My husband and I used to be great conversationalists, but after having our daughter three and a half years ago, our chat is almost exclusively schedule based. “What are your movements this week?” has become our most-used phrase, along with “Your turn to do the nursery pick up tonight?” And while we’re both very much aware that this is, like our toddler’s tantrums, “just a phase”, we used to love nothing more than a rambling chat that travelled here, there and everywhere, and I miss that about us.
And we’re not alone. Some studies suggest that 80 to 90 per cent of new mothers feel lonely after giving birth, with many spending hours of the day disconnected from other adults. Unfortunately, for some, that disconnect continues as their babies grow and they adapt to their new normal. I certainly found it difficult to go from babbling baby talk (or worse, silence) to thrilling conversation the minute my husband returned from work, and it’s something I feel that I’ve struggled with ever since; I seem to only have space in my mind these days for discussions about timetables. Which is hardly the key to an enriching tête-à-tête.
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With this in mind, and with Father’s Day fast approaching, in June I began searching for off-grid escapes in the UK and landed on the Kip Hideaways website, gazing longingly at a design-led, eco treehouse in a forest just outside of Hereford. Set in splendid isolation on a private 800-acre estate, the solar-powered two-bed property boasted a decking area with an outdoor hot tub, an alfresco shower, a kitchen and, crucially for me, no wifi.
The Kip website features stylish, under-the-radar self-catering accommodation, typically designed to a high standard, and quite often with eco credentials. Along with gorgeous, considered interiors designed by the owner, Harriet Churchwood and her husband, carpenter and musician Matt Pescod, in collaboration with Sophie Rowell of Côte de Folk, The Quist, as the treehouse was named, ticked all the boxes for an off-grid stay that – I hoped – would help my husband and me to reconnect.
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