Latest news with #solitude
Fox News
3 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
The Point Of Vanishing
Solitude Chapter 4: Is spending time alone the answer to redirecting our attention? As Benjamin concludes this chapter on solitude he's joined by the author of The Point of Vanishing, Howard suffering a traumatic eye injury, that left him blind in one eye, Howard felt disconnected from the world around him. His solution for reconnection was to pack his bags and move to the woods of northern Vermont for two years and live in complete isolation. Howard shares how he discovered the beauty in solitude and discusses what it was like to reconnect with himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
ABC News
7 days ago
- ABC News
Seeking the wild: Alone Australia and connection to nature
Corinne Ooms was a contestant in the most recent series of the reality show Alone Australia. She spent 70 days by herself, in the remote west coast ranges of Lutruwita, Tasmania. And there, she had to navigate the psychological challenges of solitude and the physical challenges of survival in the wild. She experienced a profound change in how she experiences the world and her priorities in life. Guests: Corinne Ooms, finished as the second-runner-up on SBS' Alone Australia and last woman standing. Originally from Glasgow, she lives in Tasmania. Anna Halafoff, Associate Professor in Sociology of Religion at Deakin University, Melbourne, and coordinator of the Spirituality and Wellbeing (SWell) Research Network. She is one of the authors of: Alone Australia. Nature connection and spiritual complexity in popular culture, Journal of Beliefs and Values, 2025 Further listening: Solitude and the ache for humans - ABC listen, featuring Dr Kate Grarock, from Alone Australia season one. Sacred landscapes: the forest as mirror and sanctuary - ABC listen Sacred landscapes: snow and the high country - ABC listen Remembering Buddhist teacher and deep ecology advocate Joanna Macy Love, Beauty and Solitude: Translating Rilke with Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy - ABC listen Deep ecology and reconnecting with the natural world - ABC listen
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
Man details the shocking realities of living in a remote tent in the woods after shunning modern life
A man who sold his apartment to live in a tent in the woods alone has lifted a lid on his unusual lifestyle - revealing he uses baby wipes to bathe and survives off canned beans. The man, named Keith, who is in his 20s and lives in Australia, explained exclusively to the Daily Mail that the idea dawned on him after years of working tirelessly and still struggling to get by. 'No matter how many hours I worked, I'd still have nothing left at the end of the pay cycle,' he said. 'Sham contracting jobs make you liable for taxes at the end of the year.' As someone who is 'naturally introverted,' he enjoys 'solitude' and being in nature, so four months ago, he decided to leave his home and try living in the forest full time. At first he started by sleeping on the tent floor in a sleeping bag, but when he woke up 'drenched and shivering' he got creative. He bought a stretcher and started resting on that at night - and he now insists he sleeps better than he did at his apartment. 'I can sleep better in the woods than with noisy roommates,' he told the Daily Mail. The only items he has with him are some clothes, a mop to dry the floor of the tent if it rains, his sleeping bag, a portable clothesline, and 10 power banks that he uses to keep his phone charged. He sleeps at 'free legal campsites' and usually stays in the same one for a month before he is required to switch to a different campsite. He has a gym membership and goes once a month to re-charge all of his power banks. As for food, he explained that he lives off tortillas and canned beans. 'Twenty flour tortillas at $5 a pack, along with a $1 can of large canned beans (either kidney, chickpeas, lentils, baked beans) lasts me three days,' he shared on Reddit. 'I also buy high protein soy milk cartons, a carton costs me $3 and I consume them within 72 hours of opening since I don't have refrigeration. 'I also buy around 10 packets of family sized snacks (potato, corn, biscuits) for calorie bulking. 'These cost me around $2.50 each. So about $40 on snacks, plus water costs me $20 for two 24 bottled water packs. I take vitamins C, B12 and iron supplements. 'My bloodwork is normal and my BMI hovers around 19. I used to have Type 2 diabetes but it is now in remission since going on this diet.' He uses baby wipes to bathe 'every few days,' but he 'might use a smidge of hand sanitizer once a week with the baby wipes.' 'I use creek water every week or two with the biofriendly soap. I carry a bucket and bathe on the soil away from the water flow,' he added. He wears his clothes for 'three to six days' before he deems them dirty, and washes them in the river without any detergent. 'I immerse them in the flow, take them out, wring it, and repeat three times,' shared Keith. 'I wash the sleeping bag every few months at a laundromat though.' While his tent is waterproof, he said rain sometimes seeps through the seams and collects on the floor, which is why he sleeps on a raised stretcher off the ground. 'I mop up the water and occasionally spray some disinfectant on the tent fabrics during heavy rain,' he dished. As for how he uses the bathroom, he explained the campsites usually have 'drop toilets,' which are non-flush toilets that utilize a drop hole instead of water to dispose of waste. He told the Daily Mail that he has faced some life-threatening situations over the last four months of living in the woods. He said he was once worried about getting hypothermia after he 'got drenched' and once had a large branch fall off a tree and nearly hit him. 'I try to set up underneath a gap in the canopy for this reason. I also try not setting up right besides the road as a careless driver could run me over at night,' he explained. 'And [thankfully] my area stays above freezing even in winter so I just adapt.' As someone who is 'naturally introverted' he said he 'doesn't need constant social stimulation' and is happy to spend his days going on hikes. He vowed that he doesn't get lonely and is able to stay in contact with his family using his phone. He estimated that his living expenses are only $500 a month, which includes his car registration, insurance, gym membership, phone bill, food, and supplies. He lives off 'savings and welfare' and still works 'a few months in the year' to make some income, and he said the 'main benefit' so far has been cutting out his high rent. 'The benefits of this lifestyle are mainly financial, though being able to go on nice walks through the forest trials in the early morning is an underrated advantage,' he explained. While Keith knows not everyone will understand his lifestyle, in the end, he insisted that he is happier than ever. And he said he could see himself doing it 'indefinitely' as long as nothing goes astray.
Telegraph
23-07-2025
- Telegraph
Mapped: Britain's quietest beauty spots, ideal for a summer getaway
We've all been there, especially at this time of year, when the sun shines and the school break up; gridlocked on a country lane, elbow to elbow on the beach or queuing for ice cream in one of Britain's pretty seaside villages. Believe it or not, our nation, despite being the 32nd most densely populated in the world, still has a wealth of nooks, corners and some entire regions that are relatively unoccupied. In search of such solitude, Ordnance Survey has compiled data revealing the emptiest parts of the UK, designated by the number of postcode addresses. We've studied the data – overlooking the curious inclusion of numerous addresses in the City of London (see more below) – and plucked what we think are the supreme beauty spots across England, Scotland and Wales. If you want to be alone this summer, then look no further: England St Agnes Isles of Scilly With just 82 registered addresses, this, the least-known and least-visited of the Isles of Scilly, is, by OS definitions, the emptiest spot in England, Scotland and Wales. The only caveat is that the island is only half a mile long and a third of a mile wide. Only reachable by a 75-minute boat ride from St Mary's, the main island in the group (£14 return), St Agnes is threaded with narrow footpaths, that taper past wild heathland and craggy coastlines, from where you can spot dolphins, Manx shearwaters and grey seals. Pick up some homemade ice cream, butter and clotted cream from Troytown Farm (camping from £12.50 per adult per night) and pick up local jewellery and art pieces at the Pot Buoys gallery, before sipping on a pint of Turk's Ale, overlooking the harbour at the Turks Head – a pub that was formerly the island's custom house. Milton and Waterbeach Cambridgeshire Milton and Waterbeach sit just outside the top 10 emptiest places in England compiled by OS, but it's the quietest spot on the English mainland if you exclude the parts of the City of London listed. The villages have a postcode count, according to OS, of 342, though it'll feel like even less when you're here. Predictably, for somewhere on the fringes of the Fens, the landscape is flat, with nothing but sugar beet, wheat and barley fields and cinematically gargantuan skies above. Waterbeach is the more attractive of the two villages, with the River Cam babbling alongside it; you can cycle from here directly into Cambridge in about 45 minutes. Check into the Old School House (doubles from £110, B&B) a red-brick Gothic Revival building just off the village green. With a postal address count of just 993, OS grade these two Hebridean outposts as the emptiest spots in all of Scotland's mainland and inhabited islands. These islands are a wilderness of tufted beaches, treeless, rock-strewn hills and a unique species of lavender-tinted flowers, supposedly seeded by Bonnie Prince Charlie. There are only 1,200 people on Barra and Vatersay, which are linked by a causeway and reachable via a five-hour ferry from Oban (return from £32). The best spot for a solitary stroll is on the north-eastern road, which winds past rocky bays to a statue of Finbarr, the island's Irish patron saint. The Heathbank Hotel (doubles from £320, B&B) offers cosy rooms and a local menu. Shetland West Shetland Islands The Shetland West postcode area encompasses a sizeable stretch of mainland Shetland, from Tresta to Sandness and Aith to Skeld. But this postal demarcation also takes in one of the most remote inhabited places in Europe; the tiny, wind-blasted island of Foula. Only reachable by a thrice weekly, two-hour-long ferry journey from the Shetland mainland harbour of Walls (from £16 return), Foula is uncommonly dramatic, with some truly immense cliffs. Fourteen miles of often turbulent ocean separate Foula from anywhere and, on a bad day, winds of quite astonishing ferocity (known to locals as 'flans') rip across the island. Arctic terns, razorbills and gannets all call this outpost home, along with around 38 people. But it's the great skuas – the largest colony in Europe – that make the most noise. Bed in at the Ristie (01595 753281; from £40 per night), a beautifully converted old croft house on the north end of the island that sleeps up to eight people. North Uist Outer Hebrides Easily slipping into Scotland's top 10 of emptiest places, North Uist has a partially drowned-looking landscape, with much of the landscape submerged in lochan-peppered, peaty expanses. By sea, take a ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye (one hour 45 minutes, return tickets from £12.30), which docks in Lochmaddy; a pretty harbour overlooked by the peaks of North and South Lee. Deerstalking and trout and salmon fishing are the main draws for the few visitors that make it here, but less bloodthirsty serenity is available at the RSPB Balranald (free entry). Here, amid grasslands smothered with daisies and buttercups, sand dunes and a rocky foreshore, you can spot corn buntings, Arctic terns and, if you're lucky, corncrakes, for whom Uist is one of their last UK habitats. Check in at Hamersay Hotel (doubles from £195, B&B), a modern hotel with an outstanding restaurant serving up Uist scallops with chorizo butter and, if you dare, haggis pakora. North Isles Orkney Islands There are barely 1,800 addresses in the entirety of the northern sweep of the Orkney Islands, which includes Papa Westray, Rousay, Sanday, Eday, Stronsay and North Ronaldsay. It's the last of these outposts that you should head to for some real solitude. Reachable by ferry from the Orkney capital Lerwick (two hours 40 minutes, from £18 return), North Ronaldsay, with a population of around 50, is mostly visited by ornithologists who come to spot guillemots, cormorants and waders from the island observatory. There's a guest house on the same site offering compact rooms and half-board dinner (doubles from £82). With the island measuring only three miles by two, it's an easy walk to the New Lighthouse. It's the tallest land-built lighthouse in Britain, built in 1854, topping out at just under 140 feet (entry £7). Loch Tuath/Ulva Isle of Mull Mull is one of the more popular islands in the Hebrides, but very few people live, or indeed visit, its tiny sister island of Ulva, across Loch Tuath. In the 19th century, an estimated 850 people lived here, almost all employed in the extraction and export of kelp for use in the making of soaps and glass. The 1846 potato famine, some brutal evictions and the collapse of the kelp market combined to leave Ulva in its present state, with ruined crofters' cottages lining the deserted lanes. Bought by the remaining island community in 2018, repopulation is a key aim under new community ownership. In the meantime, deer and mountain hares will be your main company if you walk among the dense woods and heather moorland. Bed down for the night at Whitetail – a Mongolian-style yurt (from £69 per night) complete with mountain views, an indoor fire and a sauna. Wales Pembroke Dock Pembrokeshire Dismiss all comparisons with Dover or Harwich – this international ferry port is about as peaceful as a commercial harbour could ever be. More solitary pleasures can be found 40 minutes' walk away in in neighbouring Pembroke; home to Pembroke Castle (entry £11). The 75-foot-high keep is the highlight, with oak-beamed halls and steep, spiral staircases. Llanuwchllyn Gywnedd Gwynedd dominates the top 10 of empty places in Wales according to OS, with the village of Llanuwchllyn commanding an address count of a mere 649. The atmosphere here, at the southern end of Lake Bala, is very different to that of the eponymous town at the northern end of this ribbon-shaped expanse, which can get busy in summer months. Stick to the south end and the noisiest attraction is the rather genteel Bala Lake Railway, which chugs around the fringes of the water. Afterwards, make a beeline for the Yr Eagles pub, a handsome hostelry, which was bought by the community in 2023 and serves up Snowdonia Ale as well as doubling up as a village grocery store. Spend the night at the Bwch Yn Uchaf (doubles from £100), a 19th-century home that was built when the railway was on the mainline Welsh rail network. Dolbenmaen Gwynedd With the heights of Snowdonia as a backdrop, the tiny community of Dolbenmaen makes an ideal base for a stroll along the River Dwyfor with its banks lined with alder, willows and meadows. Keep a look out for buzzards and red kites, before visiting the ruins of the modest Dolbenmaen Castle. It's also worth visiting the David Lloyd George Museum (entry £8.50) in nearby Llanystumdwy. Housed in the former Prime Minister's childhood home (his uncle was the village cobbler), this tells the story of the rapid rise of the main from deepest Wales to prime minister. Bed in for the night at the Bwthyn Ael Y Bryn (from £302 per night).
Fox News
21-07-2025
- Health
- Fox News
The Art Of Solitude
Solitude Chapter Three: Ben and Principal Investigator of The Solitude Lab, Dr. Thuy-Vy Nguyen, explores the misconception that solitude is the absence of connection, as opposed to the positive presence of self. Dr. Nguyen provides insight on how intention is a moderator between solitude and loneliness, understanding the difference between choosing to be alone vs. being in a state of isolation. Later, they discuss how our time alone can be the answer to some of life's toughest questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
