Reasons for Solitude and The Missing Other People

I've had a dream, at least a couple of times in my life, that I live in a house that doesn't have a driveway because no one visits and I visit no one. (Also, by the way, this isn't sad or an actual wish of mine, but rather a dream I've had maybe three times in fifteen years.) This is a rather extreme example of solitude of course. And most likely unsustainable. But solitude, whether like the relative solitude found here at the Mountain House where we cannot see or hear our neighbors or more complete solitude like living a ten minute commute from the nearest rural road, has long been appealing to me on some level. I understand Thoreau's desire to experience solitude and separation from others but I don't feel the distain for other people that Thoreau feels. After reading his journals, I felt as though his reason to seek solitude was rejection of and distain for the people he saw around himself that did not fit the Transcendentalist or Naturalist group to which he belonged. I don't desire solitude because I feel distain for those around me, I just want more solitude than that afforded by life in a planned suburb or city because I like doing everything at my own pace without the constant or often interference of other people.

Thoreau's inability or unwillingness to empathize with those around him or make an effort to understand their choices seems so close minded to me. Maybe in other parts of his journals he explains this feeling better, but from my gleanings, I have to say that I see Thoreau as elitist and unwilling to be productive in any way that would serve another person. He also did not thank or mention the aid of anyone in his journals that I read, which seems ungrateful. I know that these are his journals and not thank you notes, but I would mention that my neighbor a mile away helped me load wood into my boat, sold me food, talked to me as I strolled by their land, brought me dinner, or anything else. To not mention anyone save a few friends and Sophia seems to gloss over the impact of other humans in his life in a very significant way. We know that he ran into people fairly regularly but he does not mention them so in his journals.