How to Go Off Grid in Byron Bay
Dreaming of a holiday? Want to “get away from it all”? If unplugging from the constant barrage of emails, texts, social media alerts and more that come across your phone, computer and brain each day sounds like a great idea, then you should read on.
It’s important to unplug from everyone and everything for a few days every now and again. What better place to go off grid than Byron Bay? Here you’ll find the relaxed culture that fits well with people trying to take a holiday away from the daily grind. People will support your desire to put down the phone, to connect with those around you and perhaps spend some time exploring the natural surrounds.
Take a look through our tips and see how you can head to Byron Bay and take an off grid holiday of your own.
Set boundaries before you leave
In order to truly let go of the daily grind, it’s important to make sure your coworkers, friends and family (meaning those friends and/or family not coming on this holiday) understand you won’t be in contact and will only have your phone available for emergencies. Consider setting up a few boundaries for yourself in order to truly unplug:
- Set your phone to vibrate or better yet, plane mode
- Turn off any visual alerts
- Change your settings to fetch instead of push for all email and text messages
- Only check your phone at the end of the day or even every other day.
Local resources
Rather than relying on your phone or iPad to tell you where the nearest happy hour is, you’ll instead need to actually talk to the people around you. I know, it’s hard, but perhaps you find end up enjoying talking with a local about the best place to get coffee or a favourite surfing spot. It’s amazing how much extra knowledge and other recommendations you might get out of a conversation with a Byron Bay resident.
When you’re out grabbing a cup of coffee, talk to the person making your mocha. Ask where their favourite place to grab a bite is, the best surfing or swimming spot or a must-do during a short visit to Byron Bay.
Paper maps
Ok, so paper maps don’t talk to you or tell you EXACTLY how to get somewhere. But you can learn a lot by using the actual paper maps and forcing yourself to think about directions. Beyond helping you reinforce your knowledge of north, south, west and east, learning to read a map and understanding how to get from point A to point B is beneficial knowledge.
Spend time each evening before you head out to your activities the next day and plot your course. It’s also a good idea to get any equipment ready, such as camera gear, so you’re not fumbling around in the morning looking for the spare lens.
Use an actual camera
Yes, we know your phone has a camera, and that’s how EVERYONE takes photos these days. But that doesn’t mean you need to have your phone with you at all times in case you need to capture a moment. Instead, carry around a small film camera, and you’ll be able to get them printed later like the good old days, not knowing exactly what you captured.
Rather than standing around with your group posing over and over again for a group shot in front of one of your favourite Bryon Bay spots, you’ll just have to take a couple and hope you got something usable. And sometimes there’s a fun picture included in the mix that either you won’t remember taking or happens to be a really great surprise.
Plus you’ll have an added bonus when using film of capturing higher resolution photos of your holiday than if you had stuck with your iPhone. Typically film will garner some amazing results because it takes photos that are almost double the resolution of a phone camera or even a digital camera. So keep with the theme — ditch that phone!
iSnail mail
With everything moving to online delivery from bills, to happy birthday messages, it’s rare these days to get anything int the mail worth saving or even opening. But if you’re going off grid for the holiday, it would be fun to send what you might have said in text messages to friends or family in the actual mail. Perhaps you could spend a few extra minutes thinking it through and coming up with a good, thoughtful letter or postcard to mail.
If you want to go one step further, you could write down your memories or thoughts for the day, perhaps even on a postcard or on a postcard in an envelope to keep it private, to yourself. It’ll be a really cool way to remember your holiday!
Solar power train
Image source: Byron Bay Train
Another way to stay off grid while you’re in Byron Bay for your unplugging holiday is to utilise solar power resources. Byron Bay is not only known for its sunny days making obtaining solar power easy, but this town embraces solar power technology.
Byron Bay is home to the world’s first solar powered train. It was announced last autumn that Byron Bay would soon have a solar powered train as an option for transportation. With two platforms and running from North Beach to Byron Bay, the train offers a comfortable and environmentally friendly way to get around during your holiday. And on the plus side, you’re not using gas or coal, it’s just the natural sunlight.
Another way to get off grid is trying out some solar-powered gadgets. From lights, to a radio, to even providing hot water, you won’t miss out on the luxuries of life with these solar powered camping gadgets.
Here is a list of cool camping gear that will literally keep you from needing to “plug in.”
Play games
Image source: REI
Avoid the “I’m bored” statement and desire to grab a phone or iPad to entertain the kids, and instead play one of the camping games we’ve compiled. We made sure the games weren’t just suggestions for athletic kids and tried to pick games that were great for toddlers, young kids, teenagers and even adults. This family camping games list has something for everyone in your group.
Real music … And talking to (gasp!) each other
Does anyone in your group know how to play the guitar? Or sing? Or have any other musical talents? It might be fun to continue the theme of staying off devices and play actual music when you’re hanging out. Perhaps someone in your group could lead everyone in a few well-known songs, or they could entertain you with some songs of their own (not necessarily that they wrote themselves, but rather playing tunes they know how to play).
Of course, one of the best reasons to get off grid is the conversation. If you put down the phones as well as when just hanging around the campsite, then you might find yourself having an actual conversation with friends and family. It might give you a chance to reconnect and really explore topics with your old friend or cousin that you haven’t seen in years. Heck, you might even learn something you didn’t know!
Stay off grid at Broken Head Holiday Park
Here at Broken Head Holiday Park, we encourage the “going off grid” mentality by offering non-powered camping sites. This option allows you to fully immerse yourself in the theme of your holiday and not give into the temptation to grab your phone and read through those emails or fire off a text. You’ll also find other accommodation available if you don’t want to completely give up power, like the beach cabins or beach shacks. So grab your tent, pack up your car and head to Broken Head for a fun-filled, unplugged holiday. We bet you’ll feel relaxed and less overwhelmed once you return home!
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