<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">Subterranean mania?</h2>

Beatriz Flamini's daring experiment was about to begin. The 49-year-old made a final phone call to a friend; then she put on a safety helmet, arranged a large duffel bag on her back and began to lower herself by rope down a narrow crack in the rockface. After descending 230ft, she vanished into a cave.

That was on 21 November 2021. She was saying goodbye to the world for 16 months.

Beatriz trained as a sports instructor and taught aerobics. But at 40 she underwent a crisis. "You know you're going to die - today, tomorrow, within 50 years," she said to herself.¹ "What is it that you want to do with your life before that happens?" She decided she wanted to live in the mountains.

She became the caretaker of a mountain refuge and started living in a camper van whose doors froze shut in winter, sometimes for three days. At one point she went three months without seeing anyone.

At the start of the pandemic she drove her van to an abandoned hermitageA place where an isolated person lives on their own, away from society, often for religious reasons. in the CatalonianCatalonia is a region of Spain with a strong independence movement. mountains. She said she loved "its cemetery, its rows of dead, dusk falling. It's a tranquil place."

But she wanted to go somewhere even more remote: the Gobi DesertThe largest desert in Asia, covering over 500,000 square miles.. She began training to cross it on foot - something only one European had ever done. And to prepare herself for the isolation of her trek, she decided to spend some time in a cave. With the modern record standing at 463 days,² she set her sights on 500.

The cave she chose in the mountains of GranadaA province of southern Spain, and also the name of a city within it. was dark but warm all year round. It measured 100ft by 30ft, with a 40ft ceiling.

A support team monitored her via two CCTV cameras. She had a panic button and a computer to send them messages, but could not receive messages back. Supplies and food of water, along with solar-charged batteries, were left regularly for her on a shelf 100ft above the cave's entrance.

To pass the time she read books, drew pictures, listened to music, knitted and exercised. When she finally emerged, she had lost 12lbs, but was generally in good physical shape.

In an interview with The New Yorker, she told DT Max that she had not wanted to leave: she had felt a great sense of love there. What she had missed most was roast chicken and chips.

The experience, though, had taken a psychological toll. She had lost track of time and spent long periods just sitting or lying in the darkness. She started hearing things and imagined that a large animal was in the cave with her.

There have always been people who seek solitude. In the 5th Century, the Christian hermit Simeon StylitesA Syrian Christian who spent 37 years living on a small platform near Aleppo. lived on top of a pillar in the Syrian desert for 37 years. Henry David Thoreau's classic book Walden tells of the two years he spent living on his own in a cabin in MassachusettsA state in the northeast USA. in the 1840s. 

Even those who have solitude forced upon them can find benefits in it. Nelson MandelaA South African anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in jail before becoming president. wrote from prison: "The cell is an ideal place to learn how to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your mind and feelings."³

Should we spend more time alone?

Yes:  In this crazily busy world there is nothing better than retreating to your own room, surrounded by your favourite things, with no one to bother you. It is a chance to work out what really matters.

No: In solitude it is too easy to get wrapped up in your own thoughts and become depressed. We need the company of other people to stimulate us and test our ideas - and we need their love to support us.

Or... It depends on your personality. Some people, like Beatriz, are very good at being on their own and use the time well. Others feel a strong need to be around people and easily fall prey to loneliness.

Hermitage - A place where an isolated person lives on their own, away from society, often for religious reasons.

Catalonian - Catalonia is a region of Spain with a strong independence movement.

Gobi Desert - The largest desert in Asia, covering over 500,000 square miles.

Granada - A province of southern Spain, and also the name of a city within it.

Simeon Stylites - A Syrian Christian who spent 37 years living on a small platform near Aleppo.

Massachusetts - A state in the northeast USA.

Nelson Mandela - A South African anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in jail before becoming president.