Top tips for cutting out technology whilst on the road
It feels slightly ridiculous to write about digital detoxing while sitting at a laptop, surrounded by tabs, notifications and the quiet panic of an inbox that simply refuses to behave.
But perhaps that’s exactly why we need to talk about it.
Because somewhere between checking the route, finding a campsite, replying to a WhatsApp, photographing the sunset, posting the sunset, and then accidentally watching 14 videos of a dog in a raincoat… the whole “getting away from it all” thing can start to feel suspiciously connected.
And when you’re on the road in a campervan, that feels like a tiny bit of a waste.
A van trip gives you one of life’s rarest luxuries: proper space. Space to breathe, wander without purpose, drink tea slowly, and remember what clouds look like when they’re not being used as an Instagram backdrop.
So, how do you actually switch off when your phone is also your map, camera, weather oracle, music player and emergency “where is the nearest decent coffee?” machine?
Here are a few gentle, realistic tips for cutting down screen time while making the most of your campervan escape.
Are we all a tiny bit hooked?
Let’s not pretend we’re above it. Most of us have done the absent-minded pocket pat. The “just checking the time” scroll. The deeply unnecessary campsite WiFi speed test.
Ofcom has previously reported that people in the UK check their smartphones, on average, every 12 minutes of the waking day, while more recent reporting on Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025 found UK adults spend roughly four and a half hours online each day. Which is… a lot of thumb mileage.
And it makes sense. Apps are designed to be colourful, rewarding and endlessly interesting. There’s always one more message, one more photo, one more weather update, one more tiny dopamine biscuit for your brain.
But the lovely thing about a campervan holiday is that it gives you a brilliant excuse to step away from all that.
Not forever. Not dramatically. No need to throw your phone into a loch.
1. Make bedtime a no-scroll zone
Sleeping in a campervan is one of the great joys of life.
You can curl up under a cosy duvet while rain taps on the roof. You can crack the door open and watch the last bit of light disappear behind the hills. You can lie there in a little wooden cocoon, feeling smugly snug while the world gets on with being wild outside.
What slightly ruins the magic? A late-night scroll that starts with “I’ll just check tomorrow’s route” and ends 47 minutes later on a video explaining how otters hold hands.
Try putting your phone away an hour before bed. Pop it on silent. Better still, put it somewhere deeply inconvenient, like a cupboard, bag or drawer that requires actual movement to access.
Your brain gets the memo faster when your phone isn’t glowing next to your pillow like a tiny rectangle of chaos.
2. Turn your screen grey
This one sounds odd, but stick with us.
The world outside your van is doing some fairly spectacular colour work. Golden beaches. Green hills. Moody blue mountains. Pink skies. Heather, moss, sea, stone, sunlight, firelight.
Your phone, meanwhile, is shouting in bright little app icons designed to grab your attention.
Switching your phone to greyscale makes it instantly less tempting. It doesn’t remove the internet. But it does make your screen feel a bit more like a boring instruction manual and a bit less like a sweet shop for your eyes.
Which, when you’re parked somewhere beautiful, is no bad thing.
3. Pack an actual notebook
Phones are useful. Obviously. But they are also treacherous little distraction portals.
You open Notes to jot down a beach recommendation and suddenly you’re replying to a message, checking the weather, reading reviews of a pub you may or may not visit, and somehow watching a goat climb a tree.
A notebook is much less slippery.
Use it for route ideas, campsite names, food shopping lists, sketches, silly quotes, places you want to come back to, or tiny travel diary entries like:
“Found excellent bakery. Ate pastry in lay-by. No regrets.”
It might feel old-fashioned at first, but by the end of your trip you’ll have something far lovelier than another forgotten note on your phone. You’ll have a little paper trail of the adventure.
4. Let the map have a moment
Google Maps is brilliant. We love it. We respect it. We would also like it to stop being in charge all the time.
One of the best things about travelling by campervan is the freedom to change your mind. To take the scenic route. To follow a brown sign because it says “ancient woodland” or “viewpoint” or “world’s largest something-or-other”.
So try this: keep a paper road map in the van. Circle a few places. Pick a wiggly road. Follow your nose.
You do not need every journey to be the fastest possible route between two points. Sometimes the best bit of the trip is the bit you would never have chosen if a satellite was barking instructions at you.
Just remember to check road suitability for your van before heading down anything that looks suspiciously like a sheep path.
5. Choose one photo moment, then put the phone away
Campervan holidays are full of photo-worthy moments. The morning brew with a view. The sunset through the back doors. The dog looking windswept and slightly crazed. The breakfast that somehow tastes better because it was cooked on two rings.
Take the photo. Enjoy the photo.
Then put the phone away and stay in the moment for a bit.
You don’t need to capture every second to prove it happened. Some memories are better when they’re a little bit blurry, windblown and entirely your own.
6. Create tiny offline rituals
A digital detox doesn’t have to be a grand, life-changing event. It can be small and very doable.
Morning coffee before checking your phone.
A walk with your phone tucked away.
Dinner by candlelight, not screen light.
One whole hour where nobody mentions signal.
A board game. A book. A swim. A nap. A proper stare at the sea.
Tiny rituals add up. Before you know it, you’ve spent half a day barely touching your phone and, astonishingly, the world has continued spinning.
7. Use your phone as a tool, not the trip
Let’s be realistic: you might need your phone.
For directions. For bookings. For weather warnings. For finding the nearest emergency snacks.
A digital detox on the road doesn’t have to mean going fully off-grid. It simply means deciding when your phone gets your attention, rather than letting it nibble away at every quiet moment.
Download maps in advance. Save booking details offline. Make a playlist before you leave. Tell people you’ll be slower to reply. Then give yourself permission to be joyfully unavailable.
The joy of switching off
Being in a campervan is already a little rebellion against the rush.
You’ve got your bed, your kettle, your favourite socks and the open road. You can wake up somewhere new, cook breakfast with the doors open, chase better weather, sit out a storm, follow a coastline, disappear into the hills, and remember that entertainment existed long before unlimited data.
You don’t have to abandon technology completely.
But you might find that stepping away from it, even just for a few hours a day, makes your road trip feel bigger, calmer and much more memorable.
So put the phone down. Look up. The view’s been waiting.
