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.
