What are hermits?

For a good time, I collected and analyzed ("read") as many books and articles on the topic of hermits as I could, and I did this for the purposes of simply learning about hermits and hermitages. What did I learn? Simply put, my understanding of what hermits was re-enforced. Hermits are solitary people -- usually men -- and they are usually interested in delving into religious experiences. Along the way I also learned a bit about hermit crabs.