Thanks to everyone for sharing their essential inspirations in this thread.
So far, I’ve been inspired to purchase a copy of ‘Syro’ (currently lisening to it!), read more Sherlock Homes and eventually LOTR, and perhaps one day buy another Octatrack! A few authors in here I would like to follow up on too.
Interesting. I’d never heard that but it does make sense. It reads that way.
It is true. Tolkien intended it as a single book, but the publisher was determined to release it as three volumes. From the Good Professor’s own letters:
Letter 165
P.S. The book is not of course a ‘trilogy’. That and the titles of the volumes was a fudge thought necessary for publication, owing to length and cost. There is no real division into 3, nor is any one part intelligible alone. The story was conceived and written as a whole and the only natural divisions are the ‘books’ I-VI (which originally had titles).
Roland V Drumset with all the bells and whistles
Octatrack and manual
Digitone Keys and manual
Field recorder
Journal
The VDrums would be very nice for the amount of instruments contained within and the ability to sum to 2 1/4” jacks.
1: Moog Matriarch
2: Analog Four
3: Digitakt
4: Multitracker with lots of storage
5: Fieldrecorder
Books: Manuals for all the above
Music: Complete collection of Maurice Ravels, Johann Sebastian Bach and Mozarts compositions
A one solitude year would be great to completely do the Eremit thing, where completely focus on 
♂ and being creative, studying those classics but also using that music to contemplate and exploring myself about the questions: Who am I, who is the real me, where is my creative source and how can I tap it better so that it turns into a constant stream. But after a day I probably would miss my children and my wife so much, that I won‘t get done anything. Can’t have the cake and eat it too.
February 14 2020 I came to Thailand from China because I thought it’d be safer here, and I thought it might be just for a couple of months but I’m still in Thailand…
Anyway, I brought my Octatrack and I’m very glad I did. I thought I’d miss the Korg Prologue but actually I really miss the Yamaha Reface YC most (the organ).
I also had like 10 albums on my phone (BoC, Portishead, Stereolab, Tortoise), and I’ve been listening to those on and on., but if I have to choose one I choose BoC Music Has The Right To Children.
As for books I miss a lot of Springer-Verlag math books that I left in China, hard to choose one… maybe I’d choose Hartshorne’s Algebraic Geometry, and if I was isolated with no internet I’d try to do all the exercises.
We left China 14 days earlier.
After 5 delightful years living there, we never made it back 
Left a little piece of our hearts in The Middle Kingdom.
Edit: One of our friends left for Thailand for a holiday at Christmas and is still on Ko Tao to this day. He retrained as a diving instructor and is all the better for it. 
Hah, where were you in China? I lived in Chengdu since 2006 and in Shenzhen since 2009, I’m still planning to go back at least to see friends.
Actually we first came to Thailand the same day I guess, I came December 31, stayed for a week, then went back to Shenzhen and things got crazy very fast so decided to come back to Thailand “for a while” with just a backpack with the octatrack and a laptop, and my Chinese friend brought a guitar and a skateboard…
Another year of retreat? 5 items from those categories?
OP-1, Rytm, 88-keys-piano, Neil Young: Harvest, Book with survival techniques OR book how to play the piano. 
Classic! Out on the weekend is in my top 5 ever.
I’ve been prepping for this for years!
MPC Live
Acoustic guitar
Zoom H1n
Digitone
Bourbon
We also lived in Shenzhen, since 2015!
We lived in Shekou
Hmmm, I’m wondering what most of you are doing with all that gear for a year without headphones? 
My 5 are:
Ha, I was thinking of editing mine to add headphones but realized I’d probably be better off with the bourbon than hearing my own lonely sad music.
Minus the Log cabin haven’t we all been in solitary retreat recently?
I had to modify the rules earlier on so that the record player had an amplifier (with line in), but headphones might facilitate retreating even further into your inner world…and save startling the wildlife, depending on your creative flavas.
Do hours long video conferences every day count in?
Definately. You could simarly be in outer space receiving video messages from Earth. You are in.
mpc one, Tempest, Digitone, P12. Field Recorder
Book:I have a Kindle with SciFi, Alister Reynolds etc.
Essentially its already like this, with that remote work. I may prefer a cabin village with all of you creating dancefloor anthems every night, and gardening throughout the day.
Music, maybe Bar 25, Kater Blau Usb Stick with all sets.
Good, when can my family and I move in?