Solo Living
Articles specifically about what it means to live alone, how to do it, and the solo living movement
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Why I Draw People Who Live Alone, by Jessica Billey
I draw people who live alone. For the past six years, I've been drawing portraits, gathering stories, and exploring this increasingly common way of living. It's an incredibly rewarding and inspiring project.
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8 Ways People Living Alone Are Tackling The Rising Costs of Living
This month my energy bill came in at £186 (~$228) – this time last year, I spent £95 (~$116) for the same month. I’m by no means unique - across the world, rising costs of living are impossible to ignore as household budgets become more and more squeezed. For solo people, rising costs of living have a disproportionate impact on…
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Learning to Live Alone In My 30s: How I Travel Is In My Hands (Most Of The Time)
When you live solo in your mid to late thirties, the experience is significantly different to your twenties. Twenties are a period of trial and error. In and out of relationships, perhaps, a time of flatmates and house parties, and the fact that you now have a paycheck (however questionably low it maybe) that you can do as you like…
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Looking Back: A Year Living Alone During A Global Pandemic
I remember the start of the UK lockdown vividly. I was in California visiting friends when the US shut its borders. I rushed home on a nearly empty flight, wearing a respirator mask from my friend’s earthquake preparedness kit the whole way. We’re only just starting to understand the full impact of a year under Covid. But one year on,…
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5 Problems You Face Only When You Live Alone
I’m such an advocate for solo living that I don’t like admitting it can have its downsides! But as with any way of life, it has good points and not-so-good. To get better at solo living, we need to get honest about the problems you face only when you live alone.
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Five things to say (and not to say) to someone spending Christmas alone
Covid means people who would never previously have spent Christmas alone are now facing it down for the first time ever, and in record numbers. This is daunting enough - and what none of us need at the moment is the judgement of other people. If you're struggling to know what to say - and what not to say -…
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A Solo’s Guide to Effortless Entertaining
Hosting for larger groups when you live alone comes with its own unique challenges, and it can definitely take some getting used to. Here are six ways to entertain effortlessly and host like a god or goddess, even when you live alone.
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How to live well, alone
My own journey to living well alone has been a long and winding one. At its heart, it’s been a journey of self-discovery, of getting to know and like myself, and of working out what I need (and don’t need) in my life in order to feel deeply fulfilled. It’s also been about getting good at the practicalities – from…
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The 7 Greatest Freedoms of Living Alone
What’s the best thing about living alone? When asked, people who live alone overwhelming say that ‘freedom’ is the most positive aspect of a solo life.
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Book review: Honjok – The Art of Living Alone by Francie Healey and Crystal Tai
The title of this excellent book is a Korean word for ‘tribe of one’. Taking the concept of Honjok which ‘invites us to consider who we are outside our established and cultural norms,’ it thoughtfully examines positive aspects and possibilities of living alone.
