What Happens When You Unplug

How I lost the Internet and found my life again

I have lived in rural Italy for the last 24 years. The internet has been a godsend, allowing me to earn a living as a writer and keep in touch with family and friends around the world. I have an iPad, a Smartphone and a laptop and my Tuscan farmhouse has a good high-speed broadband connection. I can access a library of books and a wealth of knowledge in the blink of an eye. I own several websites, have been in charge of Adwords accounts and optimisation for clients and know my way around Wordpress. The early days of my relationship with my husband, who lived in close-but-not-quite-close-enough Florence, were a heady flurry of romantic emails and texts, punctuated by the occasional Skype call. In short, I have a lot to thank the digital world for. And yet one of my most treasured memories - that special type forged not by events but emotions - is of a ten-day period just before Christmas a few years ago.

’Twas the Week Before Christmas…

A storm had caused a sudden interruption to our phone and internet service. Investigation revealed a wooden telephone pole lying in the field next to the house surrounded by snakes of cables. The lines had previously been shortened by a Telecom engineer who, in best Boy Scout style, tied them into a huge knot. No-one except me seemed…