
What Italy's famous hermit did next
CNN
Mauro Morandi was evicted from his hermit's life after nearly 33 years on Italy's beautiful Budelli island. At the age of 82 he's starting a new life in civilization -- and loving it.
(CNN) — For nearly 33 years he lived a hermit life on a beautiful island in the Mediterranean, where he was the sole inhabitant.
Mauro Morandi, known as Italy's Robinson Crusoe after developing a loyal online following, was caretaker of the Sardinian island of Budelli, embracing silence, solitude, and the peacefulness of nature while living in an old beach stone hut.
There was no social buzz, no fancy food, no friends -- his only companions were birds and cats. He slept on a cot and had few clothes. Forsaking all comforts, he preached a monastic existence of self-reflection and meditation on Budelli's pink beach dotted with coral dust.