In early 2012, Paul Miller was 26 years old and burnt out. He wanted a break from modern life — the hamster wheel of an email inbox, the constant flood of WWW information which drowned out his sanity. He wanted to escape.

Paul thought the internet might be an unnatural state for us humans, or at least for him. Maybe he was too ADD to handle it, or too impulsive to restrain his usage. He’d used the internet constantly since he was twelve, and as his livelihood since he was fourteen. He’d gone from paperboy, to web designer, to technology writer in under a decade. He didn’t know himself apart from a sense of ubiquitous connection and endless information. Paul wondered what else there was to life. “Real life,” perhaps, was waiting for him on the other side of the web browser.

His plan was to quit his job, move home with his parents, read books, write books, and wallow in his spare time. In one glorious gesture he’d outdo all quarter-life crises to come before him. He’d find the real Paul, far away from all the noise, and become a better Paul. To read more, click here.