Feature image photo by Jecapix via Getty Images
Amid pandemic cabin fever — which has been especially intense for me as a high-risk person who needs to be more careful — my partner and I took a trip to an actual mini cabin called Getaway House. The initial appeal of the tiny cabin was that you didn’t need to interact with any other people if you didn’t want to. Check-in was remote, and the cabins had keyless entry, your closest neighbor was probably at minimum 30 yards away, often more, and though the cabins had instituted extra cleaning, it was small enough that we could bring our own disinfecting wipes and open all the windows to circulate fresh air. Importantly, they’re also dog friendly. It felt like a respite from the world and COVID when we needed it most. It also turned out to be an ideal travel option as a queer couple, and we’ve gone back several times.
Often when my partner and I travel together, we take extra precautions around gender expression, PDA, and public safety. We might book a room with two beds instead of one to avoid any awkward questions from the hotel staff. We try to be careful about the words we use for each other in public, saying something like “my friend” instead of partner or spouse and trying to avoid any cutesy nicknames. The virtual check-in and private nature of the mini cabins was an ideal situation for reducing our anxieties about safety as an LGBT couple because we didn’t need to interact with other people unless we chose to venture out into the world. There are no thin, shared hotel room walls, no check-in desk, and no cleaning staff entering the room daily.
Getaway House combines the minimalist appeal of the tiny house trend with glamping to give you everything you need to feel comfortable without feeling too removed from nature. They’re essentially spaced out on a campground, but they’re still fairly undeveloped. Aside from the campsite, which includes a spot to park, a picnic table, a fire pit, two Adirondack chairs, and an outdoor leash for a dog, the area surrounding the cabins is largely in woods with dirt or gravel paths and very little lighting. There’s a comfy bed surrounded by huge windows that always face away from your nearest neighbor, so if you want to keep the windows open and make coffee in your underwear — or whatever else comes to mind with a bed overlooking a forest — you can. There’s a small dining table, an adorable retro mini fridge, a small stovetop, a sink, and a few sets of dishes and cooking supplies. There’s a bathroom with running water and a shower.
The cabins can sleep two to four people — though the four-person option is a bunk bed over the main bed, so that it might be best for two children or one adult. If you bring your dog, they provide two bowls, poop bags, and a bag of treats. Getaway also has multiple accessible cabins at each campsite with a ramp entry and a space that’s easier for a wheelchair to navigate. I don’t use a wheelchair, but I am disabled and tend to book these cabins because steps can be hard for me, and there are a few large steps inside the regular cabins too that I struggled to navigate the first time I stayed at Getaway. Though these cabins are more accessible, I will note that it seems like the interior was planned by an able-bodied person, because some things like the towel rack and dish rack would be impossible to reach without additional help if you are not ambulatory or if you are a person of short stature.
When I first stayed at Getaway House near Shenandoah National Park, there were only a few locations, but lately, they’ve expanded across the country with locations across the continental U.S. (though they lack options in Mountain Time, they always seem to be growing). They’re generally located one to two hours outside a city and often close to a national park like Big Bear, Shenandoah, and the Adirondacks. It’s a great place for a very gay weekend of hiking and building campfires if that’s your thing. If not, there are probably local wineries, breweries, farm-to-table restaurants, lakes, or farms to check out, and Getaway usually has some recommendations for local businesses to visit. For the Shenandoah location, their website recommended an amazing ice cream place made with all local, fresh ingredients. It was delicious, and my dog loved that they offered pup cups. You can also fully unplug and do nothing; the cabin offers a “lock box” (it doesn’t lock) to put your cell phone if you need encouragement to disconnect.
Getaway can be expensive if you book individually, but they offer various discount options. Students, healthcare workers, and veterans get discounts, and there’s a loyalty program where you earn free nights. They also sell different “packs” that make it much cheaper, and you don’t have to use them all at once. So you could, for example, purchase a three-night pack and use it to stay for one night three times for $150 a night. My partner and I used a 3-night pack to stay on July 4 weekend without paying holiday rates. Getaway has also done some cool partnership programs. Artists can apply for a free stay to use the cabin as a space to unplug and create. They also partner with Rachel Cargle to provide free stays for Black activists in a program called A Year of Rest (we nominated a bunch of Autostraddle staff, so fingers crossed).
Over the last few years, my partner, our dog, and I have used these reduced-price packs and taken several trips to the Getaway near Shenandoah and got to explore new places, develop favorites, and see the mountains and the campsite in different seasons. In the fall, it’s nice to wake up to all of the changing leaves outside of your window and to spend the evening making s’mores around a campfire. We tried different trails, visited Charlottesville, and regularly went to the local dog-friendly Early Mountain Winery, which has beautiful views and COVID-friendly outside seating. We even learned that Shenandoah is famous for berry ice cream at one of the lodge restaurants and enjoyed it while overlooking an amazing view. Visiting Getaway has been a fantastic way to destress and spend time in nature in a way that feels safe and accessible.
small request: could there be an explicit note if this is sponsored content or not? It reads like it is, but without a label it is hard to know. I think even moreso if it isn’t a, note could be really useful a la “I am just a huge fan of this company, this wasn’t sponsored or anything!”
this was just a bit hard to situate, especially since sponsor labeling on Autostraddle is usually super clear. thanks!
definitely agree with this!!!!
Hi there, this is post is not sponsored! Just as you mentioned, when we have sponsored content, we do in fact always note it. Both because it’s a chill and ethical thing to do, but also because it’s required.
We don’t note when things aren’t sponsored, because 95% of things — including this post — are not! So if you don’t see a notice that says “this post was created in partnership with XYZ place” (or similar wording) you can rest assured that it’s not. We often just like things, independently, and want to tell our readers about them. Thanks!
Just a place I thought other queer people might like
I wish this was sponsored so we could all get a discount!!!! But yes, it def read like a sponsored article
I also wish y’all could get a discount but I tried to include some options for making it more affordable
I love Getaway! My wife and I visited their CT location this summer, and are excited to check it out when there’s snow, because they are open year round.
But where else are you vacationing?? My wife and I never go anywhere we can’t be completely open, let alone introduce each other as “friends?” Money talks, and we don’t go places that don’t enthusiastically accept us.
That’s a fair point, Sarah and while I definitely value your point about money talks and I view it as an especially important tactic in my main work as an activist, my answer is somewhat complicated. On one hand, there are places I dreamed of going as a kid before I understood queerness and discriminatory laws and while there are some I will probably never go to because of being queer, for me it feels like a balance of traveling to places I’ve wanted to see in ways that feels safe.
Family is another factor. For me in particular, my family lives in a very homophobic place but they themselves are accepting. I still want to see them but I’m not necessarily going to hold hands in public there.
Another factor is our own (me and my partner’s) traumas and history and how that contributes to our sense of safety. I won’t get into the details but I will say that there are few places I feel safe being fully open in public because of harassment and violence even in places that claim to be accepting.
Lastly, gender is a factor and is not as easily accepted but that part is not my story to share, it’s my partner’s.
I recently took my first Getaway trip (Boston outpost). I enjoyed it, but I was SHOCKED by how small the bathroom was. If you are in a larger body, you’re gonna have a tough time squeezing in. I didn’t see any mention of this in all the research and prep I did in the months or so prior to my trip.
I assume all the bathrooms are similar, but maybe the accessible cabin has a wider entrance? Just something to keep in mind!
This is a good point too that I experienced the first time I went and forgot because I’ve since only booked accessible cabins which are much more spacious. Frankly I don’t know why they don’t have all the cabins be accessible because they don’t lose any features and accessibility should be the default not the rare option.
thanks for the tip! hadn’t heard of them before. and they have a location in my state!!! neato.
This sounds lovely!
Coming late to the party, but this is an option I need in my life. I rented a cabin this summer where I’d stayed several times before, and encountered indirect (but def about us) hate speech, as well as a bunch of unrelated issues. Kind of the worst vacation ever, but the first since COVID hit, so yeah… I’ll take a look, maybe there’ll be something nicer through Getaway. Though I second the discount emotion ;)
love this! really want to try this one of these days and hearing about the covid-safety features really made me put this in the soon-to-be-reality category instead of just a dream. thank you!
I like to travel and I like to visit new places, cities and sometimes even continents. Now I plan to visit the United States of America, as I have not been there yet, but I like this country, climate, nature and history. Now I am planning to visit Gatlinburg, because as I read, it is considered a resort area with lots of activities. But Gatlinburg, it turns out, is not all about fun, I visited the OFFICIAL WESTGATE GATLINBURG SITE and it turns out there are lots of forests, mountains, lakes and rivers. I really love that kind of terrain. So I’m heading out on this wonderful trip as soon as next weekend.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Getaway House. It sounds like a wonderful place to unwind and connect with nature. As someone who is also high-risk and needs to be careful, I appreciate the emphasis on safety and privacy. I am currently in my location now, but I hope to visit a Getaway House in the future.
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