Regarding your question, about living alone, living alone is a general tendency for a person who wants to get disassociated with the materialistic persons. That is also recommended by the Goswamis in their instructions. It is better to remain alone than to mix with materialistic persons. But this is not applicable when we have the opportunity to get the association of pure devotees. Our program is negative and positive simultaneously. We want to negate the materialistic side and make positive the spiritual side, it is not one sided. If you have no positive standing, negating only will not make you successful. Therefore it is better to remain positively within the society of pure devotees. That is also recommended by the Goswamis. That one should be occupied in activities in the modes of goodness and associate with spiritualistic persons, that will make one's advancement very quick.
Persons who want to take advantage of cheap reputation they imitate great personalities like Haridasa Thakura, who was alone chanting 300,000 of Holy Names daily. By such chanting, lonely chanting he got so much spiritual power that he could convert even a harlot to become a great devotee whereas an ordinary person falls easily a victim to such allurement. So one should not imitate such great personalities but one should try to see how much taste he has developed for chanting, so that one can remain alone simply being engaged in chanting. If one can remain alone simply being engaged in chanting, that is very good, but it is difficult also. A conditioned soul in conditioned life it is very difficult to concentrate our mind in chanting absolutely. Better to be engaged in preaching work, that will make one gradually successful. Besides that, when we are actually engaged in with the preaching work, we gradually acquire our spiritual strength without failure.