Recently, my husband and I watched the 8th season of Alone. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a show with 10 contestants who live alone in harsh terrains with limited tools and film themselves. They can 'tap out' with a radio whenever they would like. The last person left wins $1 million ($500k in the first seasons). But you don't know who has already tapped out before you. Usually it ends up being around 75-90 days.
It was really interesting to watch! In the show, I loved:
- Learning how to survive in harsh conditions
- Watching the participants invent and build things
- Seeing how they build different structures and what works well
It would be so difficult, not just for the physical aspect of finding your own food and building your own shelter (not to mention avoiding bears and other wildlife), but also for the mental/emotional aspect of always being alone. We are social creatures and we're designed to be with other people.
Anyway, my husband and I noticed a trend when we were watching. It seemed there were two main reasons that people tapped out (or were required to leave). The two reasons were:
- Health
- Family
It got us thinking a lot about those two things. When you take away all the other things in life, health and our closest relationships seem to be the things that matter the most.