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INTERN A TION AL

LIVING THE DREAM

What Italy's famous hermit did next

(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.
Proving his point, Morandi has apparently been thriving

Then his blissful world came to an end. since moving back to civilization on the inhabited island
After years of struggling with marine park authorities that of La Maddalena, not too far from Budelli.
wanted to evict him to turn the isle into an environmental "I'm happy and I have rediscovered the pleasure of living

observatory, in May Morandi accepted his fate. After the good life and enjoying everyday comforts," he says
posting a pithy message of resignation -- "My balls are
broken" (slang for "I'm fed up") -- he left.

Moving home and starting a new life can be tough for

anyone. Even more so for an 82-year-old who has spent
three decades living a solitary existence on a paradise
island. Is it possible to move on and readjust?

Says Morandi, the answer is an emphatic "yes!"

"It's never really over," Morandi tells CNN. "I'm the living
proof that a second, new life is possible. You can always
start all over again, even if you're over 80, because there

are other things you can experience, a totally different Morandi's new apartment in La Maddalena.
world." Courtesy Mauro Morandi

@BBC @CNN International @euronewsgreen

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