Oftentimes, running is the best way to discover the ins and outs
of the area you’re visiting. Whether you’re a seasoned marathoner
or tend to alternate between a power walk and jog, strapping on
your Nikes during a free hour in the morning can lead you down
less-travelled paths and allow you to stumble upon the café where
you’ll later head for breakfast, or a sweet picnic spot.

Round up the troops and orchestrate an at-home bootcamp to make
the most of the free time you have that would typically be spent
mindlessly scrolling until dinnertime. This activity is best done
by making the most of your natural surroundings, depending on where
you are. Plan hill sprints if you’re staying somewhere mountainous,
or incorporate army crawls across and yoga
poses into your beachfront workout. It’s a great activity for big
groups (and competitive ones) and gives you all the more reason (as
if you needed one) for ordering large later.

Most of us have that shameful nightstand
stack of half-read books
begging to be finished. Take an internet-free holiday as an
opportunity to finish off the ones you’ve been “meaning to read”
for the past two years. If you’re renting a house, you’re likely to
find a couple of books on the shelves, so pick up something you
wouldn’t normally choose. Alternatively, scout out a book that
relates to the place you’re visiting (so long as it’s in a language
you understand).

Without the ability to quickly tap words into Google Translate,
you’ll find that memorising a few important phrases and expressions
can come in extremely handy. Pick up a phrasebook and spend your
WiFi-less hours perfecting your pleases and thank yous. If you
already have a rough base in the local language, this is the
perfect opportunity to brush up on your German grammar or French
verb conjugations.

Just about any rental home has board games, whether it’s
Scrabble or a poker set, that can bring out playful rivalries and
keep you occupied until cocktail hour. If you’re not so lucky, buy
a pack of cards while you’re out in town or team up for some good
old-fashioned charades. Not only will this bring your group
together, but it’s also far more sociable than being glued to your
screen.