1. Getting there

Your Field Guide will be sent to you via email after you receive your booking confirmation. This is your sacred tome for your Unyoked stay and includes directions, cabin-specific information, maps, troubleshooting, recipes and alerts. It’s a masterpiece, a planner's dream, even if we do say so ourselves. 

Travelling by car
If you’re heading to one of our cabins by car, It's important to know that you can't drive directly to the cabin at any of our locations. This is a deliberate choice by us to try and preserve the environmental integrity of the local area. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to switch-off and embrace nature when you can’t see your car.

Your parking spot depends on your spice level (well, explain that next) and is different at every cabin. We have wheelbarrows and a torch at your designated parking space so you can bring all your supplies with you to the cabin. Think of it as the start of your adventure.

Travelling by public transport

If you’re in the UK, you can check out your closest train and taxi route once you recieve your Field Guide, we'll have all the information handy for you.

If you are in Australia or New Zealand we don’t recommend relying on public transport as our cabins are pretty remote and there's not always drop-off locations close by.

Another note on getting there. Check in is from 3pm and we recommend you aim to get there before dark, not only is it super relaxing, it’s a whole lot safer if you’re driving on dirt roads with wildlife around.

We know life can get a bit busy sometimes though, so if you can't get out there before the sun goes down, that's totally fine/safe/doable as well.

If you're staying mid-week we recommend putting a meeting in your calendar for the day of check-in, label it "important business meeting" so people know it's important and definitely work-related. Then make your way to a cabin and get ready to swap the sound of email notifications for birdsong.

2. The walk to the cabin
When you look at our cabin pages you’ll notice the phrase “Adventure Level - Spicy”. The chilli scale is something we came up with back in the early days and is still with us today. Think of it like going to your favourite dumpling place. Do you feel like you could handle a full-on spice level taste explosion (and light searing of your tongue)? Or are you vibing more of a mild level, you want to enjoy the conversation a bit more, the ambience and not be living in and around the water jug?

In another probably off-the-mark metaphor, our chilli scale is similar to whatever that paragraph meant. For us, it really comes down to three key things:

• Length of walk/hike to arrive;
• Steepness of walk/hike to arrive, and;
• Level of remoteness.

The spiciness just helps you know what kind of level of off the grid you're in for. The adventure level grades are: 

• Mild 

• Medium 

• Spicy

• Extra Spicy

3. What to do for meals

That walk to the cabin got you feeling a little peckish? Let’s talk about food. Your cabin has everything you’ll need to cook up a storm, including; a 2-burner gas stove, mini-fridge, knives, wooden spoon, can opener, cutlery, plates/bowls, saucepan, frypan, bottle opener, oil, and salt and pepper. Outside, there’s a fire pit along with an array of outdoor cooking equipment provided like a cast iron pan and even a jaffle maker. Before heading out it is a good idea to plan out your meals and bring ingredients that work across multiple meals to save space and reduce waste. Remember that  whatever you pack you have to carry AND fit in a mini fridge. The fridges are bar sized, so plan ahead to have items you can keep out on the shelf - you've got plenty of space to store things.

Looking for some meal inspiration? head to the journal to look at recipes or check out the recipe section of your field guide.

4. Worries, Sorted

Your Unyoked stay is a bit different from staying at a hotel. We have all the creature comforts. While we do not have an added cleaning fee, we do ask that you take your rubbish with you when you leave. If you don’t fancy taking your rubbish you can pay for rubbish removal at the checkout or upgrade to our Worries, Sorted by Unyoked kit that includes:

• Late check out at 12pm (instead of 11am)

• Rubbish removal 

Worries, Sorted is available up until 24 hours before your trip just so we can give your hosts a heads up! If you do leave your rubbish and haven't paid for removal we’ll send through an invoice after your stay. A bit of background to our charges here, our hosts pay upfront themselves for extra removal of rubbish on their properties. Being in rural areas, many of our hosts do not have regular rubbish cycles like we do in the city, and as you can imagine if every guest left a bin bag of rubbish over the month of stays, it can put a lot of strain on them. 

The reason why we have to charge extra for the removal is so we can directly pay them for having extra rubbish trips either to the tip or for the extra rubbish fees that come with their property.

5. Pack light and pack for the weather

Suitcases with wheels are great in the airport, but walking up a grass covered hill…not so much. Ditch the suitcase and pack your belongings in a backpack and throw the rest in the wheelbarrow you’ll find at car space when you arrive. Trust us, you’ll be glad you packed light, especially on our spicier climbs.  

No matter the weather, there are a few things you’re going to want to pack; 

• A couple of changes of clothes, depending on how long you're staying

• Good, closed walking shoes that you don't mind getting a bit muddy for exploring

• Rain coat

• Something warm for nighttime - think thick socks and extra layers 

• Wellies if it's been wet recently

Well that's five and we could have gone on for five more, but some things you just have to experience. If you've still got questions we'd love to hear from 'em. Get in touch with the team and we'll have a chat.