Ask HN: When was the last time you lived 24 hours without the Internet?

[Red_Tarsius]

It has recently occured to me that I didn't quite remember my last day "off" the Internet. It was maybe 4 years ago, I'm not so sure.

The answer to this question was the first step that lead me to a straight change of habits I'm applying to my daily life. The Internet is a blessing for all mankind, but the amount of time I spent hoarding knowledge was detrimental to actual projects and health. I could even call it an addiction.

So, out of curiosity, When was your last time you lived 16~24 hours in a row without the Internet? Do you even remember it?

EDIT: For some weird reason the thread got istantly pushed down from the front page. Anyway, thanks for participating in the conversation and sharing your experiences!

[PeterWhittaker]

For sure, for sure? A year ago, sailing in French Polynesia (aka "Tahiti").

If we were in a largish town on a more populous island, we might get WiFi, but never for anything better than a quick email and FB check, and posting one and most two pictures, but more generally we had 2-3-4 day stretches with no Internet access over the course of two weeks. During some stretches, our world was quite literally the 9 people on the cat.

(But I still had tech: Took pictures and read books on my mobile. Once back on land, streamed a Senators-Canadien game, that felt like paradise, 'cept the Sens lost....)

Last fall, on a weekend retreat. Hardly any cell signal, let alone data, and dialup, had there been any, would have been 56K at the most. Full 36ish hours with no contact at all with the outside world, just my wife, the three other couples, and the retreat leader.

And the occasional weekend here or there when I just unplug. Read an actual made-of-pulp book. Draw, snowshoe, go wheeling, play music, cards, or Carcassonne.

Then there are days like today, plugged in constantly.

[habosa]

This summer I went on a 3 week road trip around the Southwest US. Went to 7 or 8 national parks, camping mostly with some random hotels. I had access to mobile Internet but I wanted to experiment with a full 3 week news hiatus. In that time I didn't use the internet on my phone (except navigation when lost), read any newspaper, listen to non-music radio, or watch TV.

The strangest thing was that when I got home, I really hadn't missed anything. In a normal day I read dozens of articles and consume news from so many sources that when I got home I expected to have to catch up. But I really didn't. I think we consume a lot of information just because its there, but so little remains relevant a few days or weeks later.

[dabent]

A couple of years back I went on a week-long hike deep enough into the country that I had no internet, no AC power, etc. While I was away from the internet, I realized was how often I was interrupted by useless emails, so when I returned, I unsubscribed from dozens of email lists I had ended up on over the years. I didn't realize the sheer volume of lists I was on, because it happened gradually, but some time away helped me realized how uninterrupted my life could be and how useless the information I was receiving was.

I still find myself clicking "unsubscribe" quite often, or opting out of email lists when I sign up. I don't miss the additional interruptions to my day.

[panamafrank]

I spent a month cycling Corsica and Sardinia late season in 2013, just sleeping on the beaches and in the forests. I brought a smartphone but never really used it, there's not much in the way of internet deep in rural Europe but when you see stars everynight, who cares? After all that time without any news I remember reading the Guardian when I reached Calgari, there was a massacre sadly much like any other but unlike anytime before it moved me to tears.

I slept on this beach and in the forest behind it for a few days, go! https://goo.gl/maps/8GC1F

[partisan]

This is timely. I am planning to spend the next few nights free of my laptop. I usually browse the web and plan massive things in my head, but I haven't written a line of code in my spare time in a week or so. I think I am burned out and could use the break, even if it's just for a few hours.

The last time I went without internet connectivity was 3 years ago, celebrating my two year wedding anniversary with my wife in Dominican Republic. The hotel has wifi in the lobby area, but I learned from a previous trip that it was an exercise in frustration trying to get anything other than pure text.

[dreamweapon]

The last time? This past weekend.

Before that? Every other weekend or so. I don't own a smartphone, and I make a point of staying offline most weekends unless I have a major email backlog to deal with, or something specific to look up.

Even when working on personal coding projects I prefer to stay offline during weekends whenever possible. Very, very useful strategy for maintaining sanity generally, I find, and for making time available for more useful + deserving sources of interaction and stimulation -- like books, music, movies, paintings, architecture, natural scenery, animals, and people.

[CocaKoala]

Mid June. I had just gotten married; my wife and I turned our phones off for our honeymoon and spent a week enjoying each other's company (and also drinking a lot of wine) in a cottage in Napa Valley.

[MalcolmDiggs]

I did a week-long hike in the Los Padres national forest about a year ago. It definitely took a few days to get used to having no communication. (I still reached in my pocket to check my non-existent phone once every half-hour like clockwork). The first 24 hours were nerve-wracking, all I could think about was "what if something crazy happens and nobody can reach me?". But after a few days I just forgot about it, the internet just wasn't something that crossed my mind.

[gk1]

Last week. I spent 11 days backpacking throughout Dominican Republic. My phone was off, except a few times when I connected to wifi to check for urgent emails or issues.

It was amazing... It was the first time in a year that I was able to pull away from daily minutiae and think about things from a much higher level (such as career goals and big plans for this year).

I came back full of energy and motivation that I hope to carry through the end of the year... or until my next trip.

[JoeAltmaier]

Its wonderful. I spend a week a year bicycling across my state (with 20,000 other people). Some maintain their phone addiction; you see them clustered around public outlets with their chargers and blank expressions.

But the rest of us leave that at home; laugh and talk and think for mile after mile and come away changed.

[pdxandi]

I'm a regular backpacker and it's wonderful to leave it all behind.

[mryingster]

3 years ago is the last time I remember. It was on a 2.5 day camping trip. At the site we went to, there was no cell coverage without going down the mountain, so the cell phone was turned off, and I didn't bother bringing any other devices. It was nice.

It's hard to have that type of disconnected experience any other time than vacation since my job relies on using computers all day. Maybe one of these weekends I should switch off the phone...

[RoadRunner_23]

A year ago, when there was power cut and phones are out of charge/conserving battery.

We were playing board games, under candle light and family was bonding like never before.

[peterjancelis]

The week before Christmas so about 5 weeks ago. I booked a very nice hotel in Nha Trang for a 3 day trip and not taking my computer was a very deliberate choice.

I didn't suffer from any withdrawal symptoms, although I napped a lot (which I normally never do) but that had more to do with 1) not sleeping well the night before on the way there and 2) my employer knowing I was unreachable.

Kicking off from sugar is much harder, to me at least.

[giles]

8 days in Cuba.

To gain access to the internet you were required to goto the business center at one of the government hotels. The business center sold 60 minute time cards issued by the government for ~$15. These cards would have a unique code that would grant you limited access to the network.

Unfortunately for 7 out of the 8 days every hotel I went to had ran out of these cards meaning no connection to the internet whatsoever.

[epochwolf]

The last time was probably 8 years ago, before I had a smart phone. I went winter camping in a relatively remote area with some friends.

Edit: I should probably add, I don't see constant internet access as any more of a problem than books. If anything my kindle (which is always in airplane mode) is a worse impact on my productivity than the internet.

[gk1]

> I don't go anywhere I won't at least have 3G coverage.

While I understand lifestyles differ, I can't help but think that's a shame. Many of the world's most beautiful and inspiring places are remote. Do you not have a second-in-command you can put in charge while you're on vacation?

[lmm]

About 6 months ago, on my way to Turkey.

It was a pain. I got less writing done than I'd hoped, partly because I couldn't look things up. I enjoyed holidays more when I had a working Kindle Keyboard and could get internet anywhere. Next time I'm taking a laptop; there's too much value out there to be a luddite about it.

[TheHydroImpulse]

Couple days ago. During the summer, it's usually every weekend I stay at the dropzone without any laptops and I don't carry my phone around. I'm also outside for the whole weekend and I empty all my pockets to jump. There's planes to jump out of, people to talk, things to do, a breath of fresh air!

[gloom303]

Last week I actually went almost two whole days without internet access. It wasn't intentional (I forgot my iPhone at home when I left for two days), and where I went there was no computer or other internet accessible devices. I survived fine, but yeah.. a certain degree of separation angst.

[z3ugma]

Canoed down the Wisconsin River for 3 days last summer. Spending time alone with nature was a great slowdown and reboot. It really helps put in perspective the hectic rush of American life and how little benefit worrying about small things at work brings me.

[tzs]

2007: I took Amtrak on a round trip from the Seattle area to Beaumont, Texas and back [1]. Part of that involves taking the Sunset Limited between Los Angeles and Beaumont. That's a scheduled [2] 40 hour trip from Los Angeles to Beaumont, and 36 hours from Beaumont to Los Angeles.

There was no wifi on the train then (or now, I believe), and I did not have a phone with cellular internet.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS came out in North America just 3 weeks before my trip started, so I saved that for the train trip. I also brought Mario Kart and some other Mario game that I had not finished. Oh, and Brain Age was very helpful--it includes a bunch of Sudoku puzzles. I also had a bunch of podcasts and some audiobooks on my iPod.

I did not bring, if I recall correctly, any physical books on the train. I wanted to travel light, and the books I was currently reading or wanting to read were all heavy hardbacks. (Kindle was not out yet...it was released while I was I was in Texas, a few days before the trip home started).

All I brought on the train was my PowerBook, the entertainment stuff listed above, my phone, a TomTom GPS, a couple charges to keep the aforementioned stuff running, toothbrush and toothpaste, a comb, a swiss army knife, and enough clothes to cover the time on the train.

Everything else I'd need or want for the 3+ weeks I'd actually be in Texas, including several hardback books, I shipped via UPS or FedEx ahead to the hotel.

I don't understand why more people don't do that, at least for stays where they are bringing a lot of stuff. You've already got enough to deal with on boarding day...why add wrangling two or three big pieces of checked luggage to that? And FedEx and UPS lose luggage at a lower rate than airlines (I could not find data on Amtrak lost luggage rates). [3]

[1] for the usual reason one would go to Beaumont, Texas if one has no relatives there. A patent I was involved in ended up owned by someone who sued someone else, and I had to go be a witness.

[2] Most of the route is over track owner by freight rail companies, and their trains have priority. That means AmTrak spends a lot of time sitting on passing sidings waiting for a freight train to pass. Add several hours to scheduled times for any long trip.

[3] I suppose it might depend on how things are getting paid for. Since I was going in order to be a witness in civil litigation, someone else was paying for my travel expenses, and they had a pretty loose wallet. If you are paying for your own trip and your fare includes a certain amount of luggage it might be hard to justify letting that freebie go to waste and paying for FedEx.