It seems to me the author paid someone to... not sit with him in the forest but generally hang around nearby? To my Eastern European eyes, this looks super weir

It seems to me the author paid someone to... not sit with him in the forest but generally hang around nearby? To my Eastern European eyes, this looks super weird. If you want to spend a day alone in the forest, why not just go? Do you need the "Way of Nature UK" organization to support you in doing that?