Podcast Summary: "I Lived as a Hermit in the Australian Bush for 10 Years"

Podcast: What It Was Like
Host: Julian Morgans
Guest: Dr. Gregory Smith
Date: November 7, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of "What It Was Like" features Dr. Gregory Smith, who shares his extraordinary story of withdrawing from society and living as a hermit in the Australian bush for a decade. Dr. Smith's journey is not just about surviving in the wilderness; it's a profound exploration of trauma, healing, self-discovery, and how solitude and nature can catalyze personal transformation. The interview traces Gregory's early life, his escapism into the bush, the challenges he faced, his eventual re-entry into society, and the wisdom he gleaned from these experiences.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Early Life and Trauma

• Family Background
  • Born in Tamworth, New South Wales, in 1955.
  • Raised in poverty, domestic violence, and addiction.
  • Mother addicted to diet pills (amphetamines), father alcoholic.
  • At age 2, Gregory suffered hearing loss from being thrown by his father during a violent episode.
  • At age 10, abandoned to an orphanage without explanation.
• Psychological Impact
  • Gregory developed deep anger, mistrust, and a preference for solitude:

    "Life lesson number one, don't trust anyone, even your parents." (10:54, Gregory)

  • Learned to escape into his mind while punished in isolation at the orphanage.
  • Institutional exit included meager resources and the instruction:

    "Don't come back." (12:30, Gregory)

2. Adulthood, Addiction, and Alienation

• Struggles with Addiction
  • Began drinking at age 18; found relief and chased that feeling.
  • Marriage ended due to anger and substance abuse ("I'd become my father." 14:26, Gregory).
• Family Trauma and History
  • Discovered intergenerational trauma and the impact of wars on his family's dysfunction.

3. Choosing the Bush – The Hermit Years

• Decision to Leave Society

  • Felt unable to coexist with society:

    "I was better off not being a part of it because sooner or later... I was going to hurt somebody really bad." (15:35, Gregory)

• First Nights

  • Wandered into the Byron Bay rainforest with no plan, scant supplies, no tent.
  • Initial hardships included torrential rain, mosquitoes, leeches, and immediate physical challenges:

    "I looked down and my legs are covered in leeches... I must have been anemic by the next morning." (17:28, Gregory)

• Adapting and Surviving

  • Ate wild skinks, eventually python and fruit bat ("they taste like urine... but they were nutritious." 26:41).
  • Skills acquired: fire making in rain, foraging, snaring, and animal identification.
  • Transitioned to vegetarianism after emotional attachment to wildlife.

4. Interaction With Others & Bush Economy

• Trading and Connections
  • Not completely isolated; bartered snake skins, carvings, wild fish, and homegrown marijuana with local "hippies and fringe dwellers."
  • Collected animal ticks to sell to veterinarians for $1 apiece (22:12).
  • Avoided building obvious shelters due to police aerial searches for cannabis crops.

5. Inner Struggles and Turning Points

• Physical and Mental Decline
  • Developed scurvy and severe health issues from poor diet and ongoing substance abuse ("I could reach into my mouth and pull my teeth out." 29:01).
• Profound Loneliness and Hallucination
  • Near death, weighed only 42 kg, became increasingly psychotic.
  • Experienced a transformative hallucination or vision: aliens challenged him to a debate about whether to die in the bush or return to society.

    "They used my thinking against me... If you stay up here and die... you’ll also create pain for your daughter and the rest of your family... I couldn't argue with that." (38:00)

6. Return to Society and Recovery

• Forced Exit — Literal and Figurative
  • Upon leaving the bush, was struck by a car and hospitalized, which saved his life.
  • Hospital staff stabilized him and he received a disability pension.
• Moment of Clarity
  • Sitting drunk and friendless on a park bench, Gregory had an epiphany about tirelessly fighting himself and chose to change:

    “There was never ever anyone else there that I was fighting. I’d created all this destruction fighting myself... I will do whatever I need to do not to be this person sitting here on this bench today.” (41:01)

  • Abruptly quit alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes.

7. Education and Rebuilding a Life

• Later Success
  • Enrolled at university at age 48, studied sociology to understand society and himself.
  • Excelled academically, earning first-class honours and an Australian scholarship into a PhD.
  • Became a lecturer, author, and TEDx speaker.
• Continued Advocacy
  • Founded a not-for-profit to help disadvantaged Australians with experiences similar to his own.

8. Reflections on Solitude, Nature, and Spirituality

• Role of the Bush in Healing
  • The years in solitude provided space for existential reflection, acceptance, and learning self-respect:

    “That period I spent in the bush was critical to becoming who I am today because that’s that time of self-reflection.” (50:34)

• Forgiveness and Interconnectedness
  • Developed forgiveness for parents, self-compassion, and a belief in obligation to ancestors and offspring:

    "Through forgiving them, I was able to forgive myself." (51:13)
    "I am a mere link in a long chain... the way I carry myself reflects on them." (55:39)

• Necessity of Human Contact
  • Ultimate realization: long-term isolation is psychologically detrimental. True fulfillment requires human connection and varied conversation:

    "To do that by yourself is to flirt with your own demons and your own sanity... I think over time, that would have detrimental effects on a person's psyche." (53:32 & 54:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Adapting to Solitude:

  "I learned to use my mind as an escape mechanism. I could withdraw into my mind and I could sit in a dark space for hours and hours and days and occupy myself." (10:54, Gregory)

• On the Beauty of Nature:

  "Misty mornings... standing on the top of a cliff overlooking the Huon Valley... and you feel like you can walk out on top of it to the other side. It's an amazingly beautiful thing." (33:23, Gregory)

• On Facing Himself:

  "There was never ever anyone else there that I was fighting. I'd created all this destruction fighting myself." (41:01, Gregory)

• On Forgiveness and Transformation:

  "Through forgiving them, I was able to forgive myself. I started to understand the nature of self respect." (51:13, Gregory)

• On Solitude vs. Human Connection:

  "To do that by yourself is to flirt with your own demons and your own sanity. To do it with someone else or a group... would be highly beneficial to a person's spirit." (53:32, Gregory)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dr. Smith’s Childhood Trauma – 07:01 to 11:58
• Discovery of Alcohol and Downward Spiral – 12:08 to 14:49
• Decision to Leave Civilization – 15:09 to 17:13
• First Nights in the Bush – 17:15 to 20:59
• Becoming Vegetarian in the Wild – 21:00 to 21:05
• Bush Economy: Trading and Survival – 21:13 to 24:41
• Daily Life and No Shelter – 24:41 to 27:30
• Physical Breakdown and Near Death – 28:01 to 29:07
• Mystical Epiphany (Aliens’ Debate) – 33:33 to 38:30
• Re-entering Society & Moment of Clarity – 39:00 to 44:40
• From Homelessness to Academia – 46:43 to 49:13
• Reflection: Nature, Forgiveness, Purpose – 50:34 to 56:13
• Final Thoughts on Solitude and the Need for People – 53:21 to 54:53

Additional Highlights

• Wild diet anecdotes: Eating skinks, python (“sweet white meat”), and bats (“taste like urine”) before turning vegetarian out of empathy for animal life.
• Resourcefulness: Brewing beer in the bush, growing marijuana, selling ticks and exotic fish to get by.
• Sobriety catalyst: The image of holding a “double-edged sword” and realizing the foe was always himself.
• Academic transformation: From illiterate bush hermit to PhD, lecturer, and advocate.

Closing Thoughts

Dr. Gregory Smith’s story is a testament to the ways in which trauma can shape a life, but also how nature, self-reliance, and deep reflection can lead to healing and purpose. The wilderness offered both hardships and sanctuary, and ultimately prepared him for re-integration and a mission to help others. The episode candidly explores the limits of escapism, the value of connection, and the power of forgiveness and self-understanding.

For more about Dr. Smith or to support his charity and work: visit drgregorysmith.com and check out his book Better Than Happiness: The True Antidote to Discontent.