What happens when you plan a trip with one goal: to disappear from your phone, your inbox, and the news for as long as you can stand it?
Tony Fletcher is a British music journalist and the author of seven books, including the bestselling Keith Moon biography Moon and the definitive R.E.M. biography Remarks Remade. He started the fanzine Jamming! as a teenager in London and has spent decades interviewing artists across the music world. He now lives in New York's Catskill Mountains, where he writes about music, travel, and running.
Tony just got back from a solo month in Nepal, where a big part of the trip was a deliberate digital detox: two weeks completely offline, no email, no social media, no news. He joins me to talk through how he planned it, what it actually felt like to disconnect, and the unconventional route he took into the mountains.
This is a conversation about what happens when you actually let go, not just of your phone, but of the need to always know what's going on. Tony went in with real doubts about whether he could pull it off, and those doubts followed him further into the trip than he expected. What came back out the other side surprised even him, touching habits and instincts he wasn't trying to change. There's also a quieter thread running through it about choosing the harder, lonelier path on purpose, and what that choice does to how you experience a place.
Have you ever taken a real break from your phone or the news while traveling, and what did you notice about yourself in the quiet? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.
Tune In To Learn:
How he prepared mentally in the week beforehand, and how many times he nearly talked himself out of it
Advice for planning a trek that starts right from your hotel room instead of taking transport to the trailhead
Why he chose a quieter route over the two most popular options
How trekking solo and unsupported changed the pace of each day
What quitting coffee and alcohol on the trail taught him about resetting his habits
How stepping away from his phone opened up more conversations with strangers
Why he gave himself an extra week away from the news even after getting back online
Advice on budgeting, accommodation, and food costs on a multi-week trek
The story of nearly losing his phone for good, and what it says about staying present
And so much more
Resources:
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Tony's Substack
Nepal Trekking and the Great Himalaya Trail by Robin Boustead
CalTopo
Trekking Nepal: Your Adventure Guide podcast by Zero To Travel
Want More?
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