A desert island for you: would you live your vacation like a castaway?
He said Henry David Thoreau that "getting lost in the woods is an experience as surprising and memorable as it is valuable" and that "only when we are totally lost do we become aware of the immensity and strangeness of nature".
It is perhaps one of the main teachings of his retreat in the lagoon of Walden that, now, practically anyone can also learn on a desert island. Spending a few days away from civilization, comforts and the modern world can be as attractive as it is difficult, but why do you want to try it? And don't worry, you won't have to mount an expedition until you find a secluded spot: all you have to do is send an email to Alvaro Cerezo , tell him how you feel like escaping and through his company docastaway organizes everything.
Siroktabe Island
This inveterate traveler began his adventure when he was eight years old. He vacationed (and vacations) in The Horseshoe (Granada), where he escaped to Calaiza, a small cove that at that time had no other access than by sea. He never left for too long so that his parents wouldn't miss him too much, but the feeling of isolation and feeling unique in a kind of treasure island made something different grow inside him. And when he came of age, he sprouted to launch himself to feel that experience of truth beyond his precious Granada cove.
He searched and searched, but there was no one to organize the trip for him, so he went to the **Andaman archipelago (India)** to look for his desert island by himself. He found it and the following year he repeated it, but in another place. And the later ones he traveled by Africa, Asia and America looking for new remote islands to explore, Survive on your own and learn from new adventures. "Then I assumed that there were other people like me and, when I finished studying, I decided to set up a company that would make this dream easier for other people," explains Cerezo, to whom his years in Economic Sciences at the University of Granada They helped him get off to a good start. "My colleagues all ended up working in a bank, but I knew that option was impossible for me," he says.
Wild Island
He began by sending friends, acquaintances and friends of his friends as guinea pigs to learn about his experiences and shaping the castaway experience and, after three years of apprenticeship, in 2010 he launched the company. Today, his offer includes a dozen islands in countries of Asia, Oceania or Central America , most of them far enough from the mainland that you will feel like the only inhabitant of the land. And the prices are not exorbitant at all: they range from 80 to 200 euros per person per night (international flights apart).
Each trip can be arranged with two different modalities . The first, called adventure makes it easy for you live practically like a castaway . Álvaro takes you to an island and, from there, everything depends on you: you must look for your own food, find your own shelter and, ultimately, survive on your own (be careful, always online in case of emergencies or, you just fancy some food) .
The second option is comfort mode: You will still have your own desert island but, this time, you will have most of the comforts of today's civilization, including a house, kitchen, food and many other options to make your days memorable. " docastaway It is not a survival company: we are a team that will help you escape from civilization for a few days", underlines Álvaro Cerezo.
Alvaro Cerezo
But is it easy to survive on a desert island? "I personally believe that It's not as hard as it looks. When you are a week or ten days you are not tired, you have reservations... and if you start to suffer, you always know that you have a few days left to finish the trip", says the entrepreneur who, yes, is willing to take you a pizza or a hamburger at the time you want.
"You don't have to have a bad time: this is a vacation . It is true that they like to try themselves, but the first thing is to enjoy and have a good time", says the businessman. In fact, there are islands where some fisherman sometimes passes, in such a way that he can help with some fish or a little chat, that perhaps does not hurt in full isolation. " And also to try other flavors : you are extremely happy to try another fish or another water, because there the flavors are always very flat", says Álvaro.
"I have learned that This experience changes your life but not so that you want to live alone forever, rather the opposite: people are always wanting to return to civilization and value comforts much more," adds Cerezo. Having a place to shelter from the rain, getting light by pressing a button or fire in a lighter is something that, perhaps, we do not give enough importance to. Perhaps for this reason, there have been few people who have repeated as lonely castaways without help in the best Robinson Crusoe style.
Gauthier Toulemonde in Siroktabe
However, travelers who have tried the comfort mode are not so eager to return to their routines. " There you have all the advantages of the modern world but in the middle of paradise and that makes many people want to live like this all their lives", highlights the young man from Malaga. In other words, you can allow yourself to lose track of time without forgetting any of the comforts. Many of these islands, in addition, meet a series of factors that make them even more appetizing: good weather, just the right distance from the coast so as not to see it but telephone coverage and a nearby airport to get there quickly . The rest is up to you.
These seven years of adventurous experiences have allowed Álvaro to meet characters of all kinds. One of them is the millionaire Ian Stuart , which in the last two years he has already collected six desert islands, going 180 days alone and surviving from the wild.
He also highlights Gauthier Toulemonde, a French businessman who decided to go to one of the desert islands to continue running his business remotely using solar panels and satellite internet. EITHER Reikko Hori, a 22-year-old Japanese woman who went to a desert island without even knowing how to open a coconut who has become a very mediatic castaway in Asia.
But, in addition, in her explorations to discover new paradisiacal corners Álvaro sometimes meets people who have been away from everything for years, like the australian squat David Glasheen, who now they want to kick out of his desert island where he lived for 20 years, when he lost all his fortune in the crash of 1987. Maybe it's time for you to star in the next story and wait to see what it brings tide . Or don't you want to find out?