Adventurer Ben Fogle gets a taste of extreme escapism in this brand new series meeting those who have turned their backs on the daily grind. Each week, Ben spends time in one of the world's most remote locations, meeting the people who now inhabit these inhospitable corners of the planet after leaving their ordinary lives behind. Our intrepid guide also wonders whether these extraordinary individuals and their incredible experiences might tempt him to move his own family out of London and away from the comforts of the city. Is it daring or downright crazy? Ben wants to discover the truth about life in tough, harsh conditions, where doing battle with Mother Nature is a daily reality.
Ben travels to a remote island to live with a former Sydney businessman.
Ben Fogle joins a family in a mountainside yurt in Alaska.
Ben travels to New Zealand and meets hunter-gatherers.
Ben heads to a remote part of Texas to visit an ex-city slicker.
This week Ben journeys to the swamplands of Georgia USA.
Ben Fogle meets an ex-fighter pilot turned hill farmer.
In the Philippines, Ben meets a cabbie turned coconut farmer.
Adventure documentary series featuring Ben Fogle.
Ben heads to Africa to meet a master bushman who quit a city career for the dry desert.
Ben Fogle meets a Brit who now lives in the Arctic Circle.
Ben journeys to southeast Asia to live with former city financier Jon Watkinson.
Ben meets a 61-year-old widow living in the Australian bush.
Ben ventures into the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee.
Ben Fogle visits the Mason family who gave up a council house in London for a converted horsebox in Devon
Ben Fogle heads to Wales to meet 61-year-old Emma, who has abandoned 'modern' Britain to live off-grid in a mud hut.
Ben Fogle heads off to Exmoor National Park in south west England.
Ben journeys to the Pacific Northwest to live with former punk wild-child Lynx who lives, hunts, eats and sleeps in the wilderness.
Ben Fogle meets a husband and wife who gave up the city rat race to live as safari guides in an unexplored Tanzanian national park.
Documentary series. Ben Fogle meets people who have gone back to basics in remote parts of the world. Ben joins a couple who gave up successful careers as journalists in Europe for a new life as grizzly bear guides in a remote mountain valley lodge in Canada.
Ben travels to an island off Australia's north-western cape to meet two people who were compelled to turn their backs on their former lifestyles after going through similar, tragic experiences.
Ben meets a couple who have made their home on a floating island they have built themselves which sits in the aptly named Freedom Cove on Canada's west coast.
Ben journeys to North Africa, to live with American widow Maryanne on the farm she's built on the edge of the Sahara. He discovers why she swapped her city abode for a simpler and tougher way of life in the Egyptian desert.
Master craftsman Robert bought 200 acres of land in the Ozark National Forest 20 years ago and now has a family of six. But injuries and old age may get in the way of his 'living treasure'.
After a certain fateful day changed their lives forever, Amber and Amy packed their family onto a converted school bus to tour the rugged coastlines and dramatic mountain ranges of New Zealand's North Island. The family have covered 10,000km in a year.
French-Canadian Julien lives in a remote Buddhist monastery in the jungle-mountains of Thailand, far off any conventional map. Ben learns how and why this former teenage student from the West stripped away all complications of a modern life for a primitive Eastern and religious existence, and how this choice affected his family.
Ben travels to the vast forests of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria to join Miriam and her husband Peter, a couple who have chosen life as nomads, hiking through some of the world's most striking wildernesses. They are educated, unemployed and homeless - and it's just the way they like it.
Ben visits the vast wilderness of North West Canada to meet Jeff and Rose and their five daughters, a family of adventurous off-gridders who rely on hunting big-game animals to survive.
Ben journeys to Ireland's rugged Atlantic coastline to stay with Judith, a widow of 80 who rejected a modern way of life for one closer to nature.
The mighty Amazon river is where Ben's own personal travel adventures began. More than 25 years later, he is back to meet Chris, a Scotsman who has chosen to make his home in one of the most remote areas of this jungle.
After six years globetrotting, Scott and Casey gambled their life savings on a kite-surfing school in a remote stretch of the Peruvian coast. As Ben lives their day-to-day life, he also learns what led them both to this decision.
Former festival director Karen has set up an artists' retreat in the heart of the Sahara. The impressive project required that she learn centuries-old techniques - and the art of patience.
Ben travels to highlands of Panama to meet a couple who turned their backs on a comfortable lifestyle in the US to try their hand at coffee producing.
In Sri Lanka, Ben meets a vet who has swapped Tyneside for the south coast of Sri Lanka where she has opened a clinic and also runs a charity that care for some of the island's many stray dogs.
Ben travels to the coastal forests of southern Sweden to meet 24-year-old single mother Annalisa, a native Italian who left everything in her home country behind when she was a teenager, and is now developing a forest hideaway on the fringes of society for her and her toddler. Ben helps her chop wood and make her home baby-proof, while Annalisa goes busking to make a small living. They also go dumpster-diving in search of rubbish that can be put to good use to counter the amount of waste thrown away.
The presenter meets an inventor who has built a unique home for his family on a remote island off the coast of Panama. Ben gets a taste of the unconventional family's daily routine, which includes scrubbing boat hulls, getting some exercise in a pedalo, hacking through the island's vegetation, and home schooling for the children. He also discovers the unusual family dynamics in the household and takes a look at some of his host's inventions, which include a computer game depicting his unusual life.
Ben Fogle meets a former carpenter who now lives alone on a private island in the Icelandic wilderness. He discusses how a struggle with alcoholism drove him to turn his back on life in the big city, and enlists Ben's aid in fishing and harvesting, as well as maintaining his yurt business. They also go swimming in the freezing waters and take a trek up the country's most famous volcano - and discover how the island could be under threat from Iceland's volatile environment.
Ben meets a scientist in Siberia, who gave up his urban life to work in the Russian Arctic on finding ways to reduce the impact of climate change on the permafrost. His project makes use of steam machines and monster trucks, but away from his environmental work, he is working on the idea of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction.
Ben meets Lucy, who left Britain to start a new life with her husband Tim on New Zealand's north island. They now live with their two daughters in a yurt beside a river in the middle of 25 acres of woodland they have transformed into a farm. Ben discovers how the forest provides the family with everything they need, getting a taste of their daily routine of chopping wood and foraging for wild foods. He also discovers how the couple are providing their children with an alternative education and the campaign of activism Lucy has embarked on from their wilderness home.
Ben meets a Pembrokeshire family living on the side of a rugged mountain, where they catch and forage for their own food and salvage junk for homemade inventions. Ben helps them put their latest creations to the test in all weathers, and learns about the special global policy for utopian living that they have signed up to.
Ben Fogle meets a former film-maker who has made a home in the highlands of eastern Iceland, and set up a wilderness centre exploring 200 years of local history. Ben takes part in an ancient tradition where thousands of sheep that have spent the summer in the mountains are sorted, as well as bathing in a hot waterfalls, riding horses on the plateau, and smokes trout with dung.
Ben ventures off the wild coast of Northern Ireland to the tiny, remote and rugged island of Rathlin. He stays with 41-year-old Rauri Morgan, a former HR executive who turned his back on corporate life to move into an ancient family heirloom. Ben embraces modern-day foraging, ancient myths and legends, and eccentric property maintenance, and discovers that Rauri's paradise has been found in the most unlikely of places, but that there is more than meets the eye to both him and his place on the island.
The presenter ventures deep into the Scottish Highlands to meet Iona and her young family on the near-10,000-acre wilderness estate that she grew up on. Whilst in their company, Ben drives cattle on horseback, digs out a dam to ensure the family's hydro-electricity supply and gets to grips with the annual deer cull, and hears how Iona's past prepared her for this extraordinary life in the wilderness.
The presenter meets the Powell family who are living an off-grid existence in a hidden valley in the Black Mountains in Wales. Whilst in their company, Ben climbs into a ravine to maintain the family's hydro electrics, explores the forest with the spirited children, and helps plant the biggest new woodland in Wales for a generation.
Ben journeys to the Suffolk countryside and a secretive patch of woodland, to spend the week with unique character Will, 50, who could be described as a true British caveman. Ben embraces Will's Stone Age-style existence in the forest and discovers how a childhood passion carved Will's future, the price he paid for following his dream, and how he is steering it back around as Ben meets him at a new stage in his prehistoric life.
Ben Fogle journeys to the mountains of central Portugal to live with 39-year-old Alex, a British man who traded in his lucrative retail career for his own mountainside hideaway. He learns how Alex survived with no heating, electricity or water, and is now turning centuries-old buildings into his perfect farm home.
Ben ventures to the Emerald Isle to visit Georg and Bettina, a couple from Austria and Germany who made the Irish wilderness their home nearly 40 years ago. He uncovers what drove them to leave their old lives in Europe, and learns how they saw life and beauty in the middle of a desolate bog. Ben experiences how they have transformed an infertile, barren site into their very own nature retreat, building an off-grid home and establishing a relationship with the natural world around them.
Ben ventures to the lesser-known Greek island of Andros to visit Sandy, founder of a remote animal shelter perched on the slopes of the island's highest peak. He embraces sharing a home with 25 dogs, eight donkeys, a horse, a mule and more than 20 cats. Surrounded by stunning natural beauty, he also helps to feed, groom, walk and clean up after the multitude of animals that roam free around the land and a 300-year-old house.
Ben travels to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the USA to meet Mike Basich, a snowboarder who left the world of professional sport behind to reconnect with nature and pursue a quieter life. Ben joins him in his extraordinary hand-built log cabin and follows him as he embarks on a life changing project.
Ben heads Down Under to meet Bette, an elderly woman living alone in a ramshackle house in the wilds of northern Queensland. She is a no-nonsense personality and refuses to cook Ben any dinner. But as the week progresses she warms to her guest and explains what drew her to the harsh Australian wilderness 30 years ago. She also talks about her complex relationship with men, and reveals how she has been seriously threatened when defending the natural world around her from development.
Ben heads to Slab City in California to meet an extraordinary homeless artist called DNA, who Ben had previously met whilst in the area making another documentary. Ben joins DNA in his 'Mad Max' camp on a desert hill, an extreme place to seek refuge, but like most residents in Slab City, he discovers DNA had few choices. Ben learns the harsh reality of what it's like to be homeless in the US, and the downward cycle that people can find themselves in.
Ben meets more people who chose to venture down alternative paths to everyday life, beginning with musician Vanessa Forero, who moved from her native Yorkshire to a remote mountainside in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia. Together they tackle home improvements, from a new cable car to building walls, receive a visit from an indigenous leader, and Ben hears one of the most extraordinary survival stories he has ever heard.
Ben explores the Great Blasket Island off the coast of Ireland, staying with Dan and Emily who are island caretakers on Europe's rugged western frontier. Ben discovers how the couple have adapted to their new lives on the island and what they've achieved while living there. Plus, he experiences fixing a water pump, catching sheep, foraging seaweed and swimming with seals.
Ben travels to an island on Norway's coastline to meet his host Elena, a former Middle East peacekeeper, and experience the hardships of living in the environment. Ben joins Elena and her partner on a mountain climb, before helping them finish their guest house, cleaning a beach, kayaking on frozen waters and gardening in the harsh landscape.
This time, Ben Fogle returns to the wilds of Queensland to visit the ever-resilient Bette, who, despite being in her 80s, continues to live alone in a ramshackle house. Previously, Ben discovered that Bette had moved from Byron Bay to the wilderness after stumbling upon her dream home while on holiday.Two years later, Ben is relieved to find his old friend still there but is shocked to learn that she nearly lost everything in a catastrophic flood. In an emotional conversation, Bette recounts the events of that fateful day. Determined to help, Ben ventures into the surrounding forest to search for belongings that were washed away. He then joins Bette's family and friends to watch as she symbolically says goodbye to the past and starts a new chapter of her remarkable life.
Ben Fogle returns to mainland Europe to revisit his old friend Alex, living in the mountains of central Portugal.During his last stay, Ben learned how Alex had adapted to life without basic amenities, building his home and living off the land. This was in stark contrast to the corporate lifestyle he left behind. After hearing about the loss of beloved people in his life, Ben realised that Alex's new wild home was a place for healing.Now, three years later, Ben discovers that Alex has followed through with his dream of creating a retreat and has made significant progress with the infrastructure on his land. He also learns about Alex's fascinating new hobby. As they look out across the landscape, Ben sees firsthand the profound healing power of nature on his friend.
Ben travels to Eastern Europe to meet Brits Jordan, Lewis, and their two children, who are at the start of their new life, undertaking an ambitious renovation of a dilapidated farmhouse in a Bulgarian village. With the country's population on the decline, Ben is curious about their choice to settle there, especially since they purchased the property before ever seeing it. As he helps Lewis to plaster walls and Jordan to repurpose old items from the local dump, Ben uncovers the couple's challenging pasts and gains a deep understanding of how crucial this fresh start is for their family.
Ben heads into the forests of northern New South Wales to meet Jimmy, an American photographer living alone. Jimmy shares his story of coming out to family and friends, and how meeting his late husband Richard inspired them to start a new life together in the wild. Ben learns that Jimmy has faced multiple tragedies since leaving urban America for rural Australia. Bereavement and unprecedented natural disasters have taken a significant toll on him, prompting Ben to wonder why Jimmy has chosen to remain in the wild alone.
Ben ventures into the snowy mountains of Piedmont, Italy, where he meets Father Johannes, an Austrian priest living as a hermit. Ben is given a tour of the clergyman's tiny home, complete with its own chapel, and is surprised to find they have more in common than he expected. Ben learns how Johannes manages to live such an isolated life while still fulfilling his duties as a priest. Together, they clear trees, lift rocks, and use a jackhammer to dismantle an old wall. As their bond deepens, Ben questions Johannes about the church's recent troubled history and discovers how he is using his remote existence to help restore its reputation.
Ben journeys to the African continent to meet Aleks, a Norwegian model who now resides in the deserts of Botswana. Aleks introduces him to her adopted family - the Ju'/hoansi people who have called southern Africa home for hundreds of thousands of years. Ben helps assemble bush fences to protect against desert lions and learns how the Scandinavian model ended up in Africa. The show also features Ralph Bousfield, owner of Uncharted Africa and part of Natural Selection.
Ben meets fellow Brit Rupert, who resides in the mountains of Japan in a traditional house. From the outset, it's evident that Rupert has embraced the culture of his adopted homeland, finding joy in the simple life of a rice farmer. As Ben delves into Rupert's story, he uncovers the reasons behind his move to Japan and sees how content his host has become.
In northern Thailand, Ben reconnects with Yidan, who left urban life in China to start a farm. As he joins her in rice planting, clay sculpting, and bamboo building, he learns how childhood memories shaped her path. Though he wonders if she should share her story more widely, a night out reveals she's already inspiring others to embrace nature and independence. A heartfelt look at courage, creativity, and community.
Complete episode guide for Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild with detailed information about every season and episode including air dates, summaries, ratings, and streaming availability in United States.
This episode guide is organized by seasons, making it easy to track your viewing progress or find specific episodes. Use the episode information to plan your binge-watching sessions or catch up on missed episodes.
In the final episode, Ben Fogle heads to Scotland's most remote inhabited island, Fair Isle.
Documentary series. Adventurer Ben Fogle meets people who have gone back to basics in remote parts of the world. Away from the busy resorts of Ibiza is a side of this popular Mediterreanean island that the partying holidaymakers have no idea exists. In another series first, Ben travels into the wild, untamed interior to live in an ecological commune founded by a former merchant sailor.
Documentary series. Adventurer Ben Fogle meets people who have gone back to basics in remote parts of the world. Ben meets Micky and Trina Cofer, who along with their four children, left behind the comforts of America to become missionaries in the freezing tundra of Outer Mongolia. In temperatures of below minus 20, Ben builds his own ger (yurt) to sleep in, uses a freezing outhouse, attempts ice-fishing, joins a wolf-hunt and learns how to wrestle.
Documentary series. Ben Fogle meets people who have gone back to basics in remote parts of the world. Ben travels to a secret location in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, where forest dweller Tod Kershaw lives in a primitive skills community who have chosen not to live as members of modern society, but as opportunistic outsiders who scavenge other peoples' waste.
Documentary series. Ben Fogle meets people who have given up the rat race for an alternative lifestyle. Dina Zughyar and Mostafa Jabbour turned their back on the American Dream to start from scratch with a handful of rabbits and chickens on a small patch of barren land in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains. In their mud house in Morocco, the couple confess to Ben that it has been much harder than they thought...
Ben travels to an island off the New Zealand coast to meet a man who gave up a career in medicine to live off-grid.
Ben Fogle meets people who have given up the rat race for an alternative lifestyle. In a remote part of Andalucia in Spain, Ben meets a couple from Brighton who gave up their careers to breed alpacas.
Ben Fogle meets people who have given up the rat race for an alternative lifestyle. In South America, Ben discovers why Mike Merrill, a former sound engineer from Texas, decided to build a backpackers hostel deep in the Guatemalan jungle. He also gets stuck into building projects, machete fishing and tubing a dangerous river to transport vital supplies, and sees how Mike interacts with the local Mayan people.
Ben travels to the Ozark Plateau in Missouri to live with a wilderness expert, Bo, who gave up life on the road with his bluegrass band to teach survival skills.
Ben travels to Cambodia to live with a fellow Brit who is raising his own castaway tribe on a tropical island. Ben sleeps in a hammock, drinks rainwater and experiences how fragile life is for this family on their tiny island.
Randi was the first Norwegian woman to climb Everest, and now she uses her life on a remote Arctic Circle island to inspire others - including Ben Fogle.
As one of the world's most in-demand sporting coaches, 43-year-old Nikola Boric once travelled the world, welcomed everywhere he went. Now, he lives in a wooden cabin without electricity, water or heating, with just some pigs and goats for company. Experiencing Nikola's new life in the woods above the village of Kokocak on the edge of Papuk Nature Park, Ben tries to understand what drove Nikola to make a sudden decision to quit everything and retire to such a forgotten corner of the world, finding a new life of purity and self-sufficiency away from mainstream society.
In the final episode of the current series, Ben meets Dan, a photographer living off the land in the wilds of Oregon, who relies on catching fish and harvesting wild weeds to provide himself with food, and has built his own Native American-inspired sweat lodge. Dan reveals how his childhood inspired his unusual lifestyle, and takes Ben on a journey deep into the surrounding mountain ranges. However, he also shares his fears of an uncertain future, and how he may be forced to leave the meadow he calls home.
Ben meets Jake Williams, a 70-year-old hermit living on the edge of a forest in the Cairngorms, who has made a home on the site of an ancient settlement and enjoys a diet of roadkill stir fry. Ben helps him with some wild gardening and gets a taste of his musical talents and mischievous sense of humour.
Ben Fogle meets an author in Co Galway on Ireland's west coast who has turned his back on both money and technology, experimenting with living using only what he can source from the land. His frugal lifestyle involves collecting water, sparse winter foraging, fishing, sheep-wrangling and writing by candle-light.
Ben revisits Amanda Owen and her family at their remote farm of Ravenseat in the Yorkshire Dales, who have gone on to star in Our Yorkshire Farm since he first met them. Ben discovers how they get by in the tough world of farming and meeting the latest addition to their flock.
Ben revisits Emma, who lives a completely organic and off-grid life in an overgrown Welsh woodland, and has managed to make herself completely independent from the outside world. Emma reveals how she has needed to adapt her lifestyle as she has got older, and introduces the others who have joined her. Ben helps them to construct a communal mud hut and learns about the building's spiritual purpose.
Ben travels to a unique, tiny island in the Scottish Hebrides where he meets ex-social care worker Philip, who has embraced a new way of life in this small, alternative community. In his company, Ben spends the week cut off from the outside world, in an old lighthouse keeper's cottage, where he experiences the unusual routines of the island's community.
This week, we join Ben on the rugged cliffs of Cornwall, where he is staying with Davina and Todd and their family. Davina and Todd are a spirited couple who left the city for an empty field, with no experience, but a huge dream to become farmers.
A disabled retiree turned into a modern-day nomad travels across the United States and uses a renovated military transport vehicle for her journey.
In this episode, Ben heads back to the stunning Saharan landscape of Morocco.
Watch as Ben Fogle journeys to South America to visit Rhona, a British born actress who left the bright lights of Hollywood to live alone in a remote valley in Uruguay. Ben is instantly intrigued by the juxtaposition in lifestyle and learns that ill health, a difficult childhood and disillusionment with Tinseltown culture have all led to his host's new life. He discovers that Rhona is now committed to rehabilitating horses and the pair attend an animal auction looking to rescue any mistreated animals. There Rhona reveals that she has had to adapt to the machismo culture of rural Uruguay… or rather it to her. Rhona has also nearly been seriously injured while venturing out onto her land. Ben realises that if something does go wrong, Rhona's isolation means she has no one to call on. That night he experiences nature's fury for himself when a violent storm hits while he shelters in a fragile biodome. But despite the difficulties, his fellow Brit insists that this is the best role she's ever had.
Ben heads to Tuscany to visit British couple George and Sophie who breathed new life into a Tuscan farmhouse. Ben discovers how George's adolescent desire to live a self-sufficient existence seeded an ambitious plan to create a lifelong project and how a chance encounter enabled Sophie to find what seemed improbable. Ben travels into the heart of the stunning Casentinesi Forest National Park to join his hosts and their young children in their progressive off-grid home, a three km walk to the top of a mountain. Their continuing renovations of the ancient, ramshackle buildings sees Ben put to work in return for his stay as he embraces honey collecting, tends their extensive vegetable garden, makes homemade pizza and gruelling repairs on the track up to their house so they can get a vehicle to it, and deals with their wayward cow who destroys all their crops.
Ben spends time with Rob, a man he previously met living in California's Slab City, and his 18-year-old son Damien, to experience what it is like to be homeless in the wild. Together, they dig a toilet, go fishing for crayfish, kayak the school run, and cut firewood for their campfire dinners.
Ben journeys into the heart of Zambia to live with a British family who have built a safari lodge on the edge of a national park. Ben uncovers what prompted this intrepid couple to start a new business and a family in the unforgiving bush, and learns how they have had to overcome fire and flooding to keep their African dream alive.
The presenter travels to the Azores islands, a remote archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to meet Magnus, Lucy and one-year-old Frey. The family live in an off-grid cottage on a steep sloped mountain which Magnus's nomadic father bought in the 1980s, and they have spent the past 15 years taking on the gargantuan task of restoring the property and land.
Ben joins Chris, a former paratrooper, in the beautiful county of Dorset on the south coast of England. Ben spends a week with Chris who, despite losing nearly everything, has spent the last five years walking the UK's coastline. Ben discovers what has motivated Chris and how he has turned his life around, found love and raised thousands for charity. Ben join Chris and his faithful dog companion, Jet, 27,000 miles into their walk where they've now hit the Jurassic Coast. And they're no longer alone – Chris met his partner, fellow hiker Kate and now they are parents to baby Magnus. Ben learns what Chris calls "the art" of living wild on the road, once as a solo experience, but now with a young family. He learns how to desalinate sea water and forage the nature around him, embraces river washing and charming local fisherman for food, while beginning to understand what it's like to "wild parent" and where this intrepid family are heading next.
Ben returns to rural Western Australia to catch up with charismatic widow Barbara. Since he last saw her, she has faced a serious cancer scare and a devastating bush fire that nearly destroyed everything.
Ben heads back to Sweden to revisit Annalisa, a single mother who was developing a forest hideaway on the fringes of society for her and her young son. Now three years later, Annalisa has a new partner and an enviable homestead, and Ben learns of the extraordinary journey the trio took during the pandemic and how they sustain their thrifty life with such passion and ambition.
Join Ben as he revisits global nomads Miriam and Peter in the vast forests of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria. In 2016, the couple walked the length of New Zealand and Ben then found them on an intrepid journey across South-Eastern Europe. He joined them as they left one camp to hike to another, their entire world in their backpacks, foraging and hunting as they went, sometimes travelling up to 25km a day. He found out how these former teachers stripped away all complications of modern life, and how the couple, with their 30-year age gap, survived and thrived together to face the challenges of the wild. When he left them, their plan was to walk across Australia. Now, four years later, he finds them back in Bulgaria, but living in an off-grid cottage. He discovers that disaster struck while they were walking Australia and the couple had to radically change their life. Peter suffered acute kidney failure and was given a 2% chance of survival. A four-year journey has seen him make an almost miraculous recovery and the couple have adapted to their new lives as "slomads": still travelling, but with the security of rest and recuperation in their cottage with their beloved new pets. The couple reveal they have started hosting philosophy and wilderness survival courses staying faithful to their wild "life less ordinary".
Ben travels to Southeast Asia, meeting entrepreneur Niall who now helps the country's street-dogs after trading in his previous career. The pair explore his self-built dog sanctuary on the island of Koh Samui, where Ben is joined by volunteers and other dog-loving locals to help out with daily chores. Niall and Ben prepare food for the pooches in the sanctuary and across the island, before making dog beds from oil drums and a canine splash-pool.
Ben stays with host Paul in Lincolnshire onboard his 30-year-old converted military truck, and discovers why Paul traded living in a house for life on the road.
Ben visits Sri Lanka to stay with Naveen and Anke at their home in the country's highlands. They discuss why they moved away from civilisation, the struggles they had settling into their new lives and if they mean to entirely sever their ties with the outside world. Ben makes himself useful fixing a burst pipe, rendering walls with cow dung and making supply trips to a town.
Ben visits the wilds of central Portugal to meet Luke and Sarah, who gave up their careers to put down roots on a deserted sheep farm. As Ben helps them clear their land, forage acorns for the pet pigs and garden, he learns about the financial and physical troubles they have faced and their wider travelling adventures.
Ben travels to the forests of Chile to meet northern Brit Scott and his young family at their hand-built off-grid cabin in the woods. He learns about the challenges they've faced in their two years of wild living, such as freak floods, forest fires and Scott losing a finger. Ben also sees how nature offers a form of therapy to his anxiety-ridden host.
Ben reconnects with his old British friend Paul Ferber and his family in Thailand. He learns why they left their Cambodian island home since he last saw them, where Paul was raising his own castaway tribe and defending sea-life from the illegal trawler trade. Now, they discuss how his tribe feel about their new jungle home, and whether their long-standing battle with pirates has continued.
Ben returns to the Arctic circle to revisit old friend, and fellow adventurer, Randi Skaug, who is living on her remote island off Norway's northern coastline. When Ben last met Randi, he embraced life on the island and discovered how his host was the first Norwegian woman to climb Everest. Now, five years later Ben's back to find out how the intermittent years have treated Randi.
Ben Fogle heads back to the jewel of the Indian Ocean to catch up with British vet Janey, who set up a rescue centre for Sri Lanka's street-dogs. Five years on, Janey's centre looks even more impressive. The vet speaks about her new struggles, such as being left alone during the pandemic, and Ben witnesses the impact her charity is having.
Ben returns to the Suffolk countryside, and a secretive patch of woodland, to reunite with unique character Will Lord (50), a true British caveman.Last time, Ben embraced Will's ‘Stone Age' existence in the forest, immersing himself to help Will complete his caveman home. They prepared and ate dinner using primitive tools, Ben learned a range of skills from fire-starting to coracle boating on the river, and he spent time with Will and his dad, arguably one of the best flint-knappers in the world.Now, almost three years later, Ben discovers how Will's new prehistoric dream is developing and how those closest to him are embracing his new-found passion.
Ben Fogle crosses the Irish Sea to revisit his old friends Georg and Bettina, who live on a remote bogland in County Mayo.Previously, Ben learned that both Georg and Bettina had endured difficult childhoods and sought healing. They found solace in each other and in the wilds of Ireland, however, in their twilight years, maintaining their land had become overwhelming. Ben left them contemplating an ‘ocean of possibilities' for their future.Three years later, Georg and Bettina are still there, still weighing up their options. Ben rediscovers their inspirational attitudes and emotionally admits that he too has recently sought a sense of healing. As the weather dramatically changes, Ben witnesses a pivotal gathering of like-minded individuals on their land; one which could be the catalyst for securing the future of their wild home.
Ben makes an unprecedented third visit to see his old friends Bill and Bob, elderly twins living in the canyons of Utah. During his previous stays, Ben quickly learned that nothing was quite as it seemed with his eccentric hosts. His home for the week was a cave. He discovered that the brothers were preppers, with several years' worth of supplies hidden in their caves. He also learned that Bob had suffered a stroke and on this visit is saddened to see that his condition has not improved with age. Ben also observes that their paranoia about the outside world has grown. He reassures them that life away from their caves might not be as they perceive.
Ben revisits Rathlin Island, home to Rauri, a former HR worker who chose an off-grid life. Three years earlier, they bonded over foraging and painting Rauri's house pink. This time, Ben helps repaint the house while Rauri shares recent struggles, including health issues and personal losses. Ben learns of Rauri's resilience and selflessness, including a daring journey to a dangerous location to help others, highlighting the challenges and fulfillment of life away from the rat race.
Ben returns to the enchanting Suffolk countryside and a hidden woodland to reunite with the extraordinary Will Lord, a true British caveman. In their last encounter, Ben fully immersed himself in Will's 'Stone Age' lifestyle, helping to build a primitive home and learning survival skills like fire-starting and coracle boating. He also spent quality time with Will and his father, renowned flint-knappers. Now, nearly three years later, Ben is back to explore how Will's prehistoric dream has evolved and how his family and friends have embraced this unique passion for ancient living.
Ben embarks on an epic journey to meet one of the most remote families he's ever encountered, uncovering what drove academics and married couple Bec and Reece to leave civilisation for complete isolation. Ben ventures deep into the Sturt Desert to Fort Grey, a former homestead now serving as the offgrid headquarters for an ambitious project aimed at revitalising the desolate Australian wilderness. There, he discovers that Bec and Reece are not only raising a young family but also managing a demanding workload. He witnesses how the couple is restoring the landscape to its former glory but is then shocked to learn that their future in the wild is far from certain.
Ben travels to one of the USA's most unique towns, Roswell. Famous for its alleged UFO landing, he leaves the alien tourism behind and ventures into the surrounding desert. There, he meets Karen, a 70-year-old former sports journalist who, at first glance, seems to be struggling with everyday life. A bike accident has made it challenging to maintain her desert home due to her mobility issues. Determined to assist his host, Ben rolls up his sleeves, clearing muck, shovelling hay, and even scaling a 10-metre-high windmill. As they spend more time together, Ben learns about the hardships Karen has faced throughout her life. However, their conversations inspire Karen to undertake something extraordinary.
On the Isle of Wight, Ben meets Gav, Lucy, and their son Bo, who have carved out their own slice of wilderness on a cliffside. Ben is captivated by their stunning sea view and the permaculture principles the family has embraced. He pitches in with caring for the goats and shovelling mulch. Gav opens up to Ben about hitting rock bottom in his youth and how meeting Lucy inspired him to turn his life around. However, their dream of living an organic and simple life has faced numerous legal challenges from sceptical neighbours over the years. And their situation becomes even more precarious when it's revealed that their clifftop home is at serious risk of a landslide.
Ben ventures to the rugged, desolate beauty of Utah's Canyonlands, where he meets Scott, a man who has built his off-grid home from the ground up. Scott leads a reclusive life, opening his doors to others on his own terms, as he dedicates his time to preparing for an uncertain future. As their friendship deepens, Scott gradually shares fragments of his past with Ben. As the pair fix roads and move rocks, Scott unveils a recent profound personal loss he has been grappling with. Ben witnesses Scott's remarkable resilience and the way he honours the memories of those who have shaped his journey.
Ben heads to the African continent to visit former army officer and TV adventurer Mark. Along with his Argentinian wife Ayelen, he has spent the past 17 years building a stunning home on the Moroccan coast while also raising two young children. Ben learns of the struggles of their build and how they face an everworsening situation with drought.
Ben journeys to Spain to meet 50-year-old free spirit Nara, who has spent most of his adult life without modern conveniences like shoes, toothbrushes, and flushing toilets. Nara, a nomadic soul, moves between intentional communities and introduces Ben to his unique lifestyle. As Ben spends time with his eccentric host, it becomes clear that Nara lives by his own set of rules. Through their conversations, Ben learns how Nara's unconventional childhood shaped his distinctive outlook on life.
Ben's journey takes him to an off-grid home nestled deep in the forests of Canton, Maine. Here, he meets Arthur, a hunter-gatherer with a PhD in botany, along with his two daughters, Samara (11) and Fera (4), and his girlfriend, Kelly. Arthur has spent the past decade building a community of like-minded individuals inspired by local Native American cultures and the traditions of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. During his stay, Ben witnesses how Arthur's ideology is passed down to his daughters. Ben also discovers Arthur's unique parenting style, treating children of all ages as adults. This approach has fostered extraordinary mental fortitude in his daughters, helping them cope with a tragic personal loss.