Over the past two weeks, I’ve spent the longest period of time in my adult life (travel vacation time excluded) without in-home PC Internet access, owing to an unpaid bill by my landlord and the near impossibility of getting a technician on-site during the holiday season.

At first I enjoyed the irony of the situation, but within a few days, I had grown quite tired of my tiny iPhone screen for Web access and I found myself needing to visit friends/family and Internet cafes, sometimes on more than once daily basis, to get my full Net fix. (The day before losing access, I had been at a client engagement, and had been asked how I would feel as a Net Gener without Internet access.  I proudly responded to the effect of I’m sure I’d be just fine.  Little did I know…)

It was a combination of factors that compounded to make my situation more frustrating, including my being on vacation (so no office Internet), a lack of cable television (I don’t normally subscribe to TV – Net Gener, remember), and decreased access to offline news sources such as my local paper from the corner box, at which I found this sign:

(Sign reads: To Our Valued Customers:  This vending machine will be removed from this location in the very near future.  The closest location you can purchase a Toronto Star is:________)

From some of our previous Net Gen research, I knew that depriving a Net Gener of their technology could present a very difficult situation, as the collage below from one of our in-home studies shows, but I had to this point managed to somehow “separate” myself from those Net Geners.

To think, feelings of despair and desolation, just from being removed from your technology…How strange, I thought. Little did I know…my separation from immediate Internet access set me up for quite a range of emotions, from an occasional sense of relief and freedom that came from being “disconnected”, to the more frequent feelings of anxiety that were caused by not knowing what was going on, in real-time.  What world events were taking place that I should be up to speed on?  What if someone was trying to get a hold of me?   How would I watch my ailing Raptors go on a multiple game losing streak?

I knew the Internet played an important role in my life, but I didn’t realize how important it was to my daily routine, even when not working, until it was no longer readily available.  I’m now back at work, and have had my home Internet access restored, but what a couple of weeks it has been.

I’m curious to hear reactions our readers might have from their own disconnected experiences.  Have you been disconnected, or intentionally disconnected for an extended period of time?  How did you feel?  Has anyone vacationed at a “phone and Blackberry-free zone” to escape the “always-on”?