A growing number of us simply can't switch off - even on holiday. Photograph: Rick Gomez/Corbis
Suffering from exhaustion? It seems that in our brave new high-tech world, switching off is quite literally becoming mission impossible. Gone are the days when taking a precious couple of weeks out of the office to laze on a beach or escape to your caravan in Cornwall meant that you were not only out of sight but incommunicado. Remember the good old days when a holiday was a holiday and intruding on your private time out - unless in the event of emergency - was deemed the height of bad manners?
The global reach of mobile phone networks and the proliferation of internet cafes, even in the most remote hill tribe communities, means that going off radar is no easy feat. It is now possible to conduct daily business in virtually any part of the world - a welcome leap in technological progress if you're actually travelling on business but an invisible rope to the daily grind if you're not.
But this failure to disconnect when we should be decompressing with a margarita works both ways. While the boss may well leave you alone, it seems a growing number of us can't even sit on a beach without resisting the urge to text message all our friends and family, or worse, catch up on the gossip back at the office.
Some people may jokingly refer to a BlackBerry as a "crackberry", but according to psychologists, the potential to develop an addiction to these kinds of communication devices is very real. In fact, The Priory - where the stars famously retreat when they're "suffering from exhaustion" - is just one of many rehab centres that now offers cold turkey for text message addicts along with alcohol, drug and gambling addictions.
If you can't trust yourself to just switch off, why not go roaming without your gadgets? Got the shakes already? While finding a holiday destination where your mobile might not work can be a challenge, where there's a will there's a techno-free haven waiting to be discovered.
In fact, having plugged into this modern epidemic, some smart tour operators are now promoting "reception-free" destinations as a major unique selling point. For example, Australia Pacific Touring offers a selection of tours to destinations, including 4WD adventures in Queensland's beautiful Fraser Island, the wilds of Tasmania and Kangaroo Island, where you're guaranteed to be cut off.
USA Today suggests a trip to California's Death Valley - 3,000 square miles of dry, desolate desert without telecommunications of any form. Huge swaths of Nevada, California, Idaho, Arizona and Maine are also signal-free - a perfect rehab-zone for BlackBerry addicts. Some of America's most beautiful parks and forests, including Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park, Washington's Olympic National Park and California's Yosemite National Park, also have either a patchy service or none at all.
But in order to switch off, do we really have to go Down Under or brave Death Valley? What about Europe and peaceful retreats on home turf? Where are your top holiday destinations for relaxing without the ringtones? Do you always travel mobile-free? Or are you tempted to try it for the first time this year?
