I never thought it would be me. I never thought about what would I do in hard times like this. But it happened to me. I lost my Internet Service. I went cold turkey and it wasn´t by choice. I survived and I am sharing my experience with you. :)

Sorry for all the drama. I thought this "Internet addiction" we all have deserves a bit of humour with a glitch of sarcasm. The thing was, we moved to a new apartment a few weeks ago. It is bigger, brighter, with a little private yard space where we can barbecue and is in general a nice transition from the apartment building we lived in before. But we still have no Internet Service at home or even TV. For a Journalist/blogger and a computer programmer/ software engineer couple a first few days were tough. But then it got better and then it got great. Now it is just getting old. We still have a week left until we get our Internet Service set up and I am sitting in a public library to get my work done. And my computer time here is limited to 2 hours. And no, I am not stealing my neighbours WiFi or driving to my friends house just for the Internet. I have come to my peace with this situation and I am more relaxed.

Oh and yeah, we have mobile Internet but we used up all of our data very quickly. Honestly, who knew it would take this long to get an Internet Service nowadays. Anyway, I use my phone to check my email inbox and read BabyBump, because I love that app now that I am pregnant :) That's it.

Here is what I loved about being completely off the grid. We did everything as a couple and loved each others company. We talked about us, about our little family and our little boy, arriving in February next year. We made plans, to-do lists and set up our new apartment the way we like it and it works for us. We got a crib and are starting to set up the baby´s nursery, getting his things ready. We cleaned and cooked together, went for walks and watched movies. We even made future financial plans, sorted out our bills for years back. made budgets, Christmas lists and planned our wedding. It was and still is nice for us so that part of not having Internet gives you clarity of whats really important in life - love and family. And I spent time by myself, I read books and listened to music, painted, drew, made a few DIY projects, baked and talked to my friends and family on the phone or in person; without any distractions. It gives you a feeling that time stopped. You have time for yourself and your loved ones.
What I hated about not having an Internet Service? Not being able to read blogs, news, tweet and everything else I do daily. I missed out on my favourite TV shows and writing my Masters degree. I did not write new blog posts or any content to be exact. I mean you can write anything without an active Internet connection, but only to an extent. I research things and check if what I am writing about is true and so on. So no, I cannot really write without it. I also missed chats (online) with my family and friends and looking at online shops and picking out things for my baby boy. It is just so much things I could do daily. You guys know how it is - we do everything online these days, even pay our bills.

In all, it was and still is a positive experience, but we are very ready to get our Internet Service back. We will be good, we promise. We will take what we learnt from this experience and keep up the good habits. We will divide our time in a fair way and still bond as a family. To be fair, we are together in our computer room and talk all the time when we are online anyways. Really talk, person to person. I ask him if he wants a cappuccino and he says yes. Then he brings me snacks. Then we laugh at a funny video he found online. :) It is not like we ignore each other anyways.

If you plan on going off the grid for a while, take at least a week. Or two. Have a break. Have fun just being you. But then return to life :)


M.