Have you tried solitude/isolation?

I left school at 16, a Grammar School failure with two "O" levels, and no idea what to do.  I knew I didn't want to work with animals or people so it didn't leave me many options.  Then I had a brainwave, the Forestry Commission!  Working with trees and a small group of people, I could cope with that.  A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, now I am a lot more sociable, but it was 1961!  Now I know I can have the pleasure of being on my own and being with others when I choose.  What's best is you can be on your own but within a group.  The older you get and the wiser you realise that solitude is lovely, but not all the time. 

Bad Dad lives out in the wilderness but it still ain't far enough from his neighbours.

The boat's an interesting idea I hadn't thought of

I have tried living nocturnally last time I was unemployed around 11 years ago in search of sollitude. I liked it a lot, at that time I thought "web" communication would satisfy my social needs. Didn't last long due to GF, Parents and eventually going to Uni.

I have a fantasy about moving to Eastern Europe in the countryside about an hour away from a city. I'll never be able to afford such tho, somewere like Ukraine, Russia, Hungary etc. However I'd like to fly back to Newcastle for football games.

Good look in your venture if you can make it happen.

I lost my very long reply because my session ran out. (Once in my live I don't "select-all and copy", and that's what I get!) 

In short: Thank you for your replies. I agree that soundproofing drastically improves quality of live. (My landlady laughs at the idea though.) Not being around noise in the first place is one notch better though.

@Easy : Hermits had it good, they had a place in society. I wonder how many hermits/monks/nuns were austistic, and thrived in monasteries? Their families just needed to convince the local monastery that these individuals are naturally devout and have in fact been "silently praying from birth on". My mother (who is much like me) secretly showed me a photograph of her younger self wearing a novice's habit... They didn't take her and she had to marry.

@Scorpion0x17 : A riverboat? I grew up in a mountainous forest, I honestly never considered boats. A boat fulfils some of the criteria, but my idea of fun is to run uphill among trees until I'm tired. I'd feel like a caged animal on a boat.

@Scorpion0x17 / Silver100: I've tried camping, it gets stressful after a while when you realize you are merely tolerated, and anybody can kick down the tent. I want to own the plot (be able to kick others out) and have "something solid and heatable" around me.

I only need a search engine for places... Most problems could be solved if we had all the data, and search engines for it.

PS: @Easy I don't dare trying to live in a cabin for a few months simply because I will lose my job then, and I'm very lucky to have this ideal job, I need to make as much money out of it as possible before I lose it.

Silver100 said:

I don't think putting a shed up in the woods is allowed in the UK (?). I think every scrap of land is now regulated in some way even if it is available to walkers.

I might be wrong, but I believe you can still camp on common land - you just can't set up permanent residence.

Have you considered living on a canal/river boat?

I absolutely agree with you Hope about soundproofing but unless it becomes mandatory on builders, or you can afford to employ your own, then it isn't going to happen.

A shed would be no good in the winter and I want it to be perminent. Houses that are separated from others are generally more money than other forms of accomodation.  I don't think putting a shed up in the woods is allowed in the UK (?). I think every scrap of land is now regulated in some way even if it is available to walkers.

I like quietude and long periods of solitude, although I would feel lonely if I did not see people for days on end, and I would possibly see a deterioration in my mental health and anxiety levels. I do need people, but only on my terms, or, in other words, I should be within walking distance of others but I should only hear them and see them when I want to.

I live in a flat now, on my own, with 15 hours a week support from social services. I always spend the weekend with my family, and I am glad to see them, but it is nice to have my own space and independence. HOwever, I have never lived in a flat before, and my parents house is quieter than my flat;  most of the time. The problem with flats is soundproofing. Every time my upstairs neighbour has a visitor, I can hear the noise, and this stresses me and makes me angry. It is usually a male voice I can hear, and I want him to shut up so I can have quietude. The noise of cars also stresses me - I am near a busy road. I only get stressed by noise if I can't control it, and if I cannot escape from it. I can't block noise out like most people can, although I have become somewhat better with practice.

I would love to have a one bedroomed detached house, but I cannot afford it!.

I think houses need to be designed with better soundproofing.

Its also possible to live in solitude in London,

if you dont talk to people nobody talks to you.

But London is more lonely because you are often reminded of the things you are escaping.

Dunno about a remote place, I have moved to Wales and often go hillwalking, Black mountains, Wye Valley etc.

I wouldnt call it remote, there are always houses and people around, though I suppose its one of the more remote places in Britain.

I agree with your aspirations, whenever I have had about £10,000 in the bank I think I can use that to have peace and quiet for a year, seems much more valuable than anything else I can do.

I often go a month without talking to anyone, maybe a few functional words in a shop when I buy food but nothing conversational.

I think this idea used to be fairly common, and as a hermit it was respectable and admired, just doesnt fit in with modern consumer culture.

The admen are the new priests, they cant make any money out of people who dont listen so they demonise them.

I am surprised you think you need a lot of money to do it, if you want to live in a shed in the woods its not expensive. Why not try it for a few months ?

I would like to live in the country away from people but it is not going to happen because I will never have the money.  I know what you mean about properties - they don't do detached one bedroom!

The writer, Sara Maitland bought a derelict shepherd's hut and converted it but it was 18 months of dealing with builders

I personally find solitude less isolating than being with people.  I have come to like solitude, though I also like to see my few friends from time to time.

I used to feel lonely because of lack of relationships but when I realised that this was really because I felt that people thought there was "something wrong with" me I stopped feeling lonely.