Life in the 21st century can get lonely. Since we're all Netflix and chilling, checking Twitter for the latest notification to feel awesome about ourselves and bemoaning that battery meter on our cell phones shrinking to zero, it's pretty easy to feel down. But calm yourselves. Your loneliness is always relative to someone else's, and in some cases, vastly inferior. The following people and things have had it worse than you. So the next time no one's liking your Facebook status, remember these stories.
1. This crazy Russian spent 14 months alone in space.![things that will make you feel less lonely, valeri polyakov]()
Valeri Polyakov holds the record for longest time spent in a manned spacecraft. He kept himself sane with a strenuous workout regimen. When he landed in Kazakhstan after 437 days alone in space, "he stole a cigarette from a friend nearby, but could hardly be blamed for that," Philip Baker
wrote in his book "The Story of Manned Space Stations." "He sipped a small brandy and inwardly celebrated his mission," Baker continued.
2. This scraggly fisherman was lost at sea for 13 months.![things that will make you feel less lonely, jose alvarenga]()
A shark-fishing expedition went bad. In December 2012,
Jose Alvarenga went out in his boat off the coast of Mexico with a teenage companion. The motor died within a day. He was found 14 months later on an atoll in the Marshall Islands, 6,000 miles away. He survived on raw fish, turtles, small birds, sharks and rainwater. Alvarenga has claimed his companion died within four weeks because he couldn't stomach drinking turtle blood. However, as of December 2015, he is being sued for $1 million by the family for cannibalism.
3. This dude spent 43 years in solitary confinement.![things that will make you feel less lonely, albert woodfox solitary confinement]()
Albert Woodfox was convicted of killing a prison guard in 1972. He has maintained his innocence. "I learned how strong the human spirit can be, that the change has to come from within," Woodfox told the
Times Picayune. "I learned that although human beings do horrible things sometimes, they still have worth," he went on. Woodfox was released in February.
4. This is Voyager 1, and he's been chilling out in space for the past 38 years.![things that will make you feel less lonely, voyager 1]()
Voyager 1 recently crossed the heliopause and entered interstellar space. It's the first spacecraft to go this far. Here's a
picture it took of Earth.
5. This Native American woman lived alone on a remote California island from 1835 to 1853.![things that will make you feel less lonely, juana maria, lone woman of san nicolas island]()
She lost her name, her language and her tribe. Known only as Juana Maria, she spent 18 years as the "Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island." As the story goes, Russian otter poachers invaded San Nicolas Island -- a small island 53 miles off the coast of California -- and decimated the native Nicoleño tribe. A group of missionaries who heard of the news went to help the survivors, and they brought them all back to live at the San Gabriel Mission in Santa Barbara. All except one.
A hunter came to San Nicolas in 1853 and found a lone Native woman living in a hut made of whale bones and surviving on seal blubber. When he brought her back to the mainland, no local Native Americans could translate her language. After seven weeks in the "real world," Juana Maria contracted dysentery and died.
6. Migaloo, the only white humpback whale on Earth (until 2011).![things that will make you feel less lonely, migaloo white humpback whale]()
Since 1991, a strange white humpback whale has been migrating past Australia's east coast, baffling researchers. For 20 years, he was the only known white humpback ever seen. That is, until September 2011, when scientists witnessed a fully white baby born. They named it Migaloo, Jr.
But don't be saddened by Migaloo's lonely predicament. He has a
Facebook fan page, so all is well.
7. The Apollo 13 crew flew to the dark side of the moon, the furthest any human beings have ever been from the planet.![things that will make you feel less lonely, apollo 13]()
Houston, we have a record. The Apollo 13 team starring Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise circled the moon en route to Earth. They were 148 miles from the lunar surface and 248,655 miles from us. It is a record that has spanned more than four decades, since April 1970.
8. This tribe has lived on a tiny remote island for 60,000 years, unscathed and uninfluenced by the outside world.![things that will make you feel less lonely, sentinelese people]()
The
Sentinelese people are perhaps the most unique, uncontacted tribe in the world. They have thwarted outsiders from reaching their shores for the past 1,000 years. Every time an expedition attempts to infiltrate their island, the Sentinelese shoot curtains of arrows at them to dissuade their presence.
In 1974, a team from National Geographic tried to visit the island, only to have a barrage of arrows flung their way. The director of the expedition caught one in the leg. Expedition over. In 2006, two fishermen who moored their boat off Sentinel Island overnight had a faulty anchor which propelled them to the island as they slept. They were killed and buried in shallow graves.
9. This sleeping beauty spent 19 years in a coma.![things that will make you feel less lonely, terry wallis coma]()
In July 1984,
Terry Wallis drove his car off a bridge and into a ravine. His friend died. He woke up in 2003 and thought Ronald Reagan was president, and that he was still 19 years old. His first words were "Mom" followed by "Pepsi" and "milk."
10. Curiosity Rover sings "Happy Birthday" to itself every year on Mars.![things that will make you feel less lonely, curiosity rover mars]()
It doesn't exactly have a voice, but it does sound like Wall-E. Yes, NASA programmed Curiosity to beep the tune of "Happy Birthday" every year. Before it turned one, Curiosity took more than 70,000 images and over 75,000 laser shots on Mars. Clever girl. Here's what it
sounds like beeping away on that lonely red planet 40 million miles away.
11. This guy.![things that will make you feel less lonely, august landmesser]()
He was in a relationship with a Jewish woman and refused to give a Nazi salute aboard the Horst Wessel on June 13, 1936. His name was August Landmesser, and he was killed two years later.
12. Locked-In Syndrome.![things that will make you feel less lonely, locked-in syndrome]()
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a prisoner in your own body? Those who suffer from locked-in syndrome cannot move a muscle or communicate, yet they are completely conscious. It's like sleep paralysis, except indefinite and probably really f--king horrible.
13. The lone winter caretaker of Yellowstone National Park.![things that will make you feel less lonely, steve fuller yellowstone]()
When he applied for the job in 1973, he was the only applicant. It paid a measly $13.24 a day, but he took it anyway. For the past 42 years,
Steve Fuller has been the caretaker for Yellowstone National Park. It's like something out of "The Shining," except Fuller seems to show no indications of psychopathy: "Never had cabin fever," he told CBS. "Never been bored," he went on. And he doesn't even own a TV. What a freak.
14. This dude has been living completely isolated from the rest of the world in the Chilean mountains for the past 50 years.![things that will make you feel less lonely, faustino barrientos]()
Faustino Barrientos finds simple joy in being alone. He has lived in one of the most remote parts of the world since 1965. He works as a rancher and a shepherd, and is kept company by sparkling turquoise Patagonian lakes and radio. Telling
Vice in 2011, "I don't need money. I have enough to eat. Life seems to be better when you're alone."
15. There are only 57 Amur leopards left in the world.![things that will make you feel less lonely, amur leopard]()
It's the
most critically endangered species. Imagine if there were only 57 people left.
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