Tiny eco-homes offer vacationers place to be alone

ANTWERP, Belgium -- One year into the pandemic, just about everyone's travel experience has changed.

So it's not surprising that someone came up with this: Instead of a cabin on a Mediterranean cruise ship where vacationers mill around with thousands of others, the total opposite -- complete solitude, on land, in the middle of nowhere.

And instead of all the luxury of pre-covid-19 life with air-conditioning, four-course dinners and cocktails, these wooden cabins carry a warning: Don't stay in the shower too long, it might get cold. And don't bother looking for Wi-Fi.

The Slow Cabin, a concept of Antwerp entrepreneur Xavier Leclair, offers all this and even less: Little chance of catching coronavirus in the fully sustainable, tiny eco-homes.

"One of our main reasons to go to this cabin was to escape from work and other overloads. To disconnect from the internet and to reconnect with each other, nature and a simpler life," said Kim Devos, from Erpe, Belgium, who recently booked a weekend with her partner, Guy De Deyn.

Each eco-cabin is outfitted with solar panels, rainwater collectors, a wood-burning stove, a small kitchen and bathroom with a dry toilet. An abundance of large windows offers the best reality show: nature itself.

The solar batteries store a limited amount of energy and the water reservoir is only so big, all of which can be monitored. The consciousness of how you are using these resources is meant to be taken back home with you.

And when the locations of the cabins become too well-known, they are easily pulled up and transported.

Trees line a wood outside of a Slow Cabin in Zandbergen, Belgium, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Trees are reflected in a picture window in the sleeping area of a Slow Cabin in Zandbergen, Belgium, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Two chairs are placed next to a fire pit and wood is stacked under a Slow Cabin awaiting a visitor in Zandbergen, Belgium, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A couple follow a sign in the woods for the Slow Cabins in Zandbergen, Belgium, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Solar panels on the roof generate energy for a Slow Cabin in Zandbergen, Belgium, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A couple go for a walk in the woods near a Slow Cabin in Zandbergen, Belgium, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Guy De Deyn, enjoys a wood fire as he prepares the table for a game of cards in a Slow Cabin in Elewijt, Belgium, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Guy De Deyn and his partner Kim Devos enjoy a wood fire as they read a book together in a Slow Cabin in Elewijt, Belgium, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. With travel restrictions placed on Belgium due to COVID-19, the eco-friendly cabins encourage visitors to slow down and re-connect with nature by immersing themselves closer to home and making new discoveries. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Guy De Deyn and his partner Kim Devos enjoy a wood fire and a game of cards in a Slow Cabin in Elewijt, Belgium, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi.(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Kim Devos, from Erpe, Belgium looks out the sliding door of a Slow Cabin in Elewijt, Belgium, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. These Slow Cabins, set up the Belgian countryside, are the new way to vacation in pandemic times: in complete solitude and in the middle of nowhere. The wooden cabins are fully sustainable, provided you don't stay in the shower too long and you can live without Wi-Fi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)