the background. You might even pop it down somewhere and forget where you put it for the next few days,
Make your arrival feel like part of the reset
One of the most common and easiest mistakes you could make with a digital detox is not switching off straight away. You arrive, and suddenly you’re still checking your WhatsApp messages, you’re still Googling where the nearest grocery shop is to stock up on breakfast, and you’re still figuring out what to do nearby by scrolling the ‘gram’ for ideas. The intention is there, but you’re not quite ready to commit to it yet.
But, when you arrive at Taras Sarn, the awkward wind-down period doesn’t have to exist.
You walk in, take a breath, take a look around and everything you need is already there. Some local treats waiting for your next day’s brekkie, beautiful bed linen waiting to be sunk into, and a space that feels easy to be yourself in without having to venture out to find fun.
Step outside and you’ll find a private garden enclosed by traditional post-and-rail fencing with wildflower-seeded lawns gently blending into the fields beyond. Depending on the season, you can even help yourself to fresh herbs, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers growing on the veranda. A simple pleasure that somehow feels way more satisfying than anything you’ll ever find in a Tik-Tok video.
So instead of fussing around, you can actually do what you came to do..slow down. Maybe that means making a cup of tea and just sitting for a bit. Or opening your complimentary bottle of Yorkshire wine and watching the light change outside. No agenda, no rush. Just going with the flow.
Rediscover how nice the simple things are
After a while offline, you start remembering things you’d forgotten were enjoyable like cooking up something simple but delicious and finishing it off with a sprig of basil, or reading a book and actually reading it without checking your phone halfway through, or having a conversation that isn’t interrupted by the rudeness of pinging notifications.
There’s a proper kitchen for slow dinners in, a cosy, comfortable interior that makes staying in feel better than going out anyway, and then there’s the outdoor bath tub! We know you’ll agree that there’s something about sinking into warm water outside, with nothing but open sky and birdsong above you, that makes the idea of YouTube scrolling feel suddenly completely irrelevant, silly even.
Let Yorkshire quietly take over your schedule
You don’t need a packed itinerary here. In fact, the less you plan, the better it tends to feel.
Around Easingwold, you’ve got easy access to walks, small villages, and big open countryside that doesn’t ask anything of you. The North York Moors National Park isn’t far, and places like Rievaulx Abbey and Byland Abbey are the kind of stops that feel peaceful rather than touristy. But honestly, there’s no pressure, one of the nicest parts about staying somewhere like Taras Sarn is realising that you don’t actually need to be anywhere or visit anywhere at all to get the most out of your stay.
Notice how evenings hit differently
One of the coolest things about being on a digital detox in the Yorkshire countryside is how evenings feel like an actual event again and not just something that happens in between screentime.
At Taras Sarn, as the light fades over the fields, everything gets quieter in a really noticeable way. You might have a game of cards, turn the radio on, open a bottle of wine, sit outside for a while, or just do absolutely nothing at all. And somehow, that feels like enough.
You go to bed earlier without consulting your sleep tracker, and you sleep so much better without realising why. And you wake up without that usual mental noise that comes from reaching for your phone or tablet the moment your eyelids open.
A digital detox isn’t about becoming someone who never uses their phone again. It’s more subtle than that. It’s about noticing how loud everything usually is, and remembering what it feels like when it isn’t.
Places like Taras Sarn Lodge don’t force that change. They just make it easy. And once you’ve had a few days like that in the Yorkshire countryside, you tend to carry a bit of it home with you.
Even if the emails are still there when you get back…!
