The co-founder of a business which helps people聽with work-life balance聽says聽digital detoxing聽often聽isn’t聽a practical solution for聽those suffering burnout.
Vicky Hunter聽started events and marketing company LittleRed, which brings together off-the-beaten track getaways, after becoming overwhelmed with her busy life in London’s tech scene.
“London completely chewed me up and spat me out. There was no separation in work and life, no balance,” she told 老九品茶Cloud.
“This led to my co-founder and I putting on a week-long Italian retreat called MiPodere for London burnouts like ourselves.
“It was for people who needed to take a break from the big city but still have access to Wi-Fi so they could work if they wanted 鈥� there were planned activities but also downtime.
“The idea was around balance and giving people time away that’s not just completely disconnected but would send them back into work feeling rested, creative and knowing how to have more balance.”
Hunter is聽an experienced events聽and community manager who promotes tech networking聽movement Silicon Drinkabout – growing it to more than 30 cities around the world.
With聽LittleRed聽she聽scours the internet for getaways for people who want authentic experiences, which is no mean feat in a world saturated with 鈥榳ellness retreats鈥�.
Any experience featured on the site must be residential, must be about having a shared experience 鈥� so they aren鈥檛 aimed at groups of friends 鈥� and must be organised be people who really care.
“I want to get to a place where we鈥檝e built really good relationships with amazing off-grid venues 鈥� not big fancy hotels but small B&Bs in the mountains 鈥� and their organisers,” she said.
“When my co-founder and I were talking about MiPodere we wanted that wholesome feeling of drinking a glass of red wine on a leather sofa in front of the fire with friends.
“We aspired to support 鈥榖urgundy retreats鈥� 鈥� they鈥檙e not necessarily about being super healthy or active or zen, it鈥檚 about being cosy, comforting, nourishing.
“You can eat a lot, try great wine and you don鈥檛 need to completely detox from anything.”
A large part of this balance is around tech 鈥� something which Hunter had to nudge residents on, after finding that they were struggling to slow down.
“In the first few days at MiPodere the residents were all bit nervous and excited, and there was so much talking,鈥� she said.
“I realised no one was listening to each other so before dinner one night we asked everyone to sit down and close their eyes for a pre-dinner meditation.
“I reminded them that the purpose of the retreat was to slow down from their 100mph lifestyle. It鈥檚 about just taking a moment to be aware.
“At the start of the retreat we banned phones from the table. Tech is great and there are so many benefits but at the table it’s not necessary.
鈥淚 said 鈥業 know you鈥檙e all going to want to share pictures of the things you鈥檙e doing but imagine what happens if you couldn鈥檛 do that. You have to describe what you did yesterday and you get much more from it鈥�.鈥�
Aimed at anyone who wants to take a break, who doesn鈥檛 have anyone to go on holiday with and digital nomads who want something more focused than travelling, the site might be in its early stages – but Hunter has big plans for expansion.
With the goal of providing digital marketing for the experiences featured on the site, Little Red will also continue to run some of its own events, eventually branching out into company retreats.
“It’d be wonderful to meet people with a real skillset that they use professionally 鈥� for example, a history of art university professor 鈥� that runs a retreat twice a year where they share knowledge in a different way,鈥� she said.
“That鈥檚 the sort of person who won鈥檛 necessarily have a website but it鈥檚 something they do because they love it.”