📼 Retro Wednesday #1: I Lived Like It Was 2003 for a Day
What if a teenager in 2026 spent an entire day living like it was 2003?
I'm part of Generation Alpha, growing up in a world where smartphones, streaming services, and YouTube are part of everyday life. A couple of weeks ago, I watched a YouTube video called "I Used 1990s Technology for a Week" by Lucky Boy. It made me wonder, "What if I tried living like it was 2003 for just one day?" Coincidentally, my very first game console - a Nintendo GameCube - was arriving just a few days later, and suddenly, that random idea turned into a real experiment.
I called it Retro Wednesday. The rules were simple: no YouTube, no social media, no iPad. Just TV, books, and my GameCube. I had no idea how I would feel by the end of the day - but I was about to find out.
❌No YouTube.
❌No modern social media.
❌No AI.
✔️Watch TV.
✔️Play the Nintendo GameCube.
✔️Spend more time outdoors.
✔️Read books.
After that, I walked downstairs and saw my mom in the kitchen. I headed straight for the TV and turned it on. It was 7:45 AM. As I checked Discovery's schedule, I suddenly remembered that Otto Bulletproof – Facing the Unknown, a show I had recently started watching, would begin at 7:50 AM.
Without wasting another second, I grabbed some money and headed to the small phở shop right next to my house. It was a simple breakfast, but a delicious one. By the time I got back home, it was already 8:05 AM. I had missed the first fifteen minutes of the program—but honestly, that was okay. A good bowl of phở was worth it.
I sat comfortably on the chair, switched the TV to Discovery Channel, and as I expected, the program Otto Bulletproof – Facing the Unknown was already on. I watched it for five to ten minutes, and to be honest, that episode just wasn't really my thing; so I picked up the remote and checked the TV schedule again, and saw these two TV programs: Dual Survival - Season 5 (on 10:20 AM) and Dual Survival - Season 4 (on 11:10 AM). I had never watched that series, but as the name alone caught my attention, so I decided to give both episodes a try. So I grabbed my little alarm clock, set it for 10:20 AM; and started reading comic books to kill time!
After finishing the comic book, I carefully opened my copy of Wind Waker, and took out the instruction manual. It was 9:10 AM. While reading it, I thought to myself, "What should I do this afternoon?" then an idea popped into my head, "How about going out for a bike ride... with my cousin?" so I did exactly like that! Well, I had to borrow my mom's smartphone to call my cousin (which probably sounds illegal in a blog about 2003😂). I promise I only used it for a phone call, and he said that he would ask his mom for permission first, I told him to let me know once he got an answer, then I hung up and gave the phone back.
Learning how to sail Link's boat while waiting for the next TV program.
After forty minutes, the alarm clock rang again, and I slapped its button to go downstairs, and... finally! The TV is mine! With the excitement, I sat comfortably on the chair, and switched to Discovery Channel, just as the program was beginning! And moreover, that episode was about Joe & Matt (two professional survivors) - trying to survive and find their way out of the rainforests of Vietnam! After that, i was completely hooked, and I almost forgot everything around. No YouTube, no annoying notifications, no iPad distraction, just fifty minutes of pure enjoyment. The show ended in 12:00 PM, and I switched the TV to the news, then walked towards the kitchen to have lunch with my family, leaving Dual Survival being my first favourite series on Discovery Channel!
In the afternoon, after getting up by the alarm clock at 2:30 PM, I slowly walked towards the fridge downstairs, and grabbed some snacks for myself: a small chocolate bar, and a carton of milk. Simple, but enough for the afternoon. Coincidentally, when I was munching on my chocolate bar and switched the TV to Discovery Channel, there was a new series on called Expedition X - Season 6, and... again, the name alone hooked me 😅, so... I sat comfortably on the chair, put my snacks on the table, to enjoy a new TV program... AGAIN! That episode was about Heather & Phil (two main characters) exploring the supernatural phenomena at Trininad & Tobago, where it was really famous about the Obeah ritual of the people there, supernatural creatures like soucouyant, douen, jumbee,... I'm not a fan of horror things, so I found this program so terrifying, but... also interesting as well! As a result, I had planned to study at 3:00 PM, but actually, I watched until the end of it at 3:30 PM just because... it was so gripping! After it ended in 3:30 PM, I turned off the TV, cleaned up the snacks, and went upstairs to study; leaving Expedition X became the next favourite series of mine on Discovery Channel!
After half an hour of "fighting" with my Math homework, I decided to do some physical activities. The first choice in my mind? Of course, going out for a bike ride with my cousin. But... it was raining outside, so I couldn't ride my bike or play basketball either. Luckily, my house had an electric treadmill upstairs, and I already had a rope! So I thought to myself, "That's perfect to start." I quickly brought the rope upstairs into the room that had the treadmill. I thought for a few seconds and decided: a full cardio workout today! Two kilometres of running on the treadmill, skipping 100 times, and three sets of planks, 30 seconds each—shouldn't be too hard, right? I thought so! Moreover, I even counted 30 seconds by myself while doing the planks, and after all that, I was soaked in sweat! I sat in front of a fan to cool down after the workout, went to have a shower, and at 5:20 PM, I prepared my bag and went to my Math extra class.
After finishing Math class with pages full of inequalities in my notebook, I went back home and had dinner with my family. Just a simple routine, but reasonable, even a dream for many families out there. When I almost finished eating, an idea popped into my head: "Oh... later I'll play GameCube, so why don't I call my cousin again?" I borrowed my mom's smartphone immediately, then he simply replied: "I'll be right over!". And three minutes later, he was already standing right at my house's front gate 🤣! I started washing the dishes and cleaned all the kitchen right after, and finished all task in 8:10 PM! Now is the GameCube time! My cousin and I rushed upstairs and began setting everything up: putting The Wind Waker disc into the GameCube, plugging the controller and memory card into their ports, turning on the TV... and we were ready. I took a deep breath, and clicked the POWER button, and the GameCube legendary startup was on my TV! I continued the adventure in The Wind Waker (I was in the Forsaken Fortress then) and sometimes I even gave the controller to my cousin to try playing it, and I was so glad that he liked it! In an hour of enjoying GameCube, we together had fun small talks. Finally, at 9:15 PM, I saved the game, and turned off the GameCube. To be honest, that was the most memorable GameCube play of mine till now. Not because I defeated a boss, just because... that was the first time I had fun playing GameCube with others!
