Most people who struggle to get by from one day to the next dream about living a life where they don’t have to worry about money. For one stockbroker who was worth millions of dollars, however, living life with plenty of money was not something he intended on doing forever.
78-year-old David Glasheen had acquired quite a fortune, but he ended up losing a lot of it when the Black Tuesday crash of 1987 took place. He lost his home and decided he would live the rest of his life in a different type of environment.
As of 1997, he has been living off the coast of North Queensland on Restoration Island. He is getting close to 80 years old, and he now feels as if his life may need a little more than what he took with him to that island paradise.
You see, Glasheen decided to live life in a simple fashion on Restoration Island, but he didn’t exactly go alone. He decided that he would take along two female mannequins, and hope that they would fill his every need.
As he approaches eight decades of age, he realizes that he isn’t quite the young man he used to be. In fact, he says that now that he is 80, it’s “heavier and harder,” according to the New York Post. I think many people can appreciate what he is trying to say.
According to the New York Post, he talked about life on the island, saying: “I fainted one day and then fell and broke my hip. The phones don’t work when you need them half the time, so the best security I could get is more people. The wheels start falling off when you’re 80. That’s what happens.”
He also admits that his life is at risk if things should happen to go wrong and he is becoming more and more aware of that fact. He would like to stay on the island but he is hoping to get a little bit of human company. According to Mail Online, he is having a struggle finding anyone that will join him in that pace of life.
He is willing to pay real money to bring someone to the island and ideally, would like a middle-aged couple. He doesn’t have enough to pay a full salary, so it’s difficult to convince anyone to make the move.
Then again, living isolated on an island does have its perks. For example, his life didn’t change at all during the COVID pandemic. Quite simply, he’s lived his life so long in isolation that heading back to the mainland is not something he is prepared to do.
He gave up a complex life as a stockbroker to live a simple life. The only things he took with him to the island were two pairs of shorts, three shirts, a torch, books, some chili powder, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Over the years, he acquired more books and two mannequins that he named Miranda and Phyllis.
For the most part, he gathers the food that he needs. He eats a diet of native fruits and berries and claims it’s like living in Jurassic Park every day.
He has also had 25 years to think back on his life living in the city. He feels that he has a grasp on why people struggle to get by from one day to the next. In the end, he says that he wishes he would’ve been born in the bushes rather than in the city.
David has also written a book about his time on Restoration Island. The book, “The Millionaires Castaway,” speaks about the difficulties that many people face with broken families and dysfunctional lives.
In the end, he is happy that he committed to living the secluded life as it really helped him to be the man he wanted to be.