The phrase 'off-grid' might conjure images of a flea-bitten shack in the Adirondacks, but that’s way off the mark in 2022
Somewhere in the wilds of Cumbria there is a bus, and on top of that bus there sits another, slightly smaller bus. This unholy splicing — the gentle hump of a VW campervan fused onto the hulking cuboid of an American community coach — is characteristic of the off-grid “Skoolie” movement in the US, which sees people swapping bricks and mortar for life on the road in a converted municipal vehicle. But that must be where the similarity ends, because there can’t be many Skoolies with an Aga.
“Really, it’s just like a hotel room,” says John Graham. “It’s everything you need and nothing else. No TV or anything like that, but the things that are there are a bit more curated and there for a purpose. Things can become quite luxurious when you’re at the top of a mountain… but not“The difference with our accommodation is that you are off-grid and you’re completely in the middle of nowhere,” he continues.
Around 70 per cent of Hinterlandes clients are from London and below. Southerners, it would seem, are the keenest to reset, which is why entrepreneurs Ben Elliott and Hector Hughes launchedin 2021. The company targets those looking to escape “endless Zoom calls” and the like, and insists that guests who stay at one of its 11 secluded cabins must lock their phones and devices away when they check in.“We’re not just a cabin company,” Elliott tells me.
In operation for just a year, Unplugged has already noted three key subsets of guest. The bulk of bookings are made by couples who need some dedicated time together. “Perhaps one person is annoyed that the other is always on their phone,” suggests Elliott. Then there are the families with young kids, looking to escape for some quality time. And, perhaps most intriguingly, there are the solo businesspeople who need space to think.
Gladstone likens the concept to a business-class cabin. High-flying passengers may claim they need a big desk to work but, in reality, they only look at their laptop for an hour or so before settling back and watching a film. At Glen Dye, guests can walk in the woods, swim in the rivers, or even try their hand at bushcraft — “but I don’t think, in reality, people want to be truly off-grid,” he says. “We find people want WiFi.
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