Marooned: From Punishment to Vacation

3 months ago · < 1 minute read

A few hundred years ago, sailors would live in fear of being marooned by their captains. It was a harsh punishment to be left alone on a remote island without food or water. Possibly inhabited by unfriendly indigenous people who didn’t take too kindly to strangers showing up. Benjamin Gunn in Treasure Island was marooned for years, and he suffered greatly for it. So, why would anyone actually pay to be marooned?

Well, apparently, people have been rewatching Castaway and thinking that Wilson looked pretty appealing. One example is Ben Saul-Garner, who paid nearly $4,000 to spend ten days alone on an uninhabited island in Indonesia. He ate crab and coconuts, strung up a hammock, and had a lovely time. The company that facilitated this excursion? Docastaway.

With the popularity of shows like Man vs. Wild and Naked and Afraid, it’s no wonder that people wanted to test their mettle by trying to survive, a hobby called bushcraft. Under controlled conditions, of course. The founder of Docastaway has strict standards for ensuring his clients’ safety. He checks all of the islands beforehand and pays police to ensure no one comes around during the stay.

Some clients want to be left with a couple of items, typically a knife or machete, a lighter, or a speargun. They trust the founder that there are places to build a crude shelter and source fresh water and food. Unlike being marooned, though, clients can signal to be picked up early if they get sick, injured, or plain old bored. 

What do you think? Could you handle survival mode?