{"id":809151,"date":"2026-07-19T00:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/809151\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T00:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:02:18","slug":"90s-nostalgia-i-lived-like-it-was-the-90s-for-a-week-it-was-lonely-but-not-in-the-way-youd-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/809151\/","title":{"rendered":"90s nostalgia: I lived like it was the \u201990s for a week. It was lonely, but not in the way you\u2019d expect"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a member of the undefined facet of Gen Z wedged between 1997 and 2003, I can\u2019t lay claim to the \u201c90s kid\u2019 label<\/a>. But it hasn\u2019t stopped me from daydreaming about life in that era, long before smartphones and algorithms<\/a> took over.<\/p>\n

Was the grass really greener in those analogue, largely unplugged days? I decided to rewind the clock to 1996 and spend a week offline<\/a> to find out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

I initiated a factory reset, and wound back the clock to 1996.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

The game plan<\/p>\n

If I could tell 2008 Charlotte she\u2019d one day long for an era where the 6pm news was taped over her Bridge to Terabithia<\/a> VHS, I just know she\u2019d punch me in the boob.<\/p>\n

But today, as I grapple with a shameful average screen time of seven hours and the constant threat of digital burnout, I\u2019m excited to journey back to a time when Friends episodes<\/a> were not yet viewed via re-runs. Devising my guidelines for the week, I placed particular emphasis on the \u201990s\u2019 \u201cslow-living\u201d ethos that would hopefully reboot my tech-addled brain. <\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a \u201990s kid, but I have fond memories of growing up in early-2000s New Zealand.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

For the experiment, I would:<\/p>\n

Dumb-down my smartphone \u2013 in-built wellness features would be used to lock every app on my phone (including social media), save for calls and alarms.Inform my friends I\u2019d only be reachable via cold call, and map out some concrete social plans for the week ahead.Only use my laptop for work and dedicated \u2018administration\u2019 timeslots for unavoidable digital tasks.Strike up passing conversations with strangers. Chat. Engage. Ask them for the time. Dare to be perceived as insane in public.Drag my film camera from the depths and lock and load it with a trusty roll of Kodak Gold.\"Living<\/p>\n

I made a comprehensive (and hand-written, of course) list of guidelines for my week of \u201990s living.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

Carry a novel \u2013 plucked from the purgatory of my \u2018to-read\u2019 pileMAHGA: Make Analogue Hobbies Great Again. Draw, write, scrapbook, bake \u2013 heck, do a puzzle if I must.The metro and Uber are out; the train, the bus, my own two legs and embracing chronic lateness are so in.Recreate appointment TV by rummaging around for my box set of \u201990s TV relic Early Edition and schedule set times to rewatch this over the week.<\/p>\n

Armed with this hodgepodge collection of obsolete media and a pre-Y2K mindset, I set out.<\/p>\n

Day 1: A rude awakening<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something to be said about the look on people\u2019s faces when you pull a full-sized map of the Sydney Metropolitan Area from the back pocket of your jeans.<\/p>\n

This is the reality I immediately met on my analogue odyssey<\/a>: while \u201990s living is an enjoyable premise, it runs the risk of appearing performative or holier-than-thou in 2026.<\/p>\n

I also felt the weight of curious eyes when inspiration struck in a public setting and I drew out my pen and pad to scribble the thought down, my Notes app a distant memory.<\/p>\n

As I shook out my cramping fingers, I couldn\u2019t help but wonder if this was truly the same hand that once bashed out 2000-word English essays in high school. <\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

Toting physical media is one thing – but actually using it in public is another.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

Day 2: The lonely reality of bursting the bubble<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t made eye contact with a single stranger in two days. No, really.<\/p>\n

While this experiment has already served as a reminder of what the inside of a train looks like, analogue living in 2026 is lonely<\/a> \u2013 and not in the way you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

The social dynamic among friends and acquaintances has been largely the same thus far, if not better. It\u2019s my interactions with strangers, or lack thereof, that give me pause.<\/p>\n

With your phone doubling as a digital pacifier, you remain blissfully unaware of how absorbed you are until you look up, choose to be present \u2013 and find absolutely no one else is in the same boat with you.<\/p>\n

One viral phrase doing the rounds on social media immediately springs to mind: \u201cYou can go back, but nobody will be there.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

In two days, I didn\u2019t make eye contact with a single stranger on my commute.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t under the delusion passersby would sense my phone-free aura and tuck their own devices away in solidarity, but I certainly didn\u2019t expect this. I can count the number of people I caught looking up on one hand. No one smiled at one another \u2013 not even an exchange of friendly nods.<\/p>\n

Toto, I have a feeling we\u2019re not in the \u201990s any more.<\/p>\n

Day 3: \u2018Slow\u2019 living?<\/p>\n

I never intended to put the \u201cslow\u201d in slow-living, but time blindness tends to take hold when you don\u2019t have a phone clock to glance at.<\/p>\n

As I don\u2019t own a watch, the simple act of time-telling became a masterclass in scanning environments for a clock tower \u2013 or identifying the most approachable-looking stranger to bother.<\/p>\n

Without Google Maps, my late morning also became a logistical crisis, reuniting me with the long-forgotten joy of traipsing five extra blocks after disembarking at the wrong train stop.<\/p>\n

You know what? Google Maps makes us all far too destination-oriented, anyway. Forget efficiency over enjoyment \u2013 give me meandering any day of the week, though perhaps not the ones when I\u2019m already running late for work.<\/p>\n

Day 4: The sheer weight of it all<\/p>\n

My romantic dream of analogue media<\/a> quickly collided with the back-breaking reality of lugging it everywhere with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

I underestimated the weight of carrying physical and analogue media.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

No one informed me living like the \u201990s would mean a bag weighed down by everything and the kitchen sink in lieu of one. single. phone.<\/p>\n

The conveniences I overlooked are now glaring. Gone are the days of whipping out my phone for photos; I\u2019ve now engaged an entire SLR, only to find the majority of the developed roll looks like it\u2019s been shot from a moving vehicle.<\/p>\n

In trading seamless digital efficiency for the friction of the physical world, I\u2019ve also lost various items, including my EFTPOS card, in record time. As I trudge to CommBank to order a replacement, I ponder the possibility of asking work to expense my chiro bills.<\/p>\n

Day 5: Has my brain healed itself?<\/p>\n

Although the prospect of being alone with my thoughts for perhaps the first time in 14 years was daunting, it turns out it\u2019s not half bad.<\/p>\n

Sans headphones or screens, I opted to sit with discomfort in moments of boredom, oftentimes finding my mind wandering in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

Living life sans phone gave me the chance to get stuck into my \u2018to read\u2019 pile.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t help but feel my typically busy mind was being suspiciously well-behaved. It\u2019s difficult to know what level of placebo was at play here \u2013 but I swear my focus, attention span and capacity for clear, rational thought had increased tenfold.<\/p>\n

The grandma deep within has burst forth, filling my time with baking, reading and a newfound penchant for newspaper crosswords. <\/p>\n

Where previously my burnt-out brain had little capacity for passion projects, I\u2019ve now found myself reaching for art supplies and embracing a long-lost love.<\/p>\n

Day 6: Friends S26E6 – \u2018The One Where Charlotte Shows Up at Your House\u2019<\/p>\n

While I wasn\u2019t afforded the privilege of living in the New York apartment adjacent to my rag-tag team of 20-somethings, my week, surprisingly, has not been short on socialisation.<\/p>\n

From communal dinners and puzzling sessions to movie nights and pub catchups, the manner in which the people in my life rose to the occasion, embracing my \u201990s endeavours, truly filled my cup.<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

Those in my life were more than happy to embrace analogue hobbies in solidarity.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

One thing\u2019s for sure; I baked up a storm this week.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

This week, I\u2019m officially a yes-man. When a friend calls to invite me on a last-minute hike, the only appropriate response is, \u201cWhy the hell not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gone are the days of talking to my best friend\u2019s mother on the landline to ask if she could play, or hightailing to her place on my razor scooter. But through rigorous pre-planning and cold calls, I had a social schedule for the week planned down to the hour.<\/p>\n

Yet as the time rolled around to meet mates for a movie night, I was overcome by the terrible, niggling feeling our plans had been cancelled or forgotten, and that I was about to show up at their front door with no prior confirmation.<\/p>\n

I steeled myself as I ascended those steps, and \u2013 to my immediate relief \u2013 found them all awaiting my arrival with ample movie snacks at the ready. They were expecting me, and all my anxiety had, thankfully, been for naught.<\/p>\n

Day 7: Snap back to reality<\/p>\n

Anything worth knowing this week I\u2019ve heard through the grapevine, the rumour-mill \u2013 or an occasional copy of the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying 2026 is a bad time to be well-informed. The privilege of shutting it all off and existing in a bubble free of war, violence, artificial intelligence and social injustice being blared through a screen in my hand did wonders for my mental health.<\/p>\n

Sooner or later, though, the bubble always bursts. When I finally disabled my phone\u2019s \u201990s mode, the ensuing waterfall of all I missed was enough to send me (and my phone) into psychosis.<\/p>\n

The government back home had proposed a bill that would make it easier to sell off conservation land. There\u2019d been approximately 10,000 updates on the war in Iran. Dua Lipa\u2019s wedding photos<\/a> had dropped. And more notifications than I care to admit ram-raided through the stratosphere within point-two milliseconds.<\/p>\n

My screen-free week was over, and with it, my peace.<\/p>\n

The verdict<\/p>\n

Our parents were right. It really is these damned phones \u2013 but removing myself from the daily hubbub, muting the noise and sitting with my thoughts would only get me so far.<\/p>\n

The inconvenient reality is that, as much as we may yearn for a return to simpler times, many physical systems central to that period no longer exist in 2026.<\/p>\n

The energy that defined the analogue era now belongs to a timeline that has already closed. It forces us to realise we can only ever revisit these periods as observers \u2013 or, in my case, trialists \u2013 as opposed to active participants.<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/p>\n

One thing about the past: You can go back, but no one will be there.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

The digital attention economy will continue its indefinite growth, and for better or worse, society\u2019s core infrastructure \u2013 employment, banking, public services \u2013 will continue to operate around expectations of constant digital connectivity.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost enough to make it all seem pointless \u2013 until, of course, I check my screen time for the week<\/a>. Just under an hour and a half, all of which was spent on unavoidable work tasks, rather than personal use.<\/p>\n

By simply choosing to look up, I\u2019d bought myself back six whole hours of my day, seven times.<\/p>\n

In approximately 42 hours, I\u2019d reconnected with hobbies and passions that\u2019d long been kicked to the wayside. No longer were they collateral damage in my brain\u2019s war against digital burnout.<\/p>\n

While we can never fully return to what once was, we can sure as hell thread elements of that time throughout day-to-day life. Even if \u201cnobody else is there\u201d \u2013 you are. And reclaiming your own life will always be worth it.<\/p>\n