Getaway House Review

Hey, adventurers.

I’m really happy to be sharing a travel related post today. Last year at this time, I was traveling through Australia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Bali and South Africa — and this year, going to New Hampshire for an overnight trip feels like a HUGE deal. Oh, the flow of life…

This week, I stayed in a tiny house for the first time. A tiny cabin in the woods. And it was magnificent. :)

Joel had been sending me photos of Getaway Houses for a few weeks, and we finally decided to try it out. Since we stayed in glass igloo in Finland last Valentine’s Day, we thought it would be a fun idea to continue the tradition and stay in a tiny cabin this year.

Getaway House is a company that rents out tiny cabins in the woods outside of New York City, Boston, and Washington, DC. The cabins are guaranteed to be a 2 hour drive or less from those major cities, but they don’t tell you the exact address until you book your stay. This is to encourage more spontaneity as far as trip planning goes, and also, I’d imagine, to keep an atmosphere of privacy and tranquility at the campsites.

So we booked 1 night at the Boston location (we’d be driving out from Newburyport, MA) and a few days before, they sent us the exact location (which was in southern New Hampshire, exactly 1 hour from Newburyport).

Along with the location, they sent us a playlist for the drive! That was one of my favorite parts of the pre-trip communication. So we listened to that playlist (and the Walter Mitty soundtrack), which was awesome.

We had a beautiful drive, and soon enough we pulled up to the Getaway sign. I was sort of freaking out with excitement, but also anxious about turning my phone off  – we both agreed we’d keep our phones in airplane mode, and not use them except for a few photos.

 

 

 

We drove down a dirt path and saw so many more cabins than we were expecting — maybe 25 or so? Most of them had a car in the driveway. This place was packed with guests, but totally quiet. The cabins were far enough from each other that you had total privacy, but close enough that you could see that there was other life around. I liked that — peace and quiet but not complete isolation. From our cabin, we could see 3 other cabins.

Each cabin has a name. Our cabin was named June. 

We booked a 4-person cabin, because on this particular night all the 2-person cabins were booked. From what I can tell, for the most part, the 4-person cabins are almost identical to the 2-person cabins, except there are 2 queen beds (bunked) in the 4-person cabin. So when you look at these photos, to get an idea of the 2-person cabin, just delete the top bunk in your mind. :) 

 

 

 

Here’s the inside of the cabin: 

2 queen beds, table (with some storage space under the table), and gorgeous windows out to the forest.

Kitchen with 2 burners on the stove, mini fridge, and coffee/tea/food (for an extra charge).

The Getaway team sent us the name of a nearby store to pick up food or supplies on the way (which we did), although you could easily show up at Getaway House empty handed and make it work, as far as food and beverages go. For a few extra dollars, there’s firewood for your fire, coffee, tea, snacks, and enough food for a couple of small meals (think oatmeal, pasta and sauce, etc). 

They also have the basics for cooking, included in the price — salt, pepper, hot sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, etc. There was a jug of water provided, too.

Since we only had 1 night, we brought food for dinner and breakfast (burgers, guacamole, asparagus, eggs, bacon, potatoes, salad greens).

 

 

I LOVED the “Pocket Pourover” Kuju coffee!! The perfect coffee for traveling or camping. The little coffee filter “anchors” on your mug, and you pour the hot water over it. I was really impressed.

 

All the kitchen essentials you need to make an awesome camp meal.

 

Great shower.

Electric toilet — with foil and vacuum suction inside. I’d never seen one of those before. That was the one thing that kept reminding me that we weren’t in an indoor hotel. ;)

Plenty of reading material for after you put your cell phone away. I actually did flip through the “How To Stay Alive In The Woods” for tips on building the perfect campfire…

 

Cellphone lockbox! We kept our phones in here the whole time, except when I wanted to take a photo or play music – but I kept my phone on airplane mode the whole time – no texting, email, calls, or instagram stories…

The only drawback to keeping my phone in airplane mode was — I couldn’t play the Spotify playlist Getaway House had sent me for the weekend. I didn’t want to risk turning my phone back on and getting any notifications, since my goal was to be notification-free for our stay. So make sure to download that playlist to your phone before you get there!

Dinner cooked on the fire. We ate outside, even though it was the middle of the winter! We bundled up and sat by the fire for warmth. That cabin in the background is our neighbor — so that gives you an idea of how close the cabins were to each other. Close enough, but not too close.

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View from bed. I could get used to this.

Me enjoying that awesome coffee with a view.

 

Joel getting some writing done at night.

 

 

Breakfast. Cooked inside on the skillet.

 

 

Another bonus: the reading lights by the bed doubled as lanterns that we could take outside.

 

In the morning, we took a walk before breakfast and checked out all the other cabins on the property. It was quiet and peaceful and beautiful.

Overall, we loved it and can’t wait to go back. The company has recently added more cabins, with the hope that people will “make these escapes part of their wellness routine.” Check the Getaway House site for more info…and get yourself off that phone and into the woods!!!

A note on the digital detox part of it — my phone was off for less than 24 hours, and I was already feeling the benefits of it. The bliss of being totally notification-free was incredible. I didn’t want to turn my phone back on, and in the time that I’ve been home I’ve been keeping my phone away from me much more — and noticing carefully when I’m using it mindlessly, or spending lots of time simply responding to notifications. I can see how much being in response mode derails my focus on the things that really matter to me.

I loved the peace of just staring into nature, breathing the forest air and being deliberately slower in my pace. It’s one of my favorite travel experiences to date.

Have you stayed at Getaway House? Or another tiny house cabin? What was it like?!