Do you feel that this year has flown by even faster than last year's breathtaking speed? You are not alone.
As 2025 staggers towards its inevitable end and inboxes begin to fill with out-of-office auto replies once more, collective cravings for a digital detox become harder to ignore.
The end-of-year silly season beckons, making this just the right time to plan a getaway where you can take time off, not just time out.
Time off most often means stepping away from work obligations. It's not designed to disconnect you completely from screens, bad news, notifications and the mental clutter of modern digital life.
Time out, by contrast, is intentional withdrawal from stimulation itself. It's a pause not just from productivity but from the constant input and output of the digital world.
In the overloaded information era, in which even leisure is algorithmically curated, time out becomes a radical act of self-preservation. It's the difference between resting while still scrolling and truly resetting the nervous system.
It makes digital detox not indulgence but maintenance for body and mind -- and even spirit, should you so desire. It requires time in sacred places that offer a true change of pace.
These are ecologically coherent and emotionally grounding spaces where Mother Nature is still firmly in charge; where the loudest notifications are birdsong, rustling trees, murmuring ocean waves and dune forests; where the only algorithms are the ones with which your circadian rhythm was born.
Below are six sacred spaces off the commonly beaten tracks. The first is a South Atlantic Island, where your guide just might turn out to be its newly re-elected health and social welfare minister.
St Helena -- the South Atlantic's best-kept secret
This tiny, remote island is a British Overseas Territory alongside Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is situated about midway between Southern Africa and South America, though closer to Africa.
It is famously known as Napoleon Bonaparte's final place of exile. His now-empty tomb still draws curious visitors. With a population of just 4,000, St Helena is better known for dramatic scenery, bottomless charm and clean air that even tastes different -- pure, mineral and ocean-scented.
Oh, and its crime rate is so low that residents don't lock their front doors.
The island was formed by undersea volcanic eruptions linked to the St Helena hotspot, beginning about 14-million years ago. Volcanoes usually conjure dramatic images of danger rather than serenity and healing, but all volcanic activity ceased on St Helena about 7-million years ago.
The island's rugged terrain embraces cliffs that drop precipitously into clear turquoise waters. Eroded volcanic features provide fertile soil, striking landscapes and a unique ecological niche for endemic species.
Energetic visitors can climb the 699 steps of Jacob's Ladder or hike to Diana's Peak, where endemic plants and birds thrive in misty solitude.
The small population means that government ministers often juggle public service with private enterprise.
Martin Henry, recently re-elected as minister of health & social welfare, moonlights as an eco-tour guide. His company, Econnect Saint Helena, began as a hobby and now offers pedal-assist, eco-conscious e-bike adventures that blend cycling with hiking and local storytelling.
Air access to the island is only from SA. Before St Helena's first airport opened in 2018, travel meant a long voyage by ship from Cape Town. Airlink is the only airline connecting St Helena to the outside world. It operates a weekly flight from Johannesburg and extra flights from Cape Town during peak southern summer months from December to February.
The climate is classified as mild subtropical maritime. Temperatures range from 14ºC in cooler months to 23º in warmer ones. The gentle seasonal shifts and comfortable humidity make it ideal for outdoor activities year-round.
St Helena is also a destination for corporate and team-building retreats. In August, the Titans' full squad and coaching staff chose it for their preseason training. They benefited from the island's isolation and pristine environment that offer a rare opportunity for focused sports training, free from distractions.
South Africans don't need a visa to visit, nor do citizens of Australia, Canada, most of Europe and more than 80 other countries.
The Pelion Peninsula of Greece
Greece's rejuvenating heart beats as strongly on the lush, sea-kissed slopes of Pelion as on the tourist-trap islands of Mykonos, Santorini, Crete and Corfu.
Pelion is one of my favourite Greek sacred spots, not just because my paternal grandfather was born in Volos, the nearest big city that is the gateway to the Pelion peninsula.
The mountainous peninsula curls between the Aegean and Pagasetic Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Volos. It's where mythology and mindfulness meet.
Legend has it that Pelion was the home of the half-beast, half-sage centaurs. Today it draws travellers who value authenticity over artifice and silence over selfies.
It offers clean air, unvarnished beauty, forests thick with olive and chestnut trees, wild beaches and villages suspended in time.
The village of Makrinitsa clings to the mountainside with cobbled lanes scented with jasmine and wood smoke. Tsagarada hides deeper still, where stone bridges cross quicksilver streams.
Tucked into the forested folds of inland Pelion are the villages of Milies, Vizitsa and Pinakates, which host meditative retreats, where rustling leaves and distant goat bells shape the silence.
Far from the coast, these highland sanctuaries offer stone-built guesthouses, chestnut groves and cobbled paths that invite slow walking, deep breathing and a return to grounded rhythms.
Fernando de Noronha -- an archipelago off Brazil's northeast coast
Fernando de Noronha is officially an archipelago consisting of 21 islands and islets. Its eponymous main inhabited island makes up most of the land area.
It is a Unesco World Heritage Site due to its ecological significance and biodiversity. Authorities cap visitor numbers to keep the silence sacred, the beaches pristine and the waters clear enough to spot sea turtles and dolphins.
The island's trails invite quiet walks through indigenous forests.
Accommodation ranges from simple, family-run guesthouses to comfortable eco-lodges built with sustainability in mind, using solar power and recycled rainwater.
Life moves at a slower pace here, encouraging visitors to unplug, rest and enjoy the natural surroundings.
The Rodopi Mountains of Bulgaria
Time spent surrounded by mountains is one of Mother Nature's most cherished healing prescriptions. It slows the breath, quiets the mind and reawakens the senses with clean air, shifting light and unfiltered stillness.
The altitude lifts more than just the body; it lifts perspective, offering space to think, feel and simply to be.
The ancient range of Bulgaria's Rodopi Mountains is rich in myth and biodiversity, home to protected nature reserves and quiet villages that support low-impact tourism. Visitors can hike through pine forests, breathe clean mountain air and settle into healing, natural rhythms.
The landscape itself encourages physical movement and mental clarity, making it a natural antidote to overstimulation.
Rhodes village, SA's Eastern Cape
If you're South African and prefer healing time much closer to home, Rhodes village tucked deep in the southern Drakensberg Mountain range is more than a best-kept secret.
The scenic hamlet is a bold experiment in mountain living where rejuvenation is built into the terrain. Surrounded by snow-dusted peaks in winter and wild flower meadows in summer, the village sits beside the Bell River, famed for its tranquillity and trout fishing.
The air is crisp, the silence profound and the altitude itself seems to stretch time and slow it down. Whether you're hiking, fly-fishing or simply watching mist roll over the ridges, Rhodes offers a slow, primordial rhythm.
Nearby, Ben Macdhui towers above the landscape, offering panoramic views and a sense of scale that recalibrates the mind.
"Ben" is an anglicised form of the Gaelic "Beinn", meaning mountain. Ben Mac, as locals call it, is not the absolute highest point in SA. But it is the highest point in the Eastern Cape and a defining feature of the region's rugged beauty.
Rhodes village is chocolate-box pretty but not polished or curated. It is raw, remote and quietly radical, with a growing community of artists. With limited connectivity, access to gourmet, home-cooked, artisanal meals, breads and cheeses made wilocal produce, and a climate that demands presence, it is ideal for digital detoxes and nature-based healing.
The village's conservation ethos and dramatic setting make it a compelling destination for those seeking altitude -- and attitude -- not just in geography but also in spirit.
Portugal's Alentejo region
Visitors to Portugal often bypass Alentejo for Lisbon or the Algarve. The locals don't mind if they do.
Alentejo's rolling plains, cork forests and medieval towns invite slow travel and deep rest. Organic farms, solar-powered retreats and rewilding projects reflect a commitment to regenerative living.
The Mediterranean diet here is not a trend but a lifestyle. It is fresh, local, delicious and heart-healthy.
Alentejo is a perfect place where wellness is woven into the land.
These are just some of the many lesser-known sacred spaces scattered across the globe where the world bows to nature's power, the lure of Wi-Fi fades and the sense of universal connection deepens.
At heart, these are places where you can go not to escape life but to remember how best to live it.