You forget the psychological aspect though. I consider myself a loner, often sit alone at times when everyone is out. I then went to live in the mountains for

You forget the psychological aspect though. I consider myself a loner, often sit alone at times when everyone is out. I then went to live in the mountains for a while (due to work) sounded great, had internet, a phone, a house 10 times as big with a godly view etc. However, lonely at home is different from actual loneliness, and I was surprised how much I missed something as simple as seeing a random person walk on the street or a simple child shouting. You cannot fathom this type of loneliness, unless you actually been in isolation for a while, it changes you. I think you can substitute most if not all social needs if you have a family, but the paradox is, that people who grew up lonely, more often than not want to live in the city, or at least a place with a certain size off community. So you either move back "for the kids", or (as you see so often) kids leave for the city as soon as they turn adult. Leaving you alone again. This is not so much opinion, as it is the nature of the human social mind. Anecdotally; One of my friends grew up with a brother and a sister in the mountains. Their parents moved there from the city before they were born, exactly for the dream scenario off living that way. Now they are adults and he now lives in Madrid, his brother in Toronto, his sister in Amsterdam. Hows that for contrast? tldr; Grass is always greener on the other side. Isolation is experienced by many as a golden cage.