Lock your phone away in the hotel safe, put it on airplane mode, or just leave it in your bag. Connectivity is going to be available anywhere, but you still control your own utilization of it.
In the sense that you haven't laid out a clear boundary to the "other people". You don't have to go on a cruise ship to get away from email etc. You just say, "I'm offline from x to y".
I suspect you are not comfortable actually telling the other people this - I'm not sure if it's employer, customer, or family. In all cases though the right solution is to be clear, and give advance notice. There will likely be some push-back (especially given your past behaviour) but be firm.
Feel free to browse all you like. Feel free to post pics to Instagram. But resist the urge to answer emails or messages. Let that wait.
Ultimately people will treat your boundaries based on how _you_ treat your boundaries. It's a you problem first, not a them problem.
Seriously. Set boundaries. Using "no access" as an excuse implies that if you're reachable you're on the hook to serve other people's desires at all times. People need to know that there are times in your life that are reserved for you only, and some people have a problem with that, so you have to tell them yourself in no uncertain terms.
I mean, you can find people who share your convictions.
https://www.alaska.org/tours https://you.com/search?q=alaska+hiking+trails
SpaceX also just partnered with TMobile to bring direct-to-phone satellite internet. It'll probably take a while to happen, and the announced specs are pretty limited, but it's basically going to be everywhere.
Similar to how you can’t just stay off social media to avoid the influence of social media. The entire world has changed, and people behave differently because they are on social media. And their behavior affects you and the ambiance of places you go to.
My last friend who still uses a "dumb" phone with no internet has started to struggle over the last few years as more places just require a smartphone. He's increasingly excluded from services.
I have a smartphone, but I use it for text messaging, calls, navigation, and not much else. Tickets I buy online and print. I've never been to a restaurant that required a phone to see the menu or order, and I'd likely walk out if they did.
The maps/navigation is convenient, but if push came to shove I'd print the directions like I used to do before phone navigation was a thing.
I do not own a printer (30 years old), and neither do any of my siblings. If I want to print something I'd have to do it at work but don't know how to make the work printers work (despite being a software engineer at a company with a "good" printer setup). I travel internationally and don't print anything for that anymore.
> I've never been to a restaurant that required a phone to see the menu
I've never been to a place with a web menu and tried to get a physical menu.
> if push came to shove I'd print the directions
That's true if you know where you're going ahead of time, but if you're out and decide you now need directions to a coffee shop, ATM, public toilet, pharmacy, etc, you often need to look them up. You can ask for directions, but only if you speak the language, can find someone who knows, etc.
I have a vague bad feeling about all of this change, but I can't really justify it. These are the ways things are going and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing in general, although there are negatives to it.
I certainly don't obsessively print things but I don't work in an office and I probably want to print at least a few pages in a given week.
If push came to shove, I'd send smoke signals to my friend across town when I want to invite them to a party.