Loading...
Ben Fogle follows in the footsteps of various individuals, who against all odds, have willingly forsaken the luxuries and lifestyle of the modern world, for a less-than-ordinary life in the wilderness.
2014
Adventure guru Ben Fogle travels to the Namibian desert and spends time with Gideon, who quit his career to live in the largest conservation area in Africa. In this revealing travel documentary, Ben embraces the harsh work of farm life in temperatures pushing 40C, tending to more than 150 animals, repairing baboon damage to water pipes and learning how to castrate sheep with his teeth.
Adventurer Ben Fogle journeys to the wilderness of Alaska and spends time with Mike and Fran in their simple, self-built log cabin. In this eye-opening travel documentary, Ben discovers how the couple have created a self-sufficient lifestyle by working the land and trapping animals. He also gets stuck into forest survival, battling mosquitoes, adapting to 24-hour daylight and hunting prey.
Ben Fogle travels to the countryside of Utah to meet 72-year-old twins Bill and Bob Stone, who fled their adrenaline-junkie pasts for a tough subsistence lifestyle. In this fascinating travel documentary, he joins the brothers as they go cattle-wrangling, rock climbing and skydiving, while Ben also discovers why these former bounty hunters decided to cut themselves off from civilization.
Ben meets a 40-year-old Brit Gaynor who gave up her old lifestyle as a communications manager for a life of adventure, training huskies inside the Arctic Circle. In this intriguing travel documentary, he joins Gaynor in her hand-built cabin, which has neither electricity nor running water, and meets her 40 Alaskan huskies. They then embark on a tough trek, driving dogs through the icy wilderness.
2014
Adventurer Ben Fogle ventures into the swampland countryside of southern Georgia to spend time with Colbert, a former financier who now lives in his hand-built wooden cabin. In this remarkable travel documentary Ben learns some of the vital skills needed to survive in this dangerous backwater, including skinning roadkill, spearing frogs and drinking swamp water.
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels deep into the foothills of the Himalayas in the Indian countryside to meet Steve, a former fighter pilot who decided he could not live in an organized society. In his remote mountain property, Ben helps Steve chase off intruders, plough the fields with a team of buffalo, tends to Steve's future grave plot, and meditates naked with him.
Ben Fogle travels to a remote part of the Philippines countryside to meet Neil, a complex man who gave up on the American Dream for a new lifestyle with his adopted family in a very alien culture. In this revealing travel documentary, he meets Neil's family, living in a bamboo house on a hillside, where he helps kill a chicken and a pig, and learns about the school run, native transport style.
Ben Fogle travels to Panama where he meets Brits Ian and Vanessa, in their small, off-grid Caribbean Island home. As this astonishing travel documentary reveals, Ian listed his 'whole life' for sale on eBay, then set off on a two-year adventure to achieve his bucket list, sold the story of his life to Disney and spent the money building a new home in the remote Panamanian countryside.
2013
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to Restoration Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef to visit former businessman David. As this intriguing travel documentary reveals, David lost $10million in the stock market crash of 1987, as well as his marriage and his home. Now he lives alone on an island in a house made of recycled material and makes beer to trade with local fishermen for food.
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to Alaska to visit a couple who hiked 4,000 miles to find a new home and lifestyle. As this incredible travel documentary reveals, they spend half the year in a mountainside yurt, then hike in the region's countryside for the next six months. Ben joins the family and learns some essential survival skills including grizzly bear protection and navigating Alaskan storms.
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to New Zealand's South Island to meet Robert and Catherine, who left a privileged lifestyle to survive as hunter-gatherers. As this intriguing travel documentary reveals, they live in an area of countryside that’s two days from the nearest road. Ben helps Robert hunt for rock lobsters and joins Catherine to climb a waterfall to fix the family's gravity-fed water pipe.
Adventurer Ben Fogle visits John, a former fashion photographer who gave up his opulent lifestyle to move to the remote Texas countryside. In this intriguing travel documentary, John shows Ben the building made from scrap wood and iron that serves as his bedroom, as well as luxuries including a phone and freezer run from electricity generated by solar panels.
2015
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to Southeast Asia to meet 31-year-old Jon Watkinson, who quit a career in finance for a new lifestyle in a handmade bamboo hut on a remote island in Laos. In this engrossing travel documentary, Ben digs trenches, attempts an extreme form of fishing and helps his host to lift and move an entire house. He also discovers how the locals have taken Jon to their hearts.
Adventurer Ben Fogle heads to Australia to meet 61-year-old Barbara Walker, a widow who has lived alone in an isolated Bush camp for eight years. In this intriguing travel documentary, he discovers how this former photographer adopted a new lifestyle in one of the world's most challenging environments, managing 63 wild horses and hand-rearing rescued animals in the remote countryside.
2016
Adventurer Ben Fogle journeys to the Pacific Northwest to live with British-born Lynx Vilden. As this intriguing travel documentary reveals, this former punk-rock wild-child has spent more than half her life hunting, eating and sleeping in the wilderness. Lynx teaches Ben the tricks of surviving this Stone Age lifestyle and discovers her mission to convince the rest of us to 'become prehistoric'.
2017
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to Australia's remote north-western cape and enters 'Wilderness Island' to meet a man whose story is as remarkable as the landscape he now lives in. Ben discovers how a tragic accident compelled his host Jim, to chase his dream of living in the wild and discovers what life is like living in the notorious and daunting 'Cyclone Alley'.
Ben meets Jeff and Rose and their daughters who live in the vast wilderness of north-west Canada. It’s late autumn, and before long the family will be locked in by two meters of snow, in a region where temperatures often hit -30C. Ben joins them on a moose hunt adventure and discovers that one animal will sustain them all year. And he learns that even the youngest children are expected to work.
Adventurer Ben Fogle ventures deep into the Appalachian Mountains to spend time with Justin, who rejected the trappings of a privileged lifestyle to live in the remote countryside. In this revealing travel documentary, he discovers how Justin's life in the wild began with a grueling 2,000-mile trek to his home, where he has no electricity or running water and all his meals are fresh roadkill.
Ben Fogle heads to French Polynesia and spends time with Brit Rick and his girlfriend Jasna, who live a nomadic life on their yacht, sailing around the waters of the archipelago they have made their home. In this rugged travel documentary, Ben builds hammocks, rigs sails, spears fish for dinner, experiences rough seas and learns how the couple use the islands to support their transient lifestyle.
Adventurer Ben Fogle joins Nic and Ady, who uprooted themselves from a comfortable life to live on the island of Rum in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. In this inspiring travel documentary, Ben learns how they survive such a challenging lifestyle, helps them tend their animals, farm their vegetable patch and dig the foundations for what they hope will be their future home in the remote countryside.
Adventurer Ben Fogle heads to Tanzania, living nomadically with Brit-born Moli and his wife Noelle. As this engrossing travel documentary reveals, they swapped a city lifestyle for a vast wilderness and a new safari guiding business. In one of the wildest and least visited parks in the area, Ben experiences living alongside some of the most fearsome animals on Earth.
In 2015, Julia from South Africa and her British husband Gareth bought a derelict farmhouse online. They had never visited Eastern Europe before but wanted a new low-impact, self-sufficient lifestyle. In this fascinating travel documentary, Ben Fogle meets them at the property in the Hungarian countryside, helps install a window and assists as they try to buy chickens in the local market.
Ben Fogle journeys into the Canadian countryside and meets Julius and Kristin in a remote mountain valley lodge. In this eye-opening travel documentary, he discovers how the former war correspondent became one of North America's top grizzly bear guides. Ben joins his hosts as they prepare for the adventure of bear viewing season and heads out on a 24-hour trek to find new ground away from hunters.
In the secluded Ibizan countryside, Ben Fogle visits a commune, the brainchild of ex-navy officer Chris. For 30 years, he has lived in the untamed heart of this Spanish island. In this revealing travel documentary, Ben discovers why this self-confessed playboy has shunned a life of excess for a back-to-basics lifestyle and why he's built a commune from the rubbish that partygoers leave behind.
Ben ventures deep into the freezing tundra of Mongolia on the longest adventure he's experienced. In this intriguing travel documentary, he meets Micky and Trina, who left behind American comforts for a new lifestyle as missionaries in a country they knew nothing about. Despite freezing conditions and near-death experiences, Ben discovers they have made a huge impact in this remote area.
Ben heads to a secret location in the USA's Appalachian Mountains to live with forest dweller, Tod and his own wild community. In this engrossing travel documentary, Ben finds out why his host stripped away all the complications of modernity for a life in the woods following his own rules. Ben embraces the forest lifestyle life, making fires, digging clay for pots, processing bear and foraging.
Ben is in the Moroccan countryside, near the Atlas Mountains, staying with Dina and Mostafa, who shunned the American dream to live a simple lifestyle in a mud house. In this revealing travel documentary, Ben meets them at breaking point, as they have no money left and the land they’ve purchased can’t sustain them. Ben tries to play a part in improving their chances of surviving.
Adventurer Ben Fogle journeys to North Africa, to live with American Maryanne Stroud Gabbani on the farm she's built on the edge of the Sahara. He discovers why she swapped her city abode for a simpler way of life featuring sandstorms and crushing heat. He sees how she shares her life with a bunch of misfit creatures and how, as a single Western woman, she is surviving in a volatile country.
Ben travels to an island off the New Zealand coast to meet a man who gave up a promising career in medicine to live off grid in a secluded forest. Ben's host is an escapee from the Iran-Iraq war who has embraced a rugged new life in the bush.
Adventure fan Ben Fogle travels to Spain's remote Andalucía Mountains and meets British couple Alan Parks and Lorna Penfold. The couple left their careers for a lifestyle they knew nothing about and the dream of becoming successful alpaca farmers. Life is busy at their 150-year-old 'Olive Mill' home with dogs, chickens and the nine alpacas that need to be sheared regularly.
Ben Fogle ventures deep into the jungles of Guatemala, once home to an ancient Mayan civilization. Mike Merrill, a former sound engineer from Texas, is building a backpacker’s hostel in this land of rivers, waterfalls and active volcanoes. Reality of life in the jungle hits hard, Ben gets stuck into building projects, machete fishing and tubing a dangerous river to transport vital supplies.
Ben Fogle travels to the Ozark Plateau in Missouri to live with wilderness expert, Bo Brown. Bo gave up life on the road with his band to teach Stone Age skills to modern day man. Ben discovers how his host bridges a primitive life with the need to survive in the present. He becomes the student to Bo's teacher and learns how to make a spear, eat wilderness foods and build a shelter.
Ben Fogle travels to Cambodia to live with a fellow Brit who is raising his own castaway tribe on a tropical island. He joins his renegade host as he tries to defend the precious sea-life around him by warding off poachers and protecting the local ecosystem. Ben sleeps in a hammock, drinks rainwater and experiences how fragile life is for this family on their tiny island.
2019
Ben travels to the vast forests of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria to join Miriam and Peter, a couple who have chosen to live as nomads, hiking through some of the world's most striking wildernesses. The couple have decided to live without a permanent home, carrying their only possessions on their backs. Ben helps them forage and hunt for food and even undertakes some unusual washing techniques.
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 Fogle travels to Ireland’s rugged Atlantic coastline in the bleak midwinter. He stays with Judith, an 80-year-old who rejected a modern lifestyle for one closer to nature. Ben learns how she and her late husband created a unique utopia and discovers how, even at an advanced age, she is determined to remain alone in her solitary cottage nestled in a remote hillside.
Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to Brazil to meet Chris, a Scotsman who has chosen to make his home in one of the most remote areas of the jungle near the Amazon River. He discovers how Chris’s love affair with the rainforest began when he had a near-death experience, and how he fought for almost three decades to protect this part of the world. Ben also has a close encounter with a tarantula.
2021
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.
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.
2019
After six years of 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 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. During the busy harvest season, Ben learns the finer details of how to craft his favourite drink.
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 cares for some of the island's many stray dogs.
2021
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 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.
2020
Ben journeys to the freezing coastal waters of Iceland to live with Hakon, a former carpenter who overcame alcohol and embraced a clean, solo life in the wilderness on an private island.
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.
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.
Ben visits an ex-photographer who lives an isolated life in the wilds of Oregon, harvesting weeds for nutrition. There, Ben experiences a Native American-inspired sweat lodge.
2018
Ben journeys to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas, to live with master craftsman Robert, learning why this 70-year-old former medical student ditched his education for America's counterculture 20 years ago, bought 200 acres of land deep in the woods, and raised a family of six children. Ben sees how far-reaching Robert's skills are, including cabin-making techniques dating back to the 13th century, and how his family have supported him in his dream.
Ben travels to New Zealand's North Island, where he meets a young nomadic family led by Amber and Andy, who spend their life exploring the country's wild landscapes. He hears how the family's lives changed forever after one fateful day, how they swapped the stress of the city for a life on the open road, the price they paid for chasing their dream and how the horrors of the past still haunt them today.
Deep into the jungle mountains of Thailand on the border with Myanmar and far off any conventional map, Ben spends time with 40-year-old French-Canadian Julien. He’s been a Buddhist monk for almost half his life, living in a remote monastery. Ben learns why this former teenage student from the West stripped away all complications of a modern lifestyle for a primitive Eastern religious existence.
In the Arctic Circle, Ben Fogle meets Randi Skaug, the first Norwegian woman to climb Everest. Ben is planning to scale the world's highest mountain himself and needs some tips and advice. He embraces the tough and basic life on Randi’s 8.5-acre island by sleeping outdoors and collecting raw building materials. Ben also has a sea kayaking adventure and witnesses the Northern Lights.
2021
Ben revisits Amanda and her husband Clive, stars of Our Yorkshire Farm, on their remote farm of Ravenseat in the Yorkshire Dales. Ben discovers how they get by in the tough world of farming and meets the latest addition to their flock.
Ben revisits Emma, who has embraced a truly organic life, hidden away in overgrown woodland in wildest Wales. Ben helps Emma construct a new communal mud hut.
2019
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.
2020
While we may all feel a little isolated under the current circumstances, some people really have got away from it all, setting up home in some of the most remote locations on earth. Ben Fogle returns to see how some of them have fared, starting with the Long family in New Zealand. You may remember they were two days’ walk from the nearest road, so it was very much a hunter-gatherer existence. “Bewitching, but horribly tough – like camping for ever” is how RT described it. So how have the children coped with such an isolated upbringing, and how have the parents maintained their relationship? SUMMARY Ben reunites with people he previously met in some of the most remote locations on Earth, discovering how life has changed for his hosts.
Ben heads to Devon to revisit the Mason family who, five years ago, were all stuffed into a cramped renovated horse box. Ben is now welcomed into their new home, on their own land.
Ben journeys to Fair Isle, the most remote inhabited island in the UK, where he is reunited with Tommy, an American artist who has lived in an off-the-grid stone cottage on the island for 15 years.
Ben revisits Simon and Debbie Dawson, who run their own off-grid smallholding in a picturesque valley in Exmoor National Park. He helps them build their new eco-home and discovers the hardships and dilemmas they face.
Ben visits the Goddard family, who were living a wild and weather-beaten existence in an off-grid static caravan on the Isle of Rum. 5 years on, Ben discovers them living on the mainland, having swapped their caravan for an actual house.
Ben meets a Glaswegian retired teacher who relocated to the mountains of Ethiopia, and leads an active life in her new home as she approaches her 70th birthday. She has made significant contributions to the local community, including setting up a school and building a restaurant on an isolated mountain top over the course of three years.
Ben meets Jaimie, 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.
You’ll remember Colbert. He’s hard to forget. In 2014 Ben Fogle visited the eccentric 60-something who’d built his dream home (a wood cabin with no electricity and no running water) in the oppressive, mosquito-ridden swamps of Georgia, USA. Ben couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to live there. He struggled with Colbert’s basic lifestyle and his unconventional attitude (his embarrassment over their campfire chat about sex was obvious) but he obviously admired him too. He returns to learn that a few years ago Colbert’s beloved home burnt down. Undeterred, the wildman rebuilt it. “I feel overwhelmingly blessed. I’m one of the richest people in the world,” he says with a smile. SUMMARY Ben reunites with a man with a gift for craftsmanship living in the swamplands of Georgia. Ben discovers he has experienced a life-changing accident in the six years since they last met, but remains as competitive as he was on their original encounter.
A life-threatening parachuting accident was the catalyst that persuaded Jim Alston to pursue his "Robinson Crusoe" dream, while his partner Kim Nguyen also had a near-death experience in a horrific car crash. In 2017 Ben Fogle went to visit the pair on the aptly named Wilderness Island off Australia’s north-western cape, where he got a lesson in the art of mud-crabbing and the necessity for fresh water (which the island was without). Ben now returns to find Kim and Jim have now built an eco-resort and gained an extended family. "This island has served as therapy for both of them," he concludes. SUMMARY Ben reunites with a couple living off the west coast of Australia, and discovers the logistical nightmares they have overcome to make a home for themselves on a desert island, as well as enduring the extremes of the Australian climate. While they have recently had cause to celebrate, their lives are becoming increasingly difficult, which may result in them moving on.
Ben Fogle reunites with a former medical student living in the woodlands of Arkansas. Ben discovers the impact a series of injuries have had on his physically demanding wild lifestyle, including a simple lapse in concentration that nearly cost him everything. However, none of this has prevented him honing his talents as a craftsman and embracing a life surrounded by nature.
Ben Fogle is reunited with seafarer Rick, who has moved on to pastures new since their original encounter. When Rick last appeared on the series, he was living off the coast of French Polynesia, but he has since made a fresh start on the Pacific island of Fiji. In the intervening years, Rick has acquired a new boat and is now travelling alone - but remains as enthusiastic as ever about his unusual lifestyle and believes that anyone can follow in his wake and gain a newfound sense of freedom - if they have the right attitude.
Tonight it’s all wood and white water, as he returns to Canada to relive a memorable stay in bear country, with former war journalist Julius Strauss and his partner Kristin. And with such spectacular scenery, not to mention a cosy wood cabin to kip in, you can see why he fancied coming back. The big question is, will they spot any grizzlies this time? SUMMARY Ben Fogle revisits former war correspondent Julius Strauss and his wife Kristin, who live in British Columbia. Their home is in the middle of a mountainous region that is home to grizzly bears, and on his first visit, Ben was shocked to discover the impact hunting had on the animals. Years later, the couple's campaigning has helped introduce new protections, but now a new problem has arisen - wildfires during the dry summer months. They must engage in constant fire drills to be prepared in the event of a blaze.
2022
Ben Fogle travels to the remote mountains of central Portugal to meet Alex, a British man who left a successful retail career to live completely off-grid. During his stay, Ben helps Alex maintain his simple mountainside home and learns how he survives without heating, electricity, or running water. Through their conversations, Ben discovers the personal reasons that drove Alex to choose solitude and a life closer to nature.
Ben visits Georg and Bettina, an Austrian-German couple who have lived in the Irish wilderness for nearly 40 years. He explores the hand-built home and land they’ve cultivated from barren bog into a sustainable retreat. Ben gains insight into their long-standing commitment to simplicity, nature, and a peaceful life away from modern society.
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 rugged cliffs of Cornwall, where he stays with Davina and Todd and their family, who left their city lives behind to follow their dreams to become farmers. Ben finds out how the couple turned their seven-acre empty plot into an off-grid farm, and embraces the family's energy and hectic daily routine - from juggling kids and raising livestock, to digging a duck pond and harvesting vegetables.
Ben journeys to one of Britain's furthest outposts, the Shetland Islands, to meet Helen and Jason, a couple just a few years into their new life on the edge of the weather-beaten island of Yell. He discovers why they needed to escape the demands of urban life, and witnesses the obstacles they now face as they pursue their wildest dreams on this beautiful, historical and remote island.
Ben travels to England's most northerly coastline, Northumberland, to stay with 43-year-old Kezz and 40-year-old Nathalie, a couple who gave up a rock'n'roll lifestyle to become caretakers of a secluded wood. Ben helps the couple with their straw-bale house, gets a crash course in felling trees and learns the traditional art of charcoal-making.
Ben spends time with a multi-generational family in Oxfordshire who have left their conventional life behind and relocated to an empty plot of land which they have transformed. Ben learns about the obstacles the family has overcome and how its members have spent two decades honing their skills and living off the land.
Ben travels to the deserts of Arizona to meet Dee, a modern-day nomad travelling across the United States in a former military transport vehicle which she has turned into a cosy mobile home. Ben experiences first-hand how challenging it is to live out of a small vehicle in the arid surroundings of the inhospitable desert, travelling side-by-side with his host in his own tiny car.
Adventurer Ben Fogle returns to meet previous contributors who turned their back on the rat race and set up home in some of the most remote locations on Earth. In this episode, he finds his unique former "Stone Age" host Lynx living on a different continent than on his last visit, as she has now set up home deep in the Norwegian forest.
Ben heads back to the Saharan landscape of Morocco, where he first met Karen, an extraordinary artist who had turned her back on urban life to live in the middle of the desert. Ben uncovers how the local community has been a source of strength to her, learns of the constant battle she faces with the elements, and discovers the looming threat that could change Karen's entire way of life.
Ben as he revisits the Watkinson family, who gave up their careers as vets to live a greener existence on a rugged mountainside on the Pembrokeshire coast. Ben learns how the Watkinsons have used their academic backgrounds to come up with ingenious ways to make this life work, and he witnesses the relationship their children are forging with the living world around them.
2023
Ben travels to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the USA to meet Mike Basich, a snowboarder who left professional sport to reconnect with nature. Ben joins him in his 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 journeys to South America to visit Rhona Mitra, a British born actress who left the bright lights of Hollywood to live alone in a remote valley in Uruguay. He discovers that Rhona is now committed to rehabilitating horses and the pair attend an animal auction looking to rescue any mistreated animals. Later that evening, Ben experiences nature's fury for himself when a violent storm hits while he shelters in a fragile biodome.
Ben heads into the heart of the Casentinesi Forest National Park in Tuscany to visit British couple George and Sophie who have breathed new life into a Tuscan farmhouse. He joins the couple and their three children at their off-grid home, and is soon put to work collecting honey, tending to their vegetable garden and making homemade pizzas.
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.
Ben 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 spends a week in Dorset with former paratrooper Chris who, despite losing nearly everything, has spent the last five years walking the UK's coastline. Ben joins Chris and his faithful dog companion, Jet, 27,000 miles into their walk, and also meets Chris' partner and fellow hiker, Kate. Whilst in their company, Ben learns how to desalinate sea water, forage the nature around him and how to charm local fisherman for food.
Ben heads back to Western Australia to revisit 69-year-old Barbara, a Swiss woman who has lived alone in an isolated Bush camp for 16 years, and he quickly learns that the past eight years have not been easy. He discovers that not only has his friend had to deal with a serious cancer scare, but she came close to losing everything in a devastating fire.
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.
Ben revisits nomads Miriam and Peter in the vast forests of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria, having previously met the couple in 2016. Ben joins the couple at their off-grid cottage, and hears how the pair had to drastically change their lives when Peter suffered acute kidney failure, and how they have adapted to their new lives as "slomads".
2025
Ben meets a family at the start of their new life, undertaking an ambitious renovation of a dilapidated farmhouse in a Bulgarian village, discovering how crucial this fresh start is for them.
Ben heads into the forests of northern New South Wales to meet Jimmy, and learns he has faced multiple tragedies, including bereavement and natural disasters, since leaving urban America.
Ben ventures into the snowy mountains of Piedmont, where he meets Father Johannes, who lives an isolated life while fulfilling duties as a priest. Ben discovers they have more in common than he expected.
Ben embarks on an epic journey to meet one of the most remote families he's encountered, uncovering what drove academics and married couple Bec and Reece to leave civilisation for complete isolation.
Ben travels to the desert near Roswell, meeting 70-year-old Karen, rolling up his sleeves to help, and learning about the hardships she has faced throughout her life.
Ben meets a family who have carved out their own slice of wilderness for a simple life on an Isle of Wight cliffside, but who have faced legal challenges and the risk of a landslide.
Ben ventures to the desolate beauty of Utah's Canyonlands, where he meets Scott, who has built his off-grid home, and witnesses Scott's remarkable resilience.
Ben heads to the African continent to visit former army officer Mark, who, over 17 years, built a stunning home on the Moroccan coast. Ben learns of the struggles as Mark's fmaily face ever-worsening drought.
In Spain, Ben meets 50-year-old free spirit Nara, who has spent most of his adult life without modern conveniences. 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, where he meets Arthur, a hunter-gatherer with a PhD in botany.
2025
Ben meets Norwegian Aleks, who now lives in Botswana, learning of her incredible journey and meeting her adopted family, the Ju'/hoansi people, who have called southern Africa home for many thousands of years.
Ben meets Brit Rupert (57), who resides in a traditional house in the mountains of Japan. Rupert has fully embraced the culture of his adopted homeland but his peaceful existence arose from hardship.
Ben journeys to rural Thailand to meet Yidan, who left city life to build a farm from scratch. As he helps her work, he uncovers the deeper reasons behind her bold transformation.
2024
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.
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 heads to northern England to stay with a man who traded in his house for a life on the road, travelling the UK and joining a community of full-time nomads who survive off the grid. Ben meets Paul in Lincolnshire on board his 30-year-old converted military truck. They travel to the coastline to stay overnight on the beach, go on a road trip and meet up with Paul's nomadic community. Along the way, Ben is intrigued how such a lifestyle is possible in the UK, with its strict camping laws
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 Fogle
Self
2026
Ben visits former war journalist Ali Porteous to find out what took his host to a remote island on Lake Victoria, learning of the events that bind her to Uganda's violent past.
Ben ventures into the forested wilderness of Scandinavia to stay with two remarkable artists, throwing himself into their world of art and nature, and tackling the physical tasks the pair now struggle with.
Ben visits a remarkable homestead perched on one of the region's highest mountains, home to the Bellrose family, who have spent five years battling a brutal climate where daily life can be a matter of survival.
Ben experiences a different kind of wild living - 'continuous cruising' on a narrowboat - staying with his host Dave, whose move to an off-grid life on the canals became a lifeline after personal tragedy.
Ben Fogle heads to the island of Tenerife to visit young couple Emma and Edo, whose ambition to rescue a few horses has created a community farm and very different wild sanctuary.
Ben Fogle meets Randilyn, a woman on a perpetual walk across the US. What began as a solitary journey with her dog has grown into a multi-wagon caravan, complete with a menagerie of animals she cares for on the move.
