We didn’t have internet at home for a week. An entire week. 7 long days! And boy, did I miss the online world! Apparently, the city maintenance guys had dug up the roads leading to our house and broadband cables were butchered in the process. My husband lodged a complaint with our broadband provider, and we were told it may take a while for it to be fixed.
This is only the second time in the past 2.5 years, that I’ve spent an extended period of time away from the internet. During the Christmas holidays last year, we spent 2 weeks offline at my in-laws’ house. But because I had loads of other things to keep me occupied, it didn’t make a difference.
But this time, I struggled to accept the reality that I was disconnected from the rest of the world. Wondering what the big deal is? Well, after the birth of our triplets, I don’t get to step out into the real world all that often. During the week (Monday mornings to Friday evenings), the only adult I speak to directly is my husband. And then, I discovered a whole lot of blogs and I started feeling connected. I loved following blogs that I found to be encouraging, refreshing or inspiring. So, when we lost our internet connection, I felt a bit lost.
I suppose there was a positive side to it – I was able to spend most of my time reading. I primarily read e-books I had been accumulating over the past few months. But eventually, my eyes were getting tired reading only black and white print on screen. In the afternoons, when the kids napped and I took a break – I was at a loss on how to keep myself occupied. I hadn’t realized until then, how much I relied on the internet.
The one thing I did NOT miss, was Facebook. My husband on the other hand, missed Danny Gokey‘s status updates on Facebook. Believe it or not, that was the ONLY thing he missed about the internet!
Here are some of the things I missed during our week without internet:
- A week’s worth of the Esther Bible Study by Time Warp Wife.
- The discussion of Pursuit of Proverbs 31 on Joyful Mothering.
- Blogging & connecting with other bloggers.
- Email for communication & transfer of files.
- Google.
Oh yes, I missed Google! Last Friday, I was preparing to share something from the Bible in our weekly prayer group and I wanted to include a verse from the Bible. Minor problem: I knew the verse but couldn’t remember the reference! Normally, I would just Google the verse and find the reference. This time however, I had to do it the old-fashioned way – search the actual Bible! Between my husband and I, we managed to find the verse – after leafing through our Bibles for about 15-20 minutes!
That got me thinking – how did our parents find a verse in the Bible? My husband promptly replied, that they probably knew the verses by heart – with reference… Point taken!
I wonder how Ann from Delight Thyself did it. You should read how her family unplugged for an entire week.
Now it’s time for you to share your thoughts with us in the comments. How has the presence/absence of the internet affected your life?