I guess the best example I can think of is Chris McCandless
Then there’s the North Pond Hermit of Maine but I suppose people would not classify him as free of mental illness.
Just wondering how many people are out there living in caves, walking around, hiking trails, hopping trains, or living in National Forests full time who really aren’t mentally ill and just choose that lifestyle. What do you think?
There are multiple monastic traditions of shunning all material things, some of which include housing.
Yeah, that sounds like the story of the The Buddha. I think he chained himself to a tree at one point and refused to eat.
Different religion but from the same area, Jain ascetics are the ones I am most familiar with that would fit more what you might have been wondering about.