An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life

In his twenties, Michael N. McGregor traveled to the remote Greek island of Patmos to spend two winter months alone, 6,000 miles from home. It was a time before cellphones and the internet, when even a phone call was costly. Although he expected his solitude to be meaningful, he wasn’t prepared for how it would change him.

Before his island days, McGregor had spent years reporting on the world’s poor and months on the road. As he settled into days of ...