SCREEN-FREE BLISS

In a bid to keep her young daughter away from her devices, Eddi Fiegel explores the laidback Caribbean island of St Kitts

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As I craned my neck to peer through the canopy, I could just about glimpse my 12-year-old daughter, Georgie, hurtling along a zipline some 250 feet up in the air. “It was so fun,” Georgie told me afterwards. “It was like you were skimming the treetops and you were the same height as the birds.” We were high up in the mountains on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. The ride looked spectacular and, had it not been for my chronic vertigo, I would have tried it myself. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)

We had been drawn to the island partly for its classic Caribbean charms, including its sandy, palm-lined beaches and glorious weather. But there was something else, too - it’s much more affordable than many of its better-known neighbours. A week’s holiday in St Kitts can be around £400 less per person than a week in the Dominican Republic, and at least £100 less than Barbados.

And, secretly, there was another aim. Like most parents with tweens, teens or children, it’s a constant battle to keep Georgie off her devices, whether it’s her phone (even though my partner and I have resisted buying her a smartphone) or her tablet.

The idea was that our time on the island would be a digital detox for Georgie. We agreed that she could bring her tablet with her, but that she would use it solely to take photos. I was only semi-confident as to how this would turn out, but the ziplining (Sky Safari: two hours from £75 for adults; £55 for children) had been a good start.