Internet cold turkey .... do you ever ...

[Saracen]

.... go without?

I know it's not the usual context for turkey at this time of year, but do you ever go cold turkey, net-access wise?

I do. Regularly.

Last year, probably 7 or 8 times, for anything from a long weekend to a month in one go.

DId I miss it? Yes, but know what?? Nowhere near as much as I expected to.

Also, I found my quality of life actually increased. On that month, for instance, I was completely uncontactable except by a couple of close friends and immediate family. No other access. My mobile phone was left off, except when I needed an occasional out-going call. And nobody else knew the landline number. And no net access at all, no email, no postal mail, even.

And I concluded that about the only thing I'd really miss if I went offline permanently would be HEXUS. The rest of it .... meh!

I found I was more relaxed, and had more quality time with family, too. I read more, thought more, went for more country walks, ate better, slept better, and felt better.

It makes me think ....

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I suppose it depends on what you are doing TBH!

If there is a lot of outdoor stuff to do you can probably get away from needing to use the internet.

[kalniel]

Well given that my job involves providing services over the internet I can't go without it for work, so that leaves only holiday periods. During those though, we do try and get away at least once to the countryside and leave tech behind.

[shaithis]

No no no. While I am not the type of person who gets upset at not being online (yup, I know a few!) I do find it irritating at times because of lack of information (news, email, price checks etc)

The internet has become a daily tool, one which I'd prefer not to be without.

Asking a neighbor (or just hacking their Wifi!) can sometimes be the order of the day if moving house/provider

[jim]

Nope. Even on holiday these days I've got my mobile with me and I'll check HEXUS and my email on a daily basis. I think the longest I go without internet is when I'm abroad, but I can't say I actually miss it on those infrequent occasions.

Out of interest, was your internet break a holiday from working as well, Saracen? I imagine it would be hard to work in most jobs without using the internet at some point.

[Output]

I have at various times due to having no other choice, but I certainly don't enjoy doing so.

I always feel as if I may be missing out on something important (such as an email that needs a response), despite that usually not being the case in reality.

[MrJim]

Well, I was unlucky enough to have a three-hour power outage yesterday afternoon, & I missed not having net access for that short time! Mind you, I think I missed having electric lighting & the central heating even more...!

[Saracen]

I suppose it depends on what you are doing TBH!

If there is a lot of outdoor stuff to do you can probably get away from needing to use the internet.

True enough I guess, but it's kinda backwards from what I meant. It's not so much needing to get away from the 'net, but when I do, almost incidentally, find myself with no access, I find I don't much miss it.

Or to be more accurate, I find myself initially missing it, but like an addiction, after an initial period, the craving fades. That initial period started out as a week or more, but is getting shorter the more often I do it.

I didn't start out seeking to get away from the net. It just ended up happening. What surprised me was, after a while, just how little I missed.

Granted, Kal, if work needs it that makes it hard to avoid. A few years agi, I couldn't have avoided it either, for that reason. Nowadays, though, I don't actually need it for work, and can always find a library or net cafe for those odd times.

I take the point about lack of information too, shaithis, but I don't really need email (and sometimes, even now, a week or even several can go past without me checking it), and as for news, well, there's a line between what I like, or think I like because I'm used to it, but what do I need? I mean, keeping an eye on what's going on can be inreresting, but can also be annoying or frustrating, and about 99.99999999999% of the time, whether I know what's going on actually makes no difference to my choices in life or the condition of it, and it rarely makes any difference at all to anyone else if I know what's happening or not. So, not being informed of loads of remote events that I can't affect, around the world, is a bit like one of those weird "purging" diets .... after a while, you feel better for being purged of all the irrelevances of what passes for "news". It's as if what does matter to me takes more precedence because I clear my head of all the pointless mental distractions. That's why it's strangely relaxing.

[TooNice]

Long week-end, many times (usually if I am on a long week-end, I am out somewhere). Month+, I've done it too (sometime I would still have a working mobile phone but I've also done the full hermit thing), and it did not bother me that much (again, because it usually mean that I am doing something more interesting than my daily routine). That said, I think that my parents can worry when I seemingly disappear the face of the planet for over a month. Being far away from each other and living in different time zone, the Internet has become a mean to let each other know that we are healthy and fine.

But while I don't think that I would necessarily be less happy without the Internet (at time, I think that I may even be more happy - the Internet being a bit of a cynical place after all), I am not sure if I could more efficiently improve myself without the vast amount of knowledge in the Internet (once you sort through the rubbish). Yes, I know there is the library, and I do go there sometime, but being able to read about a subject that interest me on the train does seem more efficient.

This time, last year (over a period of 2 months) I frequently had no Internet access as I was walking through mountains and old towns in Japan 10-15+ hours every day. When I did manage to get a reception (it was not uncommon for me to be out of range completely not just from mobile internet but mobile network altogether), it would be used to cache more data into Google maps (as a backup, as I had paper map). I did exchange FB contact maybe 2-3 times, and sent an email or two to my parents informing them of my well-being but I had no energy to spare to "surf the Internet". Before I started the journey, I was hooked on an online game. The craving was gone by the 2nd day.

[Saracen]

....

Out of interest, was your internet break a holiday from working as well, Saracen? I imagine it would be hard to work in most jobs without using the internet at some point.

Well, sort-of. These days, I work went I want to, and I've been self-employed for a very long time, so I'm used to no fixed routine. Some forms of work would be impossible without the net, but others need it very rarely, or not at all, and all I need to do is to pick what I do. So needing the net for work is not really an issue for me.

[scaryjim]

Currently *still* without proper access after a house move (now you know why it's been so peaceful recently ).

I can just about manage, although I do feel like I've been cut off from the world a bit. The wife, who relies on web-based freelance work, hates it. My kicking boots are being prepared for plusnet - usually so good at customer service, but I've been let down this time...

[sammyc]

Not from the internet, in fact I seem to be upping my consumption if anything. Usage goes in 2 halves for me more or less; the useful saves me hassle side, and the definite element of addiction side. As shown by, when I have internet on my phone I use it a fair bit, & am aware I often wander off from browsing with a point to browsing for the sake of it - when I don't have it I manage perfectly well without.

Being cut off from the internet would cause me some problems, for the rest of it I'd live & yes probably get some more useful stuff done and definitely chill out more. Emails I could go either way, don't mind being accessible there because crucially I have control over how/when I respond. Post, I am happy to get for much the same reason. Being without the blasted phone, on the other hand, would be nirvana.

[Butcher]

Last few holidays I've had have been totally off the grid, no internet, no phones, no electricity, no running water. It's actually quite refreshing to only have direct communication with people and no one checking their phone or emails all the time. I'm not sure I could cope for a months on end but for 1-2 week periods I really like it.

[Lucio]

My job is only practical because of the internet, so going without it at work would be impossible. Even if you moved the rules to say "no web browsing", not being able to research code snippets or common issues would slow me down a lot.

[Dooms]

When I'm in the UK I never really go a day without internet - its my entertainment at work & home.

When travelling is a different matter. Sometimes go weeks or months without internet depending on the country and my mood at the time. I never have a phone on me and I just check in on e-mail / facebook every few weeks when I get the opportunity.

Never miss it in those situations.

[herulach]

Same as a lot of people I don't tend to go online on holiday, to the extent that the last place I went for any length of time (2 weeks) I only registered the wifi on my kindle deliberately so I wouldn't be tempted to faff on the internet instead of enjoying myself.

Sometimes it can be useful whilst away, but to be honest I think the internet, like a lot of guide books gets in the way of seeing a place, or indeed relaxing. I really don't give a stuff what someone is doing at home.