will need to run a 24/7 online lightning node
You can still use a custodial service, it just won't be us. For example, you could use a Cashu address for withdrawals so the mint will hold your funds while you're offline. This might even already work since it works over lightning but I didn't test. I forgot where I have my cashu address lol.
I'll just stop zapping
You can keep zapping via fee credits. It will be the same signal since someone at some point bought them with sats.