My Journey Living Without the Internet
I found myself in a tricky situation. I exhausted my mobile data, and now I cannot listen to music, scroll social media, book cabs and so on. After exploring my options, I decided not to renew my data plan as a challenge to myself. To my surprise, without the internet, I felt I was able to observe my surroundings better. This sparked a question — can we live a much more peaceful life without the internet?
Ever since the internet has been introduced, our world has majorly evolved. Our everyday lifestyle has improved. We are now equipped with better infrastructure, healthcare system and transportation. We live in a world of real-life video calls and entertainment. Basically, the internet has a deep-rooted connection in our lives in everything we do.
I think this widespread availability of the Internet is a good thing as now we can stay connected with our friends and family at all times. We can send them instant messages, reels or shorts, if not then we can simply listen to music. Gone are the days when we had to buy CDs and Walkman for music. We can work from the comfort of our homes, from café, or use AI functions at our convenience.
This is what I used to think before I lost my anytime-anywhere internet privilege.
Since I started this self-experiment, I have observed a few changes in myself. Now I find serenity in quietness. This silence is driven by the lack of internet. I am able to think longer without music distracting me. I feel that generally now, I am spending more time with myself rather than living in a dopamine/adrenaline-driven world. I even helped a few elders find their way around the metro stations.
During one of the train rides I take to work, something flashed my eyes when I stepped inside the metro. After I sat down and looked outside the window, I saw clouds blocking the sun. It was simply breathtaking. Even though I was sitting inside the chilled compartment, I could feel the warmth radiating from that beautiful scenario.
I did feel bored while waiting for the train to arrive and I did miss having the internet. I could not navigate without maps in the city where I have spent more than half of my life. But then I found solutions to problems I faced. I started carrying a book with me, reading on platforms, inside the train, or while in the auto. I asked locals for directions or simply used offline maps like anyone from pre-internet times would.
These little experiences brought me joy. We are so available for everyone that there’s panic when we are offline or unreachable. We get this fear of missing out on things. So, as someone who lived without the ability to instantly get connected with the world, I feel we are missing our touch from our surroundings. These small moments of joy in our fast-paced lives have the ability to cure us.
That is a 47% increase in just 5 years!
Our lives are deeply entangled with the internet. Further proof of this is that by 2029, the number of internet users is expected to rise to 7.9 billion people in comparison with today’s 5.35 billion internet users. That is a 47% increase in just 5 years. After looking at this statistic, I am not sure how can we ever live without it now.
