I Spent 48 Hours Off Grid in Cheshire – And It Was the Best Reset I’ve Had in Years
Three hours and 27 minutes a day. A day.
That’s the average amount of time I spend staring at my personal phone. Not my work phone. Not my laptop. Not the television. Not the infotainment screen in my car. Just my phone.
Three hours and 27 minutes every day checking social media, replying to messages, reading emails I didn’t need to read, playing pointless games and engaging in what has become one of modern life’s most depressing hobbies – doomscrolling.
Then there’s everything else. Work. Traffic. Bills. Family.
The endless stream of notifications convincing us that everything is urgent.
At some point, I realised I wasn’t relaxing anymore. Even when I was supposedly “switching off”, I was still looking at a screen.
I needed a reset. Not a spa weekend. Not a city break. A proper reset.
That’s how I found Shacks.
Their off-grid cabins are scattered across some of the quietest corners of England and Wales. Tiny, beautifully designed retreats that strip life back to the essentials without feeling like you’re roughing it.
I booked two nights in Adhara, hidden away in the Cheshire countryside, around six miles outside Tarporley.
It wasn’t exactly the Serengeti, but I still had to download What3Words just to find it.
That immediately made me smile. No postcode. No street name. Just three random words leading me into the middle of nowhere.
Perfect.
I packed lightly. Walking clothes. A decent book. Steak. Eggs. Single malt whisky.
My dog, Ron.
The priorities were exactly where they should be.
The motorway eventually gave way to A roads, then B roads, then roads that looked like they’d been forgotten by the council sometime around 1987.
Eventually even those disappeared, leaving nothing but a rough farm track.
At around twenty to twelve I passed two people walking their dogs.
That turned out to be the last people I’d see for almost two days.
After parking, the final part of the journey was on foot across a field.
Then, sitting quietly on its own, was the shack.
Small. Simple. Beautiful.
Inside was everything I needed.
A compact kitchen with a gas hob, a fridge, cookware and a surprisingly comfortable bed. A separate bathroom. A wood-burning stove for colder evenings.
Outside there was a fire pit. And an outdoor bath.
Ron and I stood outside for a few minutes.
We listened. Nothing. No traffic. No phones ringing. No message notifications. No conversations blasting from someone’s speakerphone.
Just birdsong.
Leaves moving gently in the breeze – and obviously Ron panting loudly enough to remind me that silence is apparently relative.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I stopped trying to work out what I needed to do next.
Because there wasn’t anything.
No deadlines. No emails. No errands. Nothing. It felt oddly unfamiliar.
So I opened a beer, picked up my book and sat on the deck in the afternoon sunshine.
Every so often I’d glance up, almost to reassure myself this place was real.
Later that afternoon Ron and I wandered through the surrounding fields.
By then I’d stopped checking my phone altogether.
Not because I’d forced myself not to.
I’d simply forgotten it existed.
Back at the shack I lit the fire pit with the logs, kindling and firelighters that had been left for me.
Dinner was what I proudly christened Turf and Turf.
A rib-eye steak. Served with another rib-eye steak. No vegetables. No salad.
And, perhaps most importantly, nobody suggesting I should probably eat some.
The evening passed with whisky, steak, my book and a few slow walks around the fields with Ron before settling into bed.
He snored beside me like an asthmatic warthog. I watched the sun disappear beyond the trees. Then slept better than I had in months.
The birds clearly hadn’t received the memo about lie-ins, so the following morning began earlier than expected. Normally I’d have reached for my phone before my eyes were even fully open. This time I watched the sunrise instead. Coffee made from freshly ground beans. Bacon and eggs cooked over the fire pit. Hours spent reading. Walking. Thinking. Or perhaps not thinking.
That was the beauty of it.
There were villages, pubs and attractions nearby if I’d wanted them. I didn’t.
I’d come here to disappear for a while. I’m not usually a bath person. I get bored.
But as the second evening rolled around I poured another whisky, climbed into the outdoor bath and watched the sun set over the fields.
It turns out bathing outside while drinking single malt is considerably more enjoyable than I’d imagined.
By the time I packed the car to leave, I genuinely didn’t want to go home. Not because life at home is bad. Because life here was wonderfully uncomplicated.
Could I have switched my phone back on? Of course. Did I want to? Not for a second.
Modern life constantly demands our attention. Another notification. Another email. Another headline telling us the world is ending.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is walk away from it all for 48 hours.
If your evenings are dominated by endless scrolling or constant work emails – maybe it’s time for your own reset.
Because after nearly 48 hours without screens, without noise and without distractions, I drove past a farm just ten minutes after leaving and realised something.
They were the first people I’d seen since I’d arrived.
Now that’s what I call getting away from it all.
Words – Dan Riley
About Shacks
Shacks creates beautifully designed off-grid cabins in some of the UK’s most peaceful rural locations, offering guests the chance to slow down and reconnect with nature. Founded in Cheshire, the company hand-builds each cabin using sustainable materials and equips them with thoughtful comforts, including solar power, wood-burning stoves and cleverly designed off-grid facilities. Working closely with local landowners and farmers, Shacks creates low-impact escapes that blend seamlessly into the landscape while helping support rural communities. Whether you’re seeking a digital detox, a romantic retreat or simply a few days away from the demands of everyday life, Shacks proves you don’t need to sacrifice comfort to truly switch off.
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