Most people will live their entire lives never having ever been truly alone. Even when you are in your house or apartment alone, you still know there are people in the neighborhood or walking down the street and we don't really appreciate how much of a comforting effect this has on us.

I have only felt truly alone twice in my life. The first time was on a platform installation in the North Sea. Imagine being surrounded by all these huge machines and pipes running autonomously without a human being in sight. The second time was at the bottom of ocean in Monterrey bay when my diving team had all disappeared to go back to the boat and I found myself with just 3 feet of visibility and no one else around.

Both times, I felt an impending sense of dread and panic creeping up on me. It was like being in room 101.