Documentary, Ben Fogle New Lives in the Wild S02E04 Panama
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00:00I'm Ben Fogel, and over the next few weeks, I'm going to live with different people who
00:07inhabit some of the most remote locations on earth. What was that? Something just touched
00:14my face. From the foothills of the Himalayas, to the jungle islands of the Philippines,
00:20the humid Georgian swamplands, and the tropics of Panama.
00:25Who are the people who have the guts to escape forever?
00:28You can't break free from the mainstream.
00:32Is it daring or just downright crazy?
00:35It's a lie!
00:37I mean, I'm unsuitable. I can't live in an organised society.
00:42I want to discover the reality behind giving up the rat race.
00:46Oh, I smell colder.
00:49As I find out why people build new lives in the wild.
00:54It's quite a jacuzzi, isn't it?
00:58Today, I'm in the sweltering heat of the Caribbean, amongst the islands of Bocas del Toro in Panama.
01:13Oh, I'm going to like this.
01:14This week, I'll be staying with fellow Brit Ian Usher and his new girlfriend, Vanessa Anderson.
01:19One, two, three.
01:21Oh, it's little legs.
01:22The Englishman sold his dream life in Australia for a hard life on a small island.
01:27My plan was to pick up a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, wallet, passport and gold.
01:32I find out why his girlfriend only weeks ago decided to ditch her London lifestyle.
01:37I've had flash cars, nice houses. That didn't really make me ultra happy.
01:41And how the couple exist in a budding romance on a solitary island miles from anywhere.
01:51My journey begins over 5,000 miles from the UK in Panama City, Central America.
02:00From here, it's a 200-mile flight west to the Caribbean Sea, amongst the archipelago of Bocas del Toro.
02:07One of these islands will be my home for the next week.
02:15It's a short walk through the colourful streets of Bocas town,
02:19down to the water's edge where I'm to meet my host.
02:24No sooner do I arrive and so does the rain.
02:28It pours down.
02:29And as I've been told to look out for a northern Englishman,
02:33it all seems rather fitting.
02:35Are you Ian?
02:36How are you?
02:38I thought so.
02:39Good to see you.
02:40You too.
02:41What's this weather?
02:43I know, sorry about the rain.
02:46Nice boat, by the way.
02:48Throw my bag in.
02:49Yeah, just, just, there we go.
02:50Grab the back of it there.
02:53There you go.
02:53How are you? Nice to meet you.
02:54Yeah, you too. How are you?
02:55I always, I'm trying to see whether you're what I expected you to be.
03:00Can I just say, look, I've grown a beard in honour of you,
03:02and now I feel like I'm more of a Robinson Crusader than you are.
03:05Yeah, I think, I'm...
03:05Where's the beard? Everyone has beards.
03:06It'll be here in a day or two.
03:09Yeah, you've certainly gone the wild man look, haven't you?
03:11Listen, I thought I did this in honour of you.
03:13My first Brit that I've ever actually been away to spend some time with.
03:16So long to civilisation.
03:19Oh, this is cool.
03:24Please promise me I'm going to get a little bit of sunshine here.
03:28You can't make any promises down here.
03:30Don't you love this?
03:31Two Brits and already we're talking about the weather.
03:36What is it about boats?
03:38I love it.
03:38Do you want to drive it?
03:40All right?
03:40Yeah.
03:41I won't say no.
03:43Of course, go for it.
03:44That's trust, Ian.
03:47Oh, I'm going to like this.
03:51After the 10-mile journey made quicker in Ian's second-hand speedboat,
03:55we finally approach his island, surrounded by thick mangrove.
04:00So that's your house, the red roof I can see.
04:03The red roof to the left, and that's the top, and that's the red roof to the right.
04:09I think if I'm to be honest, I had an image maybe of tropical island,
04:14white sandy beach, coral, ocean.
04:17You're in the Richard Branson League.
04:19I'm in, I'm in, I'm in.
04:20Yeah, that's, that's...
04:21I think that's, but that's only, by the way, that's not a criticism.
04:23Oh, dear.
04:24That's not a criticism.
04:26Hey.
04:27Hey.
04:29Here's your house.
04:30Yeah.
04:33Hello.
04:34Hey.
04:34Hi there.
04:35Vanessa.
04:35How are you?
04:36Ben.
04:36Hi, Vanessa.
04:37Very nice to meet you.
04:38You too.
04:39How are you?
04:40I'm fine, thank you.
04:41It's so strange meeting two Brits out here in the middle of...
04:44You were properly in the middle of nowhere.
04:46Yeah, definitely.
04:4950-year-old Ian Usher emigrated from Northern England to Australia
04:53with his ex-wife Laura in 2000.
04:56He worked in a variety of jobs,
04:59and this funded their goal of building a new home together.
05:03But Ian's marriage fell apart,
05:05and he came up with an idea which brought him worldwide attention.
05:09What led you to actually put your whole life for sale on eBay?
05:14Auctioning off his entire life,
05:16netted Ian £100,000,
05:18giving him the freedom to explore a whole world of possibilities.
05:22What are your plans for your new life?
05:24Where are you going?
05:25I've got a few goals I'd like to do, you know,
05:27the type of things we all have where you say,
05:29one day I'm going to go and do such and such.
05:34And that's exactly what he did.
05:36Spending the next two years completing 100 goals in 100 weeks.
05:42Fire, fire, fire, fire!
05:50Then, in 2011, running low on cash
05:54and looking for somewhere cheap and hot,
05:56he found a 2.2-acre island,
05:59buying it for just £18,000.
06:03Ian then spent the next six months
06:05and a further £30,000 building his new home,
06:09employing a few local workers
06:10who ferried the materials needed by boat.
06:13Then, in the spring of 2013,
06:16during a stopover in London,
06:18he met 51-year-old Vanessa Anderson
06:20through mutual friends.
06:21She then accepted an invite
06:23to come on holiday to his island,
06:26arriving just three months ago.
06:30It's really...
06:31It feels really comfortable and clean.
06:34It's small,
06:35but it's pretty much all we need, really, I think.
06:37So you've got a fan...
06:38I'm assuming, given I can see some fans,
06:40there must be electricity here.
06:41There's electricity.
06:42It's all provided by solar power.
06:44There's panels out on the roof here.
06:46Batteries down below.
06:47Power's everything that we need.
06:49And running water, Vanessa?
06:50Running water.
06:50Running water.
06:51It's all rainwater collected
06:53into the tank
06:55and then goes through a small filter.
06:57And then that's what we drink and use.
07:00Where do you sleep?
07:01Upstairs, here.
07:02We've got two bedrooms.
07:03There's one bedroom here,
07:04one bedroom at the back.
07:06I get my own bedroom?
07:07You do, yes.
07:08I'm going to high-five you.
07:09I'm going to hug you.
07:11I'm going to do everything.
07:12There's no bed in there.
07:14There's no bed.
07:15I'll see you later.
07:16Can I go up and have a look?
07:16Yeah, go and check it out.
07:17This is so cool.
07:18Have a look at the view as well,
07:19from the window.
07:20Look at the views from in here.
07:23The house was designed using an elevated structure
07:26to prevent flooding,
07:28with the space beneath doubling as a utility room.
07:31In here sits the water tank,
07:32storing 600 gallons of rainwater,
07:35the electricity converter,
07:37charged from the solar panels,
07:38and up above,
07:39both the cooker and fridge
07:40run off a small propane tank.
07:43It costs $6.40 for a propane refill.
07:46And we use maybe a tank every two weeks,
07:48so it costs us $3 a week for propane.
07:50The water's free,
07:51the electric's free,
07:53so yeah,
07:53$12 a month is our utility bill.
07:55Showering here is in the great outdoors,
07:59with an island view naturally,
08:01as is the composting loo,
08:03and an ingenious urinal made from an upturned bottle
08:07for the gentleman visitors caught short.
08:10Life on an island means a boat is a necessity.
08:13Ian's one built in the 1970s cost him £2,000.
08:16And I'm assuming that this behind you,
08:20this is kind of the wardrobe?
08:21This is the wardrobe.
08:22Which, is it divided up?
08:24It is.
08:24This is Ian's.
08:26That's Ian's.
08:26And that's mine.
08:27Listen, I'll be honest,
08:28I've got more clothes than two of the both of you combined,
08:30and I don't think I have that many.
08:33Ian said you won't need much,
08:34you know, it's hot all the time,
08:35so no jackets, nothing like that.
08:37So literally just a few holiday clothes,
08:39and that was it.
08:40What do you mean you just arrived with holiday clothes?
08:42Well, literally I had a backpack
08:43and a pair of flip-flops.
08:45I didn't even have any sort of proper covered-in shoes.
08:48I just originally came for two weeks.
08:50And three weeks, three months later,
08:51you're still here?
08:52I'm still here, yeah.
08:53I mean, that's weird, isn't it?
08:55It is weird, yeah, but it's very good.
08:58What about all the other stuff
08:59that you have back in England?
09:00Because there must be lots of clothes,
09:01there must be all your things.
09:04Yeah, well, I'm selling a house at the moment,
09:06so literally I am going to have to go back
09:08and sort all of that out, you know,
09:09one trip back to clear everything down
09:12and sell and get rid of everything, really.
09:14I haven't missed anything, so everything else can go.
09:20Vanessa may have arrived just three months ago,
09:22but I've only been here three hours
09:24and already Ian's got a job for me,
09:27clearing out his crap.
09:29And I get to do this wondrous task today?
09:32It's a dirty job and someone's got to do it,
09:35and, yeah, it's not going to be me today.
09:36You're a very generous man.
09:38It's my gift to you, Ben.
09:40So where am I going to take it today?
09:41We'll just take it and put it in the middle of the fire heap.
09:44We're going to do it together?
09:45Is it heavy enough?
09:46No, no, no.
09:47When I say we, I'll be sort of following behind you.
09:49You'll be like the foreman.
09:50Following behind you, holding my nose.
09:52Yeah, foreman.
09:52I'm the foreman, yeah.
09:54OK, let's get this done then.
09:55OK, I'll stand back.
09:58It's sort of lifted up.
09:59Oh, please, why?
10:01We might need to give it a bit of...
10:02Oh, please.
10:07Oh, no.
10:09That's really wrong.
10:11There we go.
10:12There you go.
10:13Nice.
10:14So that's your droppings from the last few months, isn't it?
10:17Yeah, yeah.
10:18Meagre.
10:18That's actually, that's composted down.
10:20That, when I filled it, was full to the top.
10:22Right, let's not dwell.
10:23OK, let's go.
10:24Is it still dripping?
10:28It's like a challenge how far I can hold this from my face.
10:31Yeah.
10:32There is something about carrying someone else's...
10:35that isn't particularly enjoyable.
10:39Well, it's bonding.
10:40I'm bonding with you now.
10:42I've got a bit of your DNA on my fingers.
10:50Coming up next, Ian and I bond over coconuts.
10:55I experience a petrol station Panama-style.
10:58You wouldn't want to get a light of a cigarette in here.
11:01And we head off to the local supermarket.
11:04Oh, no.
11:04I've only got $7.
11:06I'll know where you live.
11:07I'll get paid somehow.
11:08Oh, you get it.
11:10I'm in Panama, where I'm staying on a remote island
11:13with Brit couple Ian and his new girlfriend, Vanessa.
11:17Being seven miles across water to the nearest shop
11:20means a loaf of bread is pricey.
11:22So, to save money, Vanessa often bakes,
11:25and I'm giving her a hand.
11:27So, you like making bread, though?
11:29Just don't have time.
11:30No, no.
11:30I think that's one of the things that maybe lots of us
11:32living back in London or wherever we are in the world,
11:35perhaps, don't have the time to...
11:38And also, there is, again, it's that thing of choice.
11:41It's so easy just to pop down to a nice little bakery
11:44that's making organic bread of lots of different types.
11:47Where you don't have it here.
11:48And you don't have that here, so you've got to improvise,
11:51and it takes you back to doing the simple things in life again.
11:54Yeah.
11:54It's lovely and messy.
11:55Oh, no, no, no, it's nice.
11:56I know, it's nice, I know, it's good.
11:58Before Vanessa began her new life with Ian,
12:02things were very different.
12:04Having married in 2007,
12:06she and her husband ran a jewellery business in Talibont, Wales.
12:11But after six years, she divorced in 2012
12:14and left her home to move to London,
12:17where she became sales manager for a large design firm.
12:22Given that you've only been here for three months or so,
12:25it's quite spontaneous, the kind of staying on,
12:28what about friends?
12:30Friends, yeah.
12:31I mean, I do, I miss my friends,
12:33but, you know, it's easy to be in contact with people.
12:36Skype, you know, it's easy to Skype people from here.
12:40Some friends, you know,
12:42it was a bit difficult when I first stayed out.
12:44They didn't quite understand.
12:46So I had to go through the whole thing.
12:48And my parents, especially,
12:49because they didn't even know
12:50that I was coming out to meet someone, so...
12:53So that was all very new for them.
12:56Was that an awkward phone call?
12:58That was, yeah, yeah.
13:00But I knew that she'd have worried
13:01if I'd said I was coming out to meet somebody
13:03that I'd met once in London
13:05and I was going to Panama,
13:06which she would have considered, you know,
13:07just a dangerous place.
13:09She was a bit disappointed in me, I think.
13:12That's a lot of pressure to put on a relationship.
13:17That's a huge amount.
13:19What an amazing way to really get to know another person.
13:23I can totally see why this works for them
13:27and why they've...
13:29..they can see already in this short amount of time
13:32that they're both suited to one another.
13:35With savings dangerously low,
13:37the couple have started working together,
13:39designing websites.
13:40They charge £300 per site,
13:44which helps supplement their annual living cost of £7,000.
13:48And it's something they can do remotely
13:50due to their Wi-Fi link with Boccas Town.
13:53And supplementing their diet
13:55are the other residents on the island.
13:58Ten free-range chickens,
13:59which provide the occasional Sunday roast,
14:01but more importantly, the daily eggs.
14:05You've got to sort of squeeze in over the top of there.
14:08Oh, yeah.
14:09That's it.
14:11Is it one or two?
14:12One.
14:12Just one.
14:13That'll be a meagre breakfast between the three of us.
14:16As well as eggs,
14:17the couple survive on what they can grow here.
14:19Yucca, noni fruit,
14:21which Vanessa has been fermenting into a juice...
14:22Oh, God, that smells like vomit.
14:25Take a sniff.
14:26Banana plants,
14:30which double as an easy-access composting bin,
14:33and, of course, coconuts.
14:35But getting two of them is a problem.
14:38I can see your house from here!
14:39I might be able to see his house,
14:43but I can't reach his nuts.
14:45So Ian shows me a method he uses more often,
14:48with a ladder he built himself.
14:51Suggested like a true Englishman, Ian.
14:53I have a system.
14:55This is the way to do it.
14:59Ah!
15:00Just testing.
15:01Should I try opening one of these?
15:06I'm guessing you're really well with Ian.
15:07I really like him.
15:08You know, he's a nice bloke.
15:09Who, I think,
15:11unlike maybe some people who move to places like this,
15:14knows there are limits.
15:15So I actually really admire the fact
15:17that he doesn't pretend to be more than he is.
15:21I like that some people.
15:22Cheers.
15:24Mmm.
15:35Although I share a kinship with Ian,
15:37I still don't understand how this seemingly ordinary bloke from northern England
15:42is living such an extraordinary life here on his own island in the middle of the Caribbean.
15:48I sit down to find out about the journey that brought him here that began the day his wife left him.
15:59Most people just try to move on, but you actually decided to get rid of your whole previous life.
16:04Tell me about that.
16:05Well, that was carrying on, really.
16:07For me, that was part of the moving on process.
16:09Ultimately, I ended up with the house and all the belongings, the assets left over from a marriage that was obviously finished.
16:17What I decided to do was package it all together into one item and list that item.
16:25And I thought, well, if I put all of those in,
16:28maybe I could also throw in an introduction to my circle of friends
16:32and perhaps a trial period at the job I was working at
16:35and call that a whole life for sale, you know, I wanted to sort of package it as...
16:39And my plan was to sell the whole thing as one,
16:42pick up a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, wallet, passport and go when someone bought it.
16:48Almost like cleaning.
16:49It's almost like a blackboard with all your life, all the drawings.
16:51It's like you wanted to wipe it clean.
16:53Clean slate, absolutely, yeah.
16:54Clean slate, fresh start.
16:56So after travelling the world, doing all these things, quite high adrenaline, lots of them,
17:01how did you end up here?
17:03I just happened to be reading an article I found online about the top ten cheapest tropical places in the world to live.
17:10And Panama came up, was shown this place, and I just thought, yep, that's it, my own island.
17:15That's what's next for me.
17:18On a scale of one to ten of happiness with life, where you are, what you've done, where are you?
17:23Oh, I'm pretty much nine at the moment.
17:27Having Vanessa here certainly makes me, I guess, see a better person when I look in the mirror.
17:35So I'm much, much happier, I think, with her here than I was without her here.
17:40I think this one's a keeper.
17:45Night draws in, shrouding the island in total darkness, apart from our little fire,
17:51where I take the opportunity to find out a bit more about the new couple.
17:56When you first saw Ian, did you think, there's a bloke with an island?
18:01No, actually, I'd avoided meeting him.
18:04I didn't like the whole thing of him having been a sort of selling his life,
18:08and I thought, oh, he's just somebody that's, you know, looking for lots of...
18:11Yeah, exactly, and so I just, I made a terrible assumption that I wouldn't get on with him.
18:16But as we started talking, we just found that we had lots in common,
18:20and we just enjoyed each other's company that evening, that one evening.
18:24A huge lifestyle change for you in such a short period of time.
18:28Has it taken a lot to get used to this? Are you used to this?
18:31I think I'm used to it now.
18:33If I'm honest, I had one sort of blip where I got a bit of island fever,
18:37and I thought, oh, I can't get in a car and go and do my own thing.
18:41And it lasted about a day and a half.
18:43Being in a place like this, does that add an extra pressure, do you think, to a new relationship?
18:49I guess it tests a relationship quickly,
18:51and you figure out whether you think it's going to work or not,
18:54rather than perhaps spending a year to get to that point where you can make that conclusion.
18:58You've only figured that out in two or three months.
19:02If I hadn't been told, I would have thought that Vanessa and Ian had moved here together.
19:09I'd have thought they'd have been a couple for years, not for a couple of months.
19:14It's extraordinary.
19:15But it's clear they're still in the honeymoon period,
19:18so I go for a long stroll round the tiny island.
19:22The only slightly odd thing, I think, with spending time with a new couple
19:27is I do feel a bit like a gooseberry.
19:31I'm giving them some time to...
19:33A few days into my stay here,
19:47I'm starting to see how Ian fell in love with this place.
19:50Right now, we're off to pick up some supplies,
19:59and to my surprise, Ian's locking up.
20:02You're locking that whole door.
20:03Yeah.
20:04There's a little piece of fabric that if I just patted that even harder, I'd go through.
20:08It's a token nod at security, really, more than anything else, isn't it?
20:13It's my first trip off the island, which means we're back into Ian's boat.
20:17But before we go anywhere, he's got a job for me, bailing out.
20:21Is there a lot of weight in here?
20:23Yeah, I feel bad letting you do it all, but as you can see, there's only space for one.
20:27Right.
20:28As Ian's boat is open, when he's out in the rain,
20:31it can easily gather enough water to cause him problems.
20:35That heavy rain the other day would have sunk this, presumably.
20:38Most people here say you're not a local until you've sunk a boat.
20:41Oh, really?
20:42After lightening our load, we're soon out on the water,
20:48and I get a whole new perspective.
20:58Living amongst an archipelago means to get anywhere,
21:01Ian has to use fuel, and he's running low.
21:04The nearest pit stop is five miles away,
21:07which means a 20-minute journey to fill up.
21:08So this is the petrol station?
21:10Yes, the little wooden shack in front of us is the fuel station.
21:14You reach that.
21:16Marvellous.
21:17There you go.
21:18Tienes gasolina?
21:20Gracias.
21:21Vanessa stays in the boat
21:22while I approach one of the most basic petrol stations I've ever seen.
21:26And once inside, I'm surrounded by large cans of open fuel,
21:31the vapours from which are overpowering.
21:34No petrol pumps here?
21:36No, no.
21:37Did that come as a surprise to you?
21:39Uh, yeah, I guess having sort of travelled a lot,
21:42I've seen petrol poured from buckets into cars in places in Peru and so on.
21:48You wouldn't want to go, like, have a cigarette in here.
21:51God.
21:52Fantastic.
21:53I can imagine this whole place going sky high
21:55with the smallest vapour trail out of the window,
21:57but Ian seems used to the whole thing.
22:00It's the Spanish that you learnt?
22:05Yeah, it's all very practical stuff.
22:07I can talk about motors and fuel and oil and mixtures
22:11and all that sort of stuff,
22:12but ask me to buy a shirt in a shop, not a clue.
22:16Quite obvious.
22:16As you can see.
22:18Thanks, Ben.
22:20Style commentary from Ben Farwell.
22:25Fuel on board.
22:26Our next stop is the local supermarket six miles away,
22:30but Ian's remembered a shortcut
22:31that means he can half the journey time and save fuel,
22:35but it's a tight squeeze.
22:38Nicely done.
22:39Ooh, there's a cucumber.
22:42Perfect, straight ahead.
22:45Wow.
22:45Beautiful.
22:46Four months ago, reward points and city parking
22:52were part of Vanessa's food shopping.
22:55Now her local shop, run by Ernie,
22:57is a world away from the life she's just given up.
23:00So what are we actually here for?
23:01Just a little bit of shopping.
23:03We've run short on a couple of things we need to pick up.
23:05Look at this.
23:05This is a cool corner shop in the middle of the mangroves.
23:08Yeah.
23:09It might look cool,
23:11but you never know quite how much Ernie will have on his shelves.
23:14Look at this.
23:15What do you think the levels are like?
23:17There's a couple of empty shelves there,
23:18but he's got some of the stuff we need, I can see.
23:21Have you got any fish at the moment?
23:23No, I wish I had fish because I've got some guy, you know,
23:27I'd like to make a dinner with fish.
23:30What else?
23:31Anything else you guys need?
23:32Well, we could take the tinned fish there, the spicy.
23:34Yeah, can we take two of those small ones?
23:36Have you got some washing powder?
23:40I see that essay.
23:41I think it's the last one.
23:42Oh, the last one of those too.
23:45And it's no good flashing a nectar card here
23:47as hard cash is the only currency.
23:51And Ian's caught short.
23:52Oh, no, I've only got $7.
23:54I know where you live.
23:56I'll get paid some money.
23:57Oh, you'll get paid, yeah, if you...
23:59I'll just put a contract on you.
24:03Ernie, I believe if anyone could do that,
24:05you're the man who could.
24:08That's my kind of a shopping trip.
24:10It is, yeah.
24:11Beer at the end.
24:16Coming up next...
24:17Wow!
24:18Ian and I master the art of lassoing.
24:21Oh, yeah!
24:22Don't pull it too hard!
24:23No way, look at that.
24:24And we collect his new canoe from deep in the jungle.
24:27That is astonishing.
24:28I'm halfway through my stay on an isolated Panamanian island
24:36with my British hosts, Ian and Vanessa.
24:42Two years ago, Ian bought this small piece of land
24:45and turned it into a home on nothing more than a shoestring budget.
24:49But he's constantly adapting it to his needs.
24:52And today is no different,
24:54as I'm to help him with his latest venture.
24:56I never know quite what you've got up your sleeve.
25:00We're working on a swimming lane today.
25:03I rest my case, a swimming lane.
25:06A swimming lane.
25:07Like, I'm now picturing a swimming pool
25:09with ropes going up and down each side.
25:14Similar to that,
25:15I used to do a lot of swimming
25:17and it's sort of my exercise of choice.
25:20I have out there,
25:22I tried marking out a swim lane
25:24and I used building blocks
25:26and I put a line of them down on the seabed.
25:30The problem is when visibility isn't quite so good,
25:34you sometimes miss the next block.
25:36What I want to do today
25:37is just connect all the blocks with a line
25:40that you can follow along the seabed.
25:43With our gear, we head to the water's edge.
25:47Oh, this is nice.
25:49Finally getting in the water.
25:51And at 28 degrees Celsius,
25:54it's like a warm bath.
25:57Whilst Vanessa stays on the surface,
25:59we get stuck in with the task in hand.
26:02Ian's asked me to feed him
26:04the high visibility twine he needs.
26:06While he dives five metres to the seabed
26:11to carefully tie it to the waiting breeze blocks.
26:17Where the island is situated
26:19means there's often traffic close to the shore.
26:22So all this work will mean
26:23Ian can swim in a straight line,
26:25thus avoiding the potentially fatal dangers
26:27of the boat lane.
26:28And helping him dive down to his breeze blocks
26:37makes me see how possible it is
26:39to mould a wild environment
26:41to your needs
26:42if you have what it takes.
26:53So many of us aspire to that island dream.
26:56Most of us could probably,
26:57you know, sell our flats
26:59wherever we live in the country
27:01and attain this.
27:03And that's what's quite exciting.
27:04We all love watching property shows.
27:06We like flicking through property sections
27:08in magazines and newspapers
27:10because we all want to see
27:12what we could get.
27:12If we sold up everything,
27:15what could we do with that money?
27:17What other life could we have?
27:20And Ian and Vanessa have done that.
27:24Leaving Vanessa on the island,
27:26Ian and I head out.
27:28With his weekly fuel bill so high,
27:30Ian needs to save money.
27:32So he's decided to get a new canoe.
27:35Local craftsman Gene
27:36is building one for him
27:38out of wood felled in the jungle
27:39and he needs help collecting it.
27:42But we have to be wary
27:43as there are snakes about.
27:44About three days ago,
27:45we killed one seven feet.
27:47Seven feet?
27:47What kind of snake was it?
27:48It's a bush master.
27:49Oh, they're poisonous, aren't they?
27:51Yeah, really poisonous.
27:52From here to town is
27:54more than half an hour,
27:56you can be dying.
27:57Really?
27:57Yeah, you have to be like...
27:59It's a really big one.
28:00Are you keen on that idea?
28:02You go ahead
28:03and I'll follow behind.
28:04I'm going to follow...
28:05Send the horse first.
28:08Is this doggy coming as well?
28:10You can be a snake wrangler.
28:11It's a long walk ahead
28:18and although it may not look hot,
28:20it averages 30 degrees here.
28:23Luckily, Gene provides us
28:24with refreshments
28:25from an orange tree.
28:27Look at that.
28:28That's a horseman.
28:29Wow, I'm impressed, Gene.
28:32Gracias.
28:36We head deeper into the jungle
28:38along a small trail
28:39cleared by Gene's men.
28:42Snake country, Ben.
28:43This is where he's most
28:44worried about snakes.
28:46After almost an hour,
28:48we safely reach a clearing
28:49and I get to see Ian's canoe.
28:51Oh, these guys are busy.
28:53No way, look at that.
28:55Shall I try it out for size?
28:56Shall I see...
28:57You take the front.
28:59See if it suits me.
29:00You take the front,
29:00I'll take the back.
29:04Faster, Ian, faster.
29:05Faster.
29:06That is a beautiful thing.
29:08And then there's another one
29:09in here, apparently.
29:10This will be the next one.
29:11Yeah.
29:12The canoes are known locally
29:13as cayucos,
29:14and Gene custom makes them
29:16from a single trunk.
29:17How long has it taken
29:18to get from like this
29:20to like this?
29:22Maybe two weeks.
29:24Two weeks?
29:25Yeah.
29:25How long would it take
29:26to teach someone like Ian
29:28the art of making one of these?
29:30Five or ten days.
29:32I think we'll get it.
29:34I think it would take me
29:35a lifetime to learn
29:36how to do something like this.
29:40Being the last person
29:42to avoid a challenge,
29:43Ian gets stuck in.
29:48Oh, I'm digging a trench.
29:50What are you laughing at?
29:52Ben?
29:52Well, this sounds like
29:54a competition suddenly now.
29:56So I missed,
29:56so you just wanted,
29:57and we'd angle it down.
29:58Yeah, follow the curve.
30:02Oh, I'm Ben Fogel.
30:03I can do anything.
30:04Look at that.
30:05I've made a huge,
30:06great trench there.
30:07It was all looking so good.
30:09I know it was.
30:11Until you started talking.
30:13It's not as easy
30:13as it looks, is it?
30:14No.
30:18Gene then takes an axe
30:19to trim off the bow.
30:21But the one thing
30:22I'm still confused about
30:23is how we get it to the sea,
30:26which by my reckoning
30:27is about two miles away.
30:29I mean, this.
30:32Go on, Ben.
30:32Hundreds of kilos.
30:34Yeah, about 400.
30:36400 kilos.
30:37Half a tonne,
30:38and your two horses
30:39are going to take that back.
30:40Yeah.
30:41How fast?
30:41How long is it going to take?
30:43You have to be, like,
30:45walking fast or running
30:46behind us.
30:47We're going to be running?
30:47Yeah.
30:48I'm going to hold you to that.
30:49You think you're going
30:50to get me running?
30:51Okay.
30:51If those horses
30:52can take that at running speed,
30:54I'll eat your hat.
30:59Wow.
31:01That is astonishing.
31:03He said you're going
31:04to have to run.
31:06That is amazing, isn't it?
31:08That is quite something.
31:11Despite the two horses
31:12doing most of the legwork,
31:13the rainforest floor
31:15means the two of us
31:16have to be ready
31:16to help out.
31:18Ready?
31:18One, two, three.
31:20There you go.
31:21We're over.
31:22Get your toes.
31:23Get your legs.
31:23Yep.
31:24One, two, three.
31:25Okay.
31:26Okay.
31:27Watch your feet.
31:28Watch your feet.
31:35Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
31:43One more, I think.
31:44Uno, dos, tres.
31:46See you there, boy.
31:50Wow.
31:51Okay.
31:53It's the most unusual run
31:54I've ever been for you.
31:55Seriously, you don't need a gym
31:56when you live out here.
32:02Oh, wow.
32:04Well done.
32:05Well done.
32:06Well done.
32:06That was amazing.
32:08I did say I'd eat your hat.
32:12I took it.
32:13I nibbled it.
32:17Although Ian will spend 150 pounds on the canoe,
32:20he will save far more on fuel in the long run
32:23and it should last him 10 to 15 years.
32:27I'm not sweating, though.
32:29I think I've really acclimatised.
32:30Me neither.
32:31That's what I'm feeling.
32:32Luckily, Ian planned ahead and bought spare tops
32:35as our work here isn't done.
32:37I reckon this is going to change colour before your eyes.
32:40I suspect that's not going to last for long, is it?
32:42Right now, Ian wants to collect two sheep he needs
32:45to keep the grass on the island trim.
32:47But first, we've got to catch them
32:49and Gene's going to show us how.
32:52Wow.
32:52He's like, oh, here we go again.
32:55Oh, we're dragging another canoe out of the forest.
32:58Then Ian and I get to practice our lassoing technique.
33:02Oh, yeah!
33:03Don't pull it too hard.
33:05Come on.
33:06Come on, Ben.
33:07We've got one.
33:09While Gene shows us how it's really done.
33:12Oh, there's one.
33:13Wow.
33:14Did you see that?
33:15That was fantastic.
33:18Here they come, here they come, here they come.
33:20It's our job to guard the gate.
33:22But no one told us about the massive hole in the fence.
33:26I think that was probably not good.
33:27Yeah, I don't think that was part of the plan, was it?
33:30Oh, dear.
33:31Maybe that's your sheep gone.
33:36What do you think, Gene?
33:37Oh, wait a second, it's coming back.
33:39Is that the one?
33:40That's the one we want, I think.
33:42What are the chances of that?
33:45Oh, yes!
33:46There we go.
33:47We've got it.
33:48We've got it, Ben.
33:48Well done.
33:50Well done, Gene.
33:51I don't know how I'd have managed without you, Ben.
33:54Okay.
33:56Two came in, four go home.
33:58You okay, guys?
33:59Does anyone suffer seasickness?
34:02The exits of the boat are there and there.
34:05Drinks will be served shortly.
34:08Coffee, tea, tea, coffee.
34:10A little bit of a small snack on the way.
34:13Under the shade there.
34:15At £25 a sheep, Ian's new residence
34:19will be a much cheaper alternative to a petrol lawnmower.
34:23There you go.
34:24Look at that.
34:24Look at home, don't they?
34:27Look at all the chickens looking at them.
34:28They're like, what?
34:29What?
34:31There's a whole audience at the table there.
34:32Every chicken has turned out to see them.
34:36With the sheep safely in their new home,
34:38I take some time to catch up with Vanessa.
34:41I thought this was the shower.
34:42This is the shower and it doubles as a washing machine.
34:46This often happens in the middle of the night
34:47when it's raining really heavily
34:50so that we can keep filling up buckets.
34:52But essentially, I just wash clothes in a bucket.
34:55So you'll genuinely get up in the middle of the night.
34:57You're fast asleep in bed.
34:58You'll hear the rain pounding down
35:00and you'll think,
35:01I've got to get up to do the washing.
35:02Washing, laundry.
35:03Yeah.
35:04That's pretty different to back at home.
35:05It's quite fun.
35:06It's quite fun too.
35:07It's just...
35:08Oh, it's like pressing grapes.
35:09It is like pressing grapes.
35:11You have a smile on your face.
35:13Do you actually enjoy it?
35:14I really enjoy doing this, yeah.
35:15Genuinely, I can't like it.
35:16Why?
35:17I think it's because it takes you back to sort of...
35:19I sort of imagine women in Africa,
35:21you know, down by the river
35:22and it just feels like a primal thing to be doing
35:26rather than putting it in a washing machine.
35:30The good thing about this
35:31is you get to clean your own feet as well.
35:33You do, yeah.
35:34And look.
35:35And you've got a lovely view.
35:36Yeah, it's a pretty good laundry view.
35:39Yep.
35:40Feet's watching the machines.
35:43It's going round and round.
35:51Helping wash Ian's smalls in a bucket
35:53makes me wonder about Vanessa's commitment here
35:56and the ease with which she left everything behind.
35:59A few years ago, even a year ago,
36:01a few months ago,
36:02would you ever have thought you'd be sitting here?
36:04No, really not.
36:06I mean, you know, I'd just taken a new job in London.
36:08I thought London was going to be my new life this year.
36:13And no, I really didn't plan for this
36:16or expect this to happen at all.
36:18You being here now,
36:19is it a form of escapism,
36:21escaping previous life?
36:23That's an interesting question
36:24because there are people back in my old life
36:27that would say I am escaping.
36:31But, you know, what am I escaping from?
36:33You know, I know what I want
36:34and I know the life that I want to lead
36:36so it might not be what other people want to lead.
36:41I don't feel I'm escaping.
36:43I feel I've found the life that I want to lead.
36:45I keep thinking,
36:51is this the island that I would dream of moving to?
36:55I've always wanted an island of my own.
37:01And it's just...
37:02This is a hard island environment
37:05surrounded by mangroves,
37:07biting insects, lots of rain.
37:09But there is still this magic about it.
37:13It is a pretty special place.
37:16Who knows what I'm going to get up to tomorrow.
37:21Good night.
37:21Coming up,
37:27Ian lets me try out one of his traditional cayucos.
37:30Five years ago,
37:31I would have never,
37:32never imagined myself doing this.
37:34And we visit an island with a tale to tell.
37:37Just walk through the wall.
37:39I don't foresee this happening to my place,
37:42but I guess you never know.
37:45My week in Panama is nearly over.
37:48As my time draws to a close,
37:50I finally get to experience
37:51the wonder of being out on the water myself
37:54in a traditional cayucou.
38:03This is beautiful.
38:05Gives you a whole new perspective
38:06of these boats as well,
38:08having seen the work that goes into making them.
38:10It does, doesn't it? Yes, yeah.
38:16As he's waiting for his new canoe,
38:18it means we're out exploring
38:20in a couple of Ian's ageing old ones.
38:22Nice shortcut.
38:24It's good, isn't it?
38:25I like that.
38:29It really is like stepping into
38:31swallows and Amazons.
38:34Is there a kind of childhood-ness,
38:37do you think, about this,
38:38this whole thing that you're doing?
38:39I just sort of really just want to live a life
38:43filled with interesting experiences.
38:46And I feel that by refusing,
38:49or by sort of continuing to do things
38:52that force you to step out of your comfort zone
38:54a little bit,
38:55it does keep you sort of fresh and youthful.
38:58I don't want to settle into a job in a bank
39:00and a comfort zone
39:01and a car and a mortgage and all that stuff.
39:04I'm certainly not ready for that yet.
39:05And here you are paddling around
39:07your very own island.
39:09It's like a moat around a castle, isn't it?
39:11It is, yeah.
39:11Surveying your kingdom.
39:13Certainly five years ago,
39:14I would have never imagined myself doing this.
39:19It's everyone's dream, isn't it,
39:20to have an island?
39:22I don't know about everyone's,
39:23but I think it's a lot of people's dream.
39:26It's one of mine.
39:26Ian's taking me to a deserted home.
39:33He calls it the island of broken dreams.
39:36And looking at the state of the jetty,
39:37I'm starting to see why.
39:40You okay?
39:41Yep.
39:42Here we go.
39:43We're almost on the home straight now.
39:47Now on the island,
39:48I see a property that was once worth
39:50nearly a million dollars,
39:52but its owners left the area
39:54and the house was left to ruin.
39:56This is the million-dollar dream house?
39:58Mm.
39:58Or non-dream house?
39:59Non-dream house.
40:00It's a million-dollar nightmare house now, isn't it?
40:02That's weird.
40:03The fan's still moving.
40:06You left the books.
40:08But that's quite telling.
40:10The right stock at the right time.
40:12I suspect the owner might have had
40:13the wrong stock at the wrong time.
40:17Do you think that this is common?
40:19People who come down here,
40:21they find their paradise
40:23and then lose it for one reason or another?
40:26I don't think it's common,
40:28but there are certainly more than,
40:30you know, more examples than just this place.
40:32There's plenty of people, though,
40:34who do come here and do make it,
40:36but there's an extremely steep learning curve to climb.
40:40Does walking around here cast doubts in your mind
40:42about what you're doing,
40:43what you've done,
40:44what you've created?
40:45It does sort of give me a bit of a shiver.
40:47There is something ominous about it, isn't there?
40:51But, no, I'm pretty confident in what I've done.
40:53I really am enjoying being here
40:55and I don't foresee this happening to my place,
41:01but I guess you never know.
41:02It's not long until I leave,
41:09so we head back to the island.
41:14Ian and Vanessa want to treat me to a Sunday roast,
41:17which means preparing one of the birds.
41:19It is hot water, isn't it?
41:23Yeah.
41:25How did you learn how to kill a chicken?
41:28From the source of all modern knowledge from YouTube,
41:31I went and searched online for how to butcher a chicken.
41:35Ian, I love the fact how much of your life
41:38is dominated by the web.
41:41Selling your life.
41:43Yeah, it really is a life online, isn't it?
41:46Courting, Vanessa, everything.
41:49Yeah.
41:56Having spent some time on this distant island,
41:59I can see how one can feel a sense of belonging here
42:02so suddenly after leaving a life behind.
42:05In the blink of an eye, the roast is ready
42:10and it's me who gets to carve.
42:13Wow, I'm very impressed, Vanessa.
42:15It does seem slightly surreal
42:17to have a proper English Sunday roast
42:20in the middle of the Caribbean like this,
42:22but actually, strangely settling.
42:25It is.
42:26It's a nice reminder of home.
42:28It's one of the things I always enjoyed
42:29having at home Sunday roast.
42:33I always knew it was going to be
42:35a strange week
42:37and that Ian wasn't going to be your ordinary bloke.
42:41But I think what surprised me
42:43is that on the face of it,
42:45Ian is an ordinary bloke.
42:47And actually what he's done here,
42:49he's done it,
42:51and not just this,
42:52but everything else in his life
42:53in a really sort of humble way.
42:54I take my hat off to you.
42:56I think you've done an amazing thing.
42:59Oh, cheers.
43:00Here's to the island and to Ian and Vanessa.
43:04But, you know, I know Ian's type
43:07because I'm quite similar to him.
43:09The point of being an adventurous person,
43:11an adventurer, an adventurist,
43:13is that you need to keep adding spice to your days.
43:20The two years that Ian's been here
43:21has been an unbelievable adventure.
43:24But the fact that they've teamed up now,
43:26and it's Ian and Vanessa,
43:29I think they're going to go in search
43:30of their own adventure together,
43:32a shared adventure,
43:33carrying on their dream.
43:38Thank you so much.
43:40Wonderful having you.
43:41Can I just say,
43:42that has been an amazing week.
43:43Give me a hug.
43:44It's been great having you.
43:46Thank you so much.
43:47I can't tell you how much
43:48I've loved this week.
43:50I genuinely, I don't really want to go.
43:51We don't want you to go.
43:52You make a really good couple as well.
43:54I can say that now.
43:55Thank you very much.
43:56I think you're going to be together
43:58for a long time.
43:59I think so.
43:59Look after the island.
44:02Bye.
44:03Oh, he's such a nice man.
44:16But the same can't be said
44:17for Bruce Willis next
44:19in the family comedy
44:20Disney's The Kid.
44:33The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid's The Kid
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