A weeklong home internet outage left one Redditor rattled less by logistics than by sheer boredom, exposing just how deeply online daily life has become.
The connection briefly returned before failing again, and the experience pushed the original poster to a harsh realization.
Here's what to know
In a Reddit thread, the original poster wrote about a major outage that briefly cleared before returning and lasting for a couple of days.
Trying not to burn through mobile data left them "bored to tears," and they said the experience made them realize: "Right then and there, I knew I was addicted to the internet."
That stretch offline led them to ask a broader question: could people handle losing internet for a day, a month, or even a full year? They said forcing themselves into "off-grid" activities helped pass the time, and suggested others try a day or two offline as a challenge or ask older relatives what life was like before constant connectivity.
Commenters responded as if the scenario were a real preparedness concern, not just a hypothetical. One person described a handheld gaming system as "a very important part of prepping, taking care of morale," while another offered a more straightforward solution.
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"Get another creative hobby," they wrote. "I knit and build meshcore radios. I like to cook from scratch. I'd love to learn to draw, paint, play an instrument, etc."
More background
Several commenters said the first day is often the hardest part, more so than the outage itself.
One commenter, recalling several days without power and internet after Milton, said the experience became "so relaxing" once the initial shock wore off. Another urged the original poster to "check out the science behind boredom," framing that early restlessness as a kind of detox from constant stimulation.
For some people, age and experience seemed to change the equation. As one commenter put it, "There was no internet for almost 2/3 of my lifetime." A Gen X user who had been through multi-day and multi-week outages recommended humorous books, saved audiobooks, old sitcoms, music, puzzles, and crafts.
Even backup entertainment is not always truly offline. One commenter said their Steam Deck had "many more games on that are internet dependent" and preferred a smaller handheld emulator that still worked after setup was finished.
What can be done?
The most common advice was to build a small cache of offline entertainment before an outage begins.
One commenter also pointed to a Kindle Paperwhite they had "loaded it up with books and guides" and said it had "battery life for weeks."
Some replies emphasized simpler, cheaper backups too, like decks of cards, board games, jigsaw and word-search puzzles, athletic equipment, adult coloring books, and shelves of books, CDs, and DVDs. Several replies focused on replacing scrolling with making something instead.
Other comments treated it as a practical question. A short trial without the internet can reveal which habits are hardest to break and which low-tech routines make an outage easier to handle.
As one veteran of longer disruptions put it, the issue is not just survival but quality of life.
"Remember that staying alive another day is first and foremost, but merely existing will get old fast," they wrote.
Where can I learn more?
For readers looking beyond boredom and toward practical backup plans, the topic overlaps with many questions that come up in off-grid living.
• In Ireland, rising demand for survival courses for ordinary people reflects a broader push toward off-grid resilience.
• On Reddit, a teenager's question about what living off-grid takes opened a wider conversation about daily trade-offs.
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