Outline
How I designed my life around the things that matter most to me.
I wake up in beautiful places. A different place every day. Sometimes surrounded by hills, sometimes on a beach, other times next to a lake with acres of woodland to explore.
I've always been fascinated by hermits and craved solitude. With no close relationships in my life, very few belongings, and a job allows me to work remotely, living in my car and spending time visiting
When I was young I read books about hermits.
Traces the history of hermits, from the Greek Cynics, to the Desert Fathers, to more modern seekers of solitude, including Thoreau, Thomas Merton, and American poet Robert Lax
Our culture's narrative about hermits is usually one of running away from something. Either the hustle and bustle of big city life leads them in live in the woods, or increasing cost of living forces them into a van or car. Perhaps this narrative is one of social conformity
“Loneliness is the state of distress or discomfort that results when one perceives a gap between one’s desires for social connection and actual experiences of it.”
I'm one of the lucky few who has designed a lifestyle around living in my car. Not because I have to, but because I choose to.
Designing for simplicity
A typical day for me involves waking early with the daylight as my alarm clock. I don't really take much notice of the time or even what day it is sometimes. I make breakfast, usually a mixture of cereals and dried fruit with soya milk, and then I head off for a hike. Sometimes I've planned where the day before and sometimes I'll pick somewhere that morning or just start walking and see where it takes me. I walk for a couple of hours every day. Sometimes I focus on clearing my mind and thinking of nothing, just the experience, and other times I'll take a topic of discussion with me and discuss it with myself as a walk.
Once back at my car I switch my laptop on. I either have work to do, other I study, or spend time thinking and writing about the stuff that interests me. Sometimes this is focus time and other times it's more free-flowing and exploratory. I'm really lucky that my job can be done remotely and fits my lifestyle really well.