16 Ways People Used To Have Fun Before The Internet, According To Boomers, Gen X, And Millennials

In today's very digital age, it can sometimes be hard to remember (or even imagine!) a time when screens and Wi-Fi didn't rule our lives. But, recently, members of the BuzzFeed Community shared how they had fun before the internet, and it was such a great trip down memory lane. So much so that it inspired even more stories and responses. Here's another glimpse into how those who grew up without the internet liked to spend their time:

1."I grew up in Florida in the '70s. I had a bicycle with a banana seat and ape hanger handlebars. We would get behind the mosquito fog truck and ride in the fog for hours."

2."In the early '60s, I bowled in junior leagues at our local bowling alley. Then we would go across the street at night to skate at the Twilight Time skating rink. When I got my driver's permit in the mid-'60s, we would drive down Main Street in our muscle cars, racing and picking up girls. Sounds a lot like the movie American Graffiti, but that was life in a suburb of Dallas in those days."

3."I did A LOT of reading. Also, I wrote fiction on my family’s computer. This was a pre-internet computer where you didn’t connect to anything but a printer. Those were the days of tape drives and floppy disks and no hard drives or mice."

4."We were poor, so we didn’t have internet (this was like AOL dial-up era), but we would go to the local museum to hang out. There were 25-cent cheeseburger Wednesdays at McDonald’s (does anyone else remember this?) and $1 movie theaters."

5."I grew up before the internet and before everybody had a computer, '70s kid and '80s teenager. The neighbors and I had horses and ponies, and we would ride them for miles. If we came up to a barbed wire fence, we would just pull the wires apart to walk the horses and us through."

6."We spent countless hours making backyard wrestling videos with a bunch of friends. I still have all the tapes, and it was a great time and kept me out of trouble because I really believed I was going to be in the WWF."

7."During summer vacation, my buddies and I would hang out down at the local pool, listening to the radio. It was the '80s so there were always great tunes playing."

8."After school I’d put on old jeans, shoulder pads, and a helmet, then ride over to a friend's house where I’d play tackle football with a bunch of other boys. We’d play until 4:30 p.m., then go inside to watch The Three Stooges."

9."In the '60s, my best friend and I would catch the bus to go downtown. We would start at Woolworth and get a Coke and burger. Then, maybe we would buy some sunglasses or makeup. Then, we would catch a movie. Maybe we'd spend the rest of the day walking the streets and checking out boys. I would spend my whole week's worth of babysitting money — $5. I was maybe 12 or 13. Wonderful times."

10."We spent a lot of time at the beach during the day. On Friday and Saturday nights during my high school years, we'd go to the house of whoever's parents were out of town and spend time with kids from three different schools. There was almost always a live band playing in the backyard, lots of dancing, kegs flowing, people hooking up and playing drinking games."

11."My sister and I used to play games: Uno, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Monopoly, Life, Sorry, etc. We had toys like View-Master and Lite-Brite, and we used our imaginations to play out scenarios with dolls and little plastic animals. We did crafty things like Shrinky Dinks, loom loopers, or kid baking sets. In good weather, we would play outside: hula hoops, jump rope, roller skating, hopscotch... There was so much to do! We were never bored."

12."Drove around aimlessly, especially past the hot guy's house."

13."I loved making up dances with my friends! We were always performing. We were always exploring in groups, too. We once found this old abandoned house that was so creepy. It was probably incredibly dangerous, but we loved daring each other to go in different rooms!"

14."I read constantly growing up. Like, I could finish a book in a day. A few years ago, I was lucky if I read around 30 books a year."

15."Going to the drive-in after work. My friend's dad worked for a local newspaper and had a pass where we only had to pay 75 cents per person."

16."We biked around town and hung out in the nearby woods, building forts and getting mosquito-bitten during the summer. We didn’t come back until the streetlights came on."

How did you have fun as a kid and teen before the internet? Share your stories in the comments! Or, if you'd rather remain anonymous, fill out this form. Your response may be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post.