In the wild for 27 years

[puredingo]

http://c.apple.com/r?v=2&la=en&lc=au&a= ... aI6j7c2X6k

[ribuck]

The article started off really well, but as soon as he left the back country and found sealed roads I knew it wasn't going to be a tale of wilderness survival. Stealing your food doesn't make for a survival epic.

However I did like the following tidbit from the article:

... a fad for hermits swept 18th-century England. It was believed that hermits radiated kindness and thoughtfulness, so advertisements were placed in newspapers for “ornamental hermits” who were lax in grooming and willing to sleep in caves on the country estates of the aristocracy. The job paid well and hundreds were hired, typically on seven-year contracts.

[madmacca]

The article started off really well, but as soon as he left the back country and found sealed roads I knew it wasn't going to be a tale of wilderness survival. Stealing your food doesn't make for a survival epic.

However I did like the following tidbit from the article:

... a fad for hermits swept 18th-century England. It was believed that hermits radiated kindness and thoughtfulness, so advertisements were placed in newspapers for “ornamental hermits” who were lax in grooming and willing to sleep in caves on the country estates of the aristocracy. The job paid well and hundreds were hired, typically on seven-year contracts.

If there isn't a complete tautology in placing a newspaper advertisement for a hermit.

[michael_p]

I remember reading about this guy a few years back. Amazed me how he made it through winter.

[puredingo]

Yeah, I thought the same ribuck. The more I read the more disappointed I became, in the end he was really only a poormans Malcolm Naden, although without all the raping and murdering.....as far as we know, anyway?

[north-north-west]

... a fad for hermits swept 18th-century England. It was believed that hermits radiated kindness and thoughtfulness, so advertisements were placed in newspapers for “ornamental hermits” who were lax in grooming and willing to sleep in caves on the country estates of the aristocracy. The job paid well and hundreds were hired, typically on seven-year contracts.

Why don't they have jobs like that these days?

[Lophophaps]

Why don't they have jobs like that these days?

Government cut backs and lack of tax deductability are the main reasons. Plus, the caves have been sold to developers who promote a wild experience, close to nature, with en suite, air conditioning, NBN and undercover parking. There's no valet service so it's wild.

As mentioned above, he started above but quickly became a thief. It's like living on Tassie's Central Plateau a short distance from the Lake Highway and breaking into the cabins near the Great Lake.

[Suz]

I remember reading about this guy some time back and was amazed by his statement that he kind of lost any sense of 'self' as there was no comparison of 'other' to make. He was not himself, he simply was. I found that profoundly interesting.

[dingelberry]

As the saying goes I think therefore I am.

[TerraMer]

"Wilderness" and "hermits" are often romanticised and associated with escapism, Buddhist monks, wild places untouched by humans and living beyond the reach of civilisation. It is all an illusion. They will always disappoint you.
Hermits usually work chores for basics like food, wood, clothes, boots if they are not just aesthetics with an inheritance, trust fund, rich parents or pension. If they live in the bush you will still regularly see them in town getting supplies and bin diving. That's been the reality for centuries. Unfortunately, these days nobody has any interest in helping hermits or homeless.
And if you aspire to be an hermit in the wilderness you will probably be disappointed once you get out there and find yourself making compromises for convenience and comfort.
Always makes a great story though (;