No internet for a week: here’s what I have been up to!

Last Monday at 4PM my wifi decided to die. We called the internet provider company and it took them a day to get back to us, then another couple of days to find out what was wrong and it still ended with us having to call a local technician to solve the problem. Having no internet for a whole week is kind of a real nightmare, especially when it was exactly the week my master’s degree started, I had a bunch of things to take care of and I could only use my phone data in a corner of my bathroom, cause that’s the only place in my entire house where there is enough signal (livin’ the exciting countryside life). However, to my surprise, it turned out to be a much more positive experience than I expected and now I am even sort of… glad it happened. Yes, I couldn’t finish some researches I planned on completing, nor I could publish the blog post I had scheduled for Friday and I wasn’t even able to access my university email to make sure my enrollment process had been successful. Still, I got to do a lot of other things I would normally be too busy to even think of, and it truly was the nicest and most refreshing feeling. This is why I decided to dedicate a post to it, and list down everything I managed to do in my six days away from the internet 🙂

I got so much sleep: usually, even when I go to bed early, I always end up falling asleep way later than I originally planned. I keep scrolling and scrolling through Twitter and Instagram until I literally can’t keep my eyes open anymore. As you probably know, being online before bed negatively affects the quality of your sleep. Having no internet connection left me with nothing to do, once I laid down, other than… sleep. One night, I managed to get 10 hours of sleep, and it was absolutely glorious. It had been a long time since I felt so energized during the day!

I cut my hair: finally! To be completely honest, I was planning to go get my hair cut since last February. Yes, that was basically seven months ago, but one way or another I always either had to much to do, or I was simply too lazy to take a couple of hours off my day. On Tuesday, as all I had planned required an internet connection, I finally decided to book an appointment and say goodbye to a good 20cm of my poor damaged hair. I feel so happy now and to be fair, I do believe haircuts are somehow therapeutic. I feel like a whole new person, and, even though I’m sure I will soon be panicking over the same old things again, it’s nice to feel confident and good for a few days.

I went downtown – twice! I really enjoy going back to the little city I went to high school in, but for some reason I never go more than five or six times a year. Which, I realise, is very little, considering I used to be there every single day. It’s a beautiful place, with a castle and many lovely cafes and every time I’m back there it leaves some kind of hopeful feeling inside of me. Maybe because I was a very different person during my high school days, and although I have changed and I have been hit by the worries of adulthood, walking down those same streets reminds me of those happy carefree days. This past week I went back twice, on Wednesday and again on Thursday. I got coffee and pastries on both days, did some shopping (bought a book even if I have four more to read on my night table) and enjoyed the nice autumnal breeze.

I started to study: as I mentioned, my master’s degree has officially begun. Knowing how much I have to study for my exams, I promised myself to start studying from the very first day (shh, it was actually the second…) and work hard so that I can learn and enjoy the process of learning, without finding myself too close to the exam sessions, rushing to finish everything. No internet meant that I couldn’t access the university online platform, so I focused on the textbooks. No internet also meant I had a lot less distractions than I normally would, and I really got a lot of work done in just a few days.

I baked a lemon pie, and ate it for dinner: lemon pies are my favourite, but they also take some time to prepare. When I feel like baking something, I usually just go for one of those quick and easy recipes, where you just throw all the ingredients in a bowl, mix everything together and put it in the oven. Last week, however, I decided to relax and bake what used to be my favourite dessert as a kid. I checked all the ingredients on Friday afternoon and went to the supermarket to buy what I needed. On Saturday morning, I prepared the dough and let it rest in the fridge for four hours. In the afternoon, I made the lemon cream. It was my first time, since it was always my mom who prepared it for me, but I am proud I did it well. The pie turned out great, and me and my parents had it at 7PM with a cup of tea, and it served as our dinner for that night. Probably not a very healthy one, but it was surely the sweetest dinner of the year 😉

Having no internet for a week made me realise how much time I spend online everyday. I do things I love, of course, and I don’t really regret it. However, every once in a while, it’s nice to be away for a little bit, and indulge in other offline activities that are normally sacrificed because we are always working too much and too long.

After this unwanted but still appreciated break, I am back to writing regularly and have lots of ideas for the new month. During these days, my blog also reached 100 WordPress followers and I am so incredibly grateful and excited. Thank you so much for the support and happy October! I hope we all have an amazing one! 🙂