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Loneliness can be a profound challenge, especially when it's a constant companion at work.
Across various sectors, some jobs demand not only top-class skills but also an exceptional capacity to endure isolation.
These roles involve long periods of solitude away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Here we explore ten professions where loneliness is a major part of the job description.
Lighthouse keeping is a dying career as more and more automation takes over .
However, the romantic solitude of lighthouse keeping continues in a few places.
Keepers ensure maritime safety, often spending extensive periods isolated in their lighthouses.
This role involves spending a lot of time perched in high towers.
The lookouts literally spend their time looking for the telltale signs of forest fires,
They spend their days enveloped by vast wilderness, with only nature for company.
This is probably the ultimate lonely job, combined with some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet.
Researchers in Antarctica are cut off from the world for months.
The roles are so remote even the simplest communication can be a challenge.
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Working on a submarine is not somewhere where you'll meet a lot of new people.
It's you and your crew - for several months.
Operating beneath the ocean’s surface for extended stretches, submarine crews experience a unique form of confinement, isolated from the outside world in a steel capsule.
Astronomers literally spend their time looking up.
They often find solitude at remote observatories, where they spend nights scanning the skies in solitude, far from urban clatter and light.
Oil rig workers spend months at a time on huge platforms far out to sea.
They face a life of harsh weather conditions, hard graft and spending a lot of time with the same people away from their families.
Wildlife photographers are famous for their endless patience.
Some of the stories told by teams on how they got their footage for wildlife documentaries combine unbelievable determination and the acceptance of sitting still doing nothing for hours on end.
The quest for the perfect natural shot can lead wildlife photographers into the remote wilderness, waiting patiently and alone for the appearance of the world's rarest creatures.
An ability to stay awake and alert is vital not to miss the shot.
This job is essentially driving a massive lorry vast distances by yourself.
Drivers have the challenge of staying alert and dealing with the loneliness of their epic journeys.
Utility linemen spend a lot of time in areas where hardly anyone lives.
They ensure essential services are maintained, often working solo to repair and maintain critical infrastructure.
Commercial divers often spend their time working on underwater projects in icy cold, murky water.
They perform solitary work on projects that can be as isolating as they are critical, surrounded only by the depth of the ocean.
These roles underscore the stark reality of working in isolation—a significant challenge for those who undertake these essential but lonely professions.
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