Hermit lifestyle

After more than three decades of calling the small Italian island of Budelli home, Mauro Morandi is being forced to leave its pink-sanded shores.

Little known fact: I'm a hermit.The happier I am in my personal and professional life, the less of a need I have to leave my home and interact with strangers.

Do you know that feeling that you want to hide on one of the Hebride Isles? No matter what the weather will be? And preferable no neighbours other than the Seagulls (who can be as noisy as a lively family next door). And of course the wind, the sound of the sea, the smell and taste of salt on a windy day. Photo: Helen Varras (Isle of Skye) In your cottage is a roaring fire, with the typical smell of an Autumn day. A lazy chair and a cup of fresh brewed tea. The AGA is spreading the…

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What does it mean to seek the contemplative life in a modern and increasingly connected world?

Straight out of a winter wonderland, these cozy retreats are the perfect spots to snuggle up on a cold snowy day.

Stan Vanuytrecht was one of about 70 candidates who applied for the unpaid position at one of Europe's last hermitages.

Former music teacher Karen Markham has chosen to shun 21st-century distractions and live as a hermit. But the wider world has cast a shadow over her seclusion...