Just realized my best work week ever started with a total internet failure in Chiang Mai

Our Airbnb's router died on Monday, forcing me to work from a cafe for the first time in months. Ended up meeting a developer who helped me fix a bug I'd been stuck on for two days. Has anyone else had a tech disaster turn into a lucky break?

3 comments

3 Comments

maryr4323h ago

Honestly that sounds like a lucky accident but planning for internet failure is just asking for trouble. The whole idea of a "lucky break" from a router dying is kind of naive, what if that cafe was full or the developer wasn't there? Relying on random chance is a bad plan. @the_elizabeth has the right idea with a backup sim, because actively preventing disaster beats hoping for a miracle every time. Setting yourself up to fail on purpose is just poor risk management.

torres.riley20h ago

I used to think like maryr43 about planning for failure. But after a similar cafe meetup saved my project, I get what @the_elizabeth means about forced changes helping you see things new. Sometimes the unplanned stuff just works out.

the_elizabeth23h ago

Keep a backup SIM card with a local data plan for exactly this reason. I learned the hard way after a power cut in Da Nang. Cafes are fine until their wifi goes down too. That forced offline time can actually help you see a problem differently, and sometimes you just bump into the right person.