Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

41–50 of 54 posts

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

#42
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...

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

#43
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

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

#44
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.

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

#48
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.

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

#49
post #7

Yes, when I was on a remote island in Thailand. It actually felt refreshing being disconnected from the internet for several days.

That must have been very remote because I have been to some remote islands in Thailand and they all had fantastic internet speeds. In one of them (Koh Lanta) I remember downloading a 1080p movie in about 10 minutes. On wifi, inside a hut. My last time 100% without internet was in Nepal, last year. Nearly 40 days offline.

Interesting. What were the costs like? of the different components of the stay there, not just Internet. I've been in some remote places on vacation, but some of them did not have good Internet access or it was expensive.
Post reply on HN