'I paid to be shipwrecked on a desert island - I felt truly desolate and scared'

26 October 2023 , 07:54

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Steven Rambousek deliberately got himself castaway

Intrepid holidaymakers desperate to get a bit of peace and quiet pay to be dumped on a desert island for weeks at a time.

Holidays are, generally speaking, supposed to help people relax and give them a little new perspective on the world. Unfortunately they often do the opposite. A recent survey discovered that 78% of people find returning to work stressful after a holiday, with more than a third feeling dread (37%) and anxiety (35%) the day before heading to the office.

In a bid to actually get away from it all - rather than remaining amongst it just from a different time-zone - and immerse themselves in a truly unique experience, hardy holidaymakers have started pursuing escapism to extreme lengths.

Like Tom Cruise in Castaway or the plucky young British schoolboys in Lord of the Flies (albeit hopefully with less skull smashing), these adventurers pay a company to leave them far, far away from civilization on an island, all by themselves.

The Swiss man was left on the island all by himself

Some opt for a more luxurious existence in which a parcel of food and shelter is left for them, so that survival is a little easier. Others go it alone, facing down the brutal majesty of nature off the coasts of the Philippines or Indonesia with little more than a spear-gun.

Eight remote and beautiful but brutal jobs if you want to leave it all behind

Steven Rambousek is one of the seven-or-so sign-ups deliberately stranded each month by Docastaway, a company run by Spaniard Alvaro Cerezo, who has spent much of his life working out how to get stuck on little rocky outcrops. Steven recently flew to Padang in West Sumatra, Indonesia where a cheerful local man loaded him onto a speed boat and took him out to sea.

"A very bumpy 2.5 hours out, a small silver speckle of land appears hovering on the horizon. Like paradise out of a catalogue: crystal clear reef, white sand beach, palm trees leaning and a thick jungle at its core. I shouldered five gallons of water and say Salamat Soré and Abak Abar, see you in four days," the Swiss man recalled of his experience.

Steven spent a lot of time eating coconuts

His little island paradise had woodland at its centre

Steven opted to set up camp on the western most point of his island, erecting a hammock before heading out to collect firewood. This proved to be too damp to light, prompting him to instead sit tight by his elevated bed as the night closed in.

"I sit in the sand and watch the countless hermit crabs do their dance. The sun melts into the horizon in a radiant amber kaleidoscope. For a brief moment, it feels like true paradise," he continued. This reverie would be short-lived. Steven discovered his head torch had been on during the journey and was now flat. The darkness would become oppressive once "eagle-sized bats" began to swoop overhead. He endured a sudden horrible shock when a large crab scuttled over his foot.

Steven got himself stuck off the coast of Indonesia

After a patchy night's sleep, the elements would come for him again the next day. "Rain hits hard and now I feel truly desolate and exposed. Lightning hits. The crackling electricity seems tangible through the sand," Steven wrote in his isolation diary. "I look at the tree I am huddled up against. It is a scorched black stump, clearly hit by a flash some time in the past. I love to watch thunderstorms. From behind a window and under a roof. Right now, I’m scared.

"High tide waves are now smashing into my fire and quickly drowning it. Dark again. I wait out the storm. 20 minutes, 2 hours or 3? What time is it? I feel insignificant and tiny, trapped on a small patch of land out in the humongous wide open sea - and yet free. I think of all those with no place to call home and no roof over their head - living every day like this - a truly humbling experience."

Steven would survive the storm and his week on the island, finding a great deal of joy in the solitude and pleasure in being able to run around the beach naked. He also discovered a new found respect for people who have faced longer periods of isolation. "I draw. I paint. I sit. I wait. I miss my loved ones, more than ever. I consider myself reasonably fit and outdoorsy but people on TV shows do this for over a hundred days, in arctic climates. Mad respect," he said.

To book a consultation with Alvaro and cast yourself away, go to www.docastaway.com.

Milo Boyd