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00:01Any time I can stick it to the man in a small way, I do.
00:05Could you start your life all over again,
00:08leave behind everything you know for something completely different?
00:13It's like, I guess we live in a bit of a pressure cooker.
00:16I'm Ben Fogel, and over the next few weeks,
00:18I'm going to live with the incredible people who've done just that.
00:22Did you ever feel like abandoning the property?
00:25No, it's my home.
00:27Would you say you enjoy the companionship of animals more than people?
00:31Probably, yeah.
00:33In some of the most remote places on Earth.
00:36This is why I love the wilderness.
00:38I'll discover their motivations.
00:40For me, it was just, yeah, you're born, you go to school,
00:44you work all life, and then you die.
00:46The challenges.
00:47There's no way that I was going to put my wife and my children in that house,
00:51the condition that it was in.
00:52Just make sure there's absolutely no electrical current down there.
00:55And find out what it takes to make a new life in the wild.
01:00Hasta la vista, baby!
01:09This week, I'm heading to the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula.
01:14It's absolutely beautiful.
01:18I'll be staying with Nara, who, for over 30 years,
01:22has been on an unconventional journey of self-discovery.
01:26How are your feet doing?
01:27Yeah, they're feeling okay.
01:28Cool.
01:29You wouldn't believe it, but I'm so open,
01:30I don't even know what's happening to me in a month.
01:33I'll uncover the influence a troubled youth had on him.
01:36That, of course, affected me.
01:38Because a missing father is a big thing for the child.
01:43Discover the sacrifices he's made to maintain his sense of freedom.
01:47Oh, yeah, this is gooey.
01:49A mud pie filling.
01:50You grab a bit.
01:51Yeah.
01:52Put it in there.
01:52That's it.
01:53The fact that I am independent and happy to be alone
01:57is not always good for intimate relationships.
02:00And see the importance of his new wild lifestyle.
02:03So you use a chewing stick rather than a toothbrush?
02:06Yep.
02:08And the people he shares it with.
02:10In a community like here,
02:12I don't need to worry about anybody judging me in any kind of way
02:15because everyone is someone else's weirdo.
02:25My journey from London takes me 2,000 kilometres to the tip of Spain
02:29and the magnificent coastal region of Tarifa.
02:39The meeting point of two great continents here.
02:42It's unbelievable.
02:43You've got North Africa there.
02:45We've got southern Spain here.
02:47The Strait of Gibraltar.
02:49If I went that way, I'd be in the Med.
02:51That way, the Atlantic.
02:55It's absolutely beautiful.
03:01Overlooking one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world
03:04are miles and miles of stunning coastline and wilderness.
03:15My host actually lives a stone's throw from the beach, slightly inland.
03:19And they don't actually live alone.
03:22They're part of a bigger community.
03:25There's always an interesting dynamic
03:26when there are many people living in a small, wild space together.
03:31So I'll be curious to find out how my host fits in there.
03:38I've visited a lot of communities on my wild travels.
03:41And it can sometimes feel like I'm heading down the rabbit hole,
03:45where the norms of the mainstream society don't always apply.
03:50I wonder what this one will be like.
03:54I continue my journey inland and leave the outside world behind.
04:02Hey, Nara.
04:04Oh, Ben, you made it.
04:05I've come to the right place.
04:08How are you? Nice to meet you.
04:10I'm good.
04:11Yeah, I mean, I'm just picking some lockwad now.
04:13What are they?
04:14Lockwad.
04:14Lockwad.
04:15What's a lockwad?
04:16Want to try?
04:17Yeah, sure.
04:17Yeah, look at this.
04:18Straight in here.
04:19These are freshly picked.
04:21Eat the whole thing?
04:23Well, the way I like to eat it is I just pop it in.
04:26Just be careful because it will be an explosion of juice.
04:29An explosion?
04:30Of juices now.
04:31I'll watch you eat that, yeah?
04:32Yeah.
04:32That's quite a big thing in my mouth straight away.
04:35Mmm.
04:36Mmm.
04:39Spit out the stone.
04:40Mmm.
04:43I eat them like monkeys, though.
04:45This is almost a really awkward first introduction.
04:48But you've seen me eat it now.
04:49I'm sorry, that's how I am with people.
04:52I'm glad you're doing some barefoot gardening here.
04:54Oh, I'm always barefoot.
04:55Are you?
04:56Do you mean that literally?
04:57Yeah, yeah.
04:58I never wear shoes.
04:59How long?
05:00What is it now?
05:0118 years?
05:0218 years without shoes.
05:04Mm-hmm.
05:04Even in the cold?
05:05Even in the cold.
05:06When I need gloves, I need shoes.
05:07Okay.
05:08Fair enough.
05:09Will you do that in the city if you go to the city?
05:12I've been to 50 countries barefoot.
05:14Airport, buses, trains, everything.
05:16Wow.
05:17Something tells you we're going to have a fun week.
05:2050-year-old Nara grew up in Slovenia, the former Yugoslavia.
05:25Life at home was often unsettled.
05:28And as he got older, Nara began to question modern society.
05:32It led him to travel the world barefoot, embracing a life of radical simplicity as he went.
05:40As he experienced various cultures, religions, and philosophies, Nara became ever more academic,
05:48eventually looking to eco-communities as places to live and learn.
05:53After travelling for over 30 years, Nara's journey has led him here to southern Spain, where self-sufficiency is a
06:00big part of everyday life.
06:02The community here get electricity from solar panels, water from the river, and 90% of food is supplied by
06:10a well-tended garden.
06:11And a herd of goats.
06:13Any other necessities are locally sourced.
06:17Newcomers pay 10 euros a day for accommodation and meals, but once settled in, are expected to earn their keep
06:24instead.
06:25So, Ben, this is where we're going to be staying.
06:27Look, it's a yurt.
06:29Yep.
06:30I wasn't expecting this.
06:31Can I go and have a look inside?
06:32Yeah, sure, sure.
06:32You can drop your stuff and check it out.
06:36Oh, wow.
06:37That is nice.
06:41Do you also get a yurt?
06:43No, I just have my own tent.
06:45I always live like that.
06:47I bring my stuff with me.
06:49There are currently eight people living here, the majority of whom live in little cabins dotted around these 50 acres
06:56of land.
06:57Do you enjoy living in a tent?
07:00Yeah.
07:00I like to be as close to nature as possible.
07:03That's my style.
07:05So, I like to pee on the ground.
07:07I like to poo on the ground.
07:10I'm a phycologist.
07:14Phycologist.
07:16What's that?
07:16I take care of my poop.
07:20I'm intrigued.
07:22Yeah, come on, follow me.
07:23I have to show you.
07:24I have to show you.
07:24OK.
07:27A phycologist.
07:29That is a first for me.
07:30So, here we are.
07:32Mm-hmm.
07:34The loo.
07:35Yeah.
07:36This is the temple of the poop.
07:38The temple of the poop.
07:39I like that.
07:40I like how you're already bigging up poop.
07:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:43It's...
07:43You're getting quite excited by this, though.
07:45Of course.
07:46I mean, you've already said that you prefer to pee outside, but when you say you prefer to poo outside,
07:51you genuinely mean just squatting.
07:53That's the natural position for human body.
07:55Because of the way all our pipes and the system goes?
07:58The way of the pipes, exactly.
08:00So, do you ever use a conventional loo like that?
08:03Of course.
08:04I am often in situations when there's no alternative.
08:07But I do squat on them as well.
08:09How can you squat on that loo?
08:12It's very important.
08:13Mm-hmm.
08:14First check.
08:15Yeah.
08:15If it's stable.
08:17If it's stable.
08:17Oh, you're going to actually stand on it?
08:19I mean, squat on it.
08:20Oh, so you have one...
08:21And then...
08:22And for stability, I do this.
08:25And then I sit.
08:26Wow.
08:26Do you ever hit the seat?
08:28Hit the seat?
08:29Do you...
08:30That looks...
08:31You've got to have good aim to not hit the seat, and that's going to be pretty disgusting for the
08:35next person.
08:35No, I never hit the seat.
08:36You never hit the seat.
08:37You've got very good aim.
08:38Yeah, I have a good aim.
08:40So what...
08:41Why does this excite you?
08:43What is it for ecologist?
08:44It's the theme that our society doesn't want to deal with.
08:48Mm-hmm.
08:48While in old cultures, people would very carefully use their...
08:55Every kind of organic matter was reused later in their gardens, and thus they could maintain the fertility of their
09:03land for thousands of years.
09:04Mm-hmm.
09:05So this is...
09:06This is really essential.
09:07We talk a lot about ecology, but we forgot about this F part, the fecal matter, and I don't consider
09:16that ecology, real ecology.
09:19You need to add this F in front of it to start proper ecology.
09:25I think I can see that Nara's passion for poop has an environmental aspect to it.
09:31I've just never talked about it in so much detail before.
09:35He's even figured out how to make loo roll in the wild.
09:38Beats a leaf, I guess.
09:40Something tells me you've got a few quirks.
09:42Anything else unusual I should know about you?
09:43Yeah, sure. I have... I mean, I have a ton of quirks.
09:46A ton of quirks.
09:48I'm well and truly down the rabbit hole this time.
09:54I'm fascinated already by Nara.
09:56What an intriguing, quirky individual.
09:59A real intellect, I can tell that, but in a quite eccentric sort of way.
10:06Let's put this on here.
10:07It's going nicely.
10:10Fascinated by poo.
10:12I'm still not quite sure what he's doing here in this community.
10:16And I'm not sure who the other people are in this community.
10:19And what his role is.
10:21Is he here as a teacher, an educator?
10:23Is he here to learn from others?
10:26I'm really, really intrigued.
10:45I've just spent my first night in a yurt in southern Spain.
10:51To sit or to squat, that's the question.
10:59I'm here visiting Nara, who I've discovered has an inimitable style.
11:06This is one of the trees that's good for chewing sticks.
11:09Chewing sticks.
11:10So you use a chewing stick rather than a toothbrush.
11:13Yep.
11:18Nara's part of a small community that expects everyone to chip in.
11:22So our job for this morning, assembling a wall made of mud.
11:27So what's in this?
11:28It's seaweed from an invasive species that came from Asia
11:32that we really want to get rid of.
11:33So we put it in a wall.
11:34Mm-hmm.
11:35There is some hay.
11:36Mm-hmm.
11:36And we also dug some clay just a few meters away.
11:40Mm-hmm.
11:41And we create this kind of...
11:44A mud pie.
11:45A mud pie filling.
11:46Oh, yeah.
11:47This is gooey.
11:53So this is the wall we're doing.
11:54Yeah.
11:55What's the technique?
11:56It's very simple.
11:58You grab a bit.
11:59Yep.
12:00You put it in there.
12:01Oh, that's it.
12:04Imagine this is the limit.
12:05Yeah.
12:07I hope we're doing a good job.
12:08I think this might be the founder of the community.
12:12Hey, Nara.
12:13I saw you.
12:14Oh, hey.
12:14Hello.
12:15I have an extra pair of hands.
12:16Dirty hands.
12:17Yeah, I would give you a handshake.
12:19I'm Ben.
12:19Yeah, nice to meet you, Ben.
12:21Thank you for helping the wall.
12:22I'm Johnny, founder of the Molina de Guadalmessi.
12:24So this is your community, effectively.
12:27It's a space for learning how to live in community.
12:30What do you think of this so far, by the way?
12:31Oh, you're doing great.
12:32Are you happy?
12:33Yeah.
12:33Am I earning my keep?
12:35Absolutely.
12:35Definitely.
12:36Is that sort of how it works here?
12:39Do you expect everyone who comes to stay to get stuck in?
12:43Well, I expect people to just enjoy doing things and learn and also help at the same time.
12:49So it's a win-win situation.
12:50Yeah.
12:51How long have you guys known each other?
12:52It's been many years.
12:54Yeah.
12:5410, 12?
12:55Yeah.
12:56Yeah, I think something like that.
12:57So would you call this an eco-village?
13:00What do you have here?
13:01Well, actually, it's a space for learning how to live in an eco-village.
13:04But yeah, we are an eco-village.
13:05We are a little village.
13:07We are an eco-friendly place.
13:09Yeah, so.
13:09Why did you set it up?
13:10Well, it was a space for me to transform myself, to get in contact with nature.
13:16And then create a space where also people could learn, and I could learn.
13:22And it kind of evolved in its own way.
13:25Like, it was not planned exactly how it's now, obviously.
13:28But yeah, it was a way to reconnect.
13:32Have you been to Slovenia at all?
13:35Yeah.
13:36When I first met Nara, when he told me he was a phoecologist, I knew we were going
13:40to be best friends forever.
13:42Yeah.
13:42Are you also into poo?
13:44Yeah, absolutely.
13:45Yeah.
13:46I'm a shitty phoecologist also.
13:48You are.
13:50Nara's uniqueness seems to fit in perfectly here.
13:53But it's not just this community that he's part of.
13:56Incredibly, he's been to 100 others, learning new skills as he goes and bringing them with
14:02him to each new location.
14:05He's even written a book about everything he's uncovered on his travels.
14:10I'm fascinated by this barefooted wanderer.
14:13You're doing great.
14:16Through the mud.
14:18Woo!
14:19Yeah.
14:19That's the best part for me.
14:21Yeah.
14:21That was the softest bit.
14:23How are your feet doing?
14:25Yeah, I'm feeling okay.
14:26Okay, cool.
14:27You initiated.
14:29Yeah.
14:29You've been initiated into barefooting.
14:31I think...
14:33Rejecting footwear in an empty rural setting is one thing.
14:36But I wonder if it's so simple for Nara in mainstream society.
14:41The worst countries are the US and, unfortunately, Spain, where many places are insisting it's
14:51not allowed to go barefoot or it's somehow... It's a problem for them.
14:55What is it that people dislike about barefootedness out of context?
15:03Barefoot are stinky, people think, but stinky comes from wearing shoes.
15:09For me, I like more stepping into a pool than keeping my foot in an enclosed space where I
15:25have been wearing shoes.
15:26I've been wearing shoes for 20-plus years.
15:28I wouldn't swap it for putting shoes on just to please some biased person.
15:35And why did you start barefoot living?
15:39When I was young, I walked barefoot a lot.
15:42And there came a point when I met a society of barefooters.
15:47I didn't even know they existed.
15:49So I thought to myself, let me try.
15:52And after a while, I loved it so much.
15:56I persisted.
15:57It was tough initially, just for my mind, to go beyond, like, this perception that I
16:07will be seen as a bum or I will be seen as some kind of weirdo.
16:10But then they saw that I am a competent person, reliable person.
16:15I do what I say I would do.
16:16And it created actually a good image of barefooting in the end.
16:22I think by his own admission, Nara has his own quirks.
16:27I'm looking at him today running barefoot, wearing a skirt.
16:32It's kind of not what society expects when it comes to conformity.
16:38But then, you know, he's not a conformist because he's living in a community in southern Spain.
16:43So I get that there are many elements to him and many layers I'm still to unpeel that are non
16:52-conventional.
16:55I'm wondering if Nara's relaxed way of life is a reaction to his upbringing.
17:03In his late teens, the Balkans War ravaged the region.
17:07This deadly conflict during the 90s saw the former Yugoslavia break into various independent states.
17:14What was it like for you as a child? Was that quite scarring?
17:18Well, when the war started, I was already 17.
17:22But as a 17-year-old, you didn't go to war?
17:26Of course not. And also, I was living in Slovenia. I had Slovenian citizenship and all that.
17:31And in Slovenia, the war was like a week or something.
17:34So what did you do aged 17 then?
17:36Growing up in a family that was, to put it mildly, dysfunctional, as many families where I lived.
17:43It was, I think, quite a typical Balkan suburb block of flats.
17:51A lot of alcohol, a lot of conflict in family.
17:55And what was your relationship with your parents like?
18:00Decent with my mom. Quite absent with my dad. Divorced at 12.
18:05And that, of course, affected me.
18:08Because, like, a missing father is a big thing for a child.
18:13I was hiding it from my high school schoolmates.
18:16You didn't tell them that your father wasn't around?
18:20No. And then one day, my English teacher comes to the class and she says,
18:22Hello, today we are going to talk about divorce.
18:25So, Nara, because you come from a divorced family, would you...?
18:30And my friend says,
18:31Ah, I understand why you are as you are now.
18:37It was horrific.
18:39So, then I couldn't hide it anymore.
18:43Instead of following his childhood dreams,
18:46Nara started looking for a way to escape his turbulent upbringing.
18:50Of course, I had to go through the difficult part of...
18:56..holding that thing.
19:00Yeah, but still, I was escaping from the society,
19:05which for me was just, yeah, you're born, you go to school,
19:09you work all life and then you die and that's it.
19:12So, I went to the East and I was reading more and more books,
19:16like Bhagavad Gita and stuff like that.
19:19And to be clear, when we talk about the East, India?
19:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:23How long did you spend in India?
19:25Altogether, around two years.
19:27And what were you doing?
19:30First, I was visiting the holy places of India
19:34because by that time, when I travelled to India the first time,
19:38I was already a Hare Krishna.
19:39You were a Hare Krishna?
19:41Mm-hmm, I was a Hare Krishna.
19:42Wow. For how long?
19:43Seven years.
19:44That was me.
19:45That was you?
19:45That was me.
19:46Wow.
19:46I was one of them.
19:47Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare.
19:52You could see me like that.
19:54Wow.
19:54I was in celibacy, I was full vegetarian,
19:57I did all that stuff, crazy stuff.
19:59Why did you leave?
20:03I think I'm a type of, you know how crabs, when they grow,
20:09they change their shell or the shield, however it's called.
20:13And I think I just kept growing.
20:17So as the shield of the culture I lived in was too small when I was a teenager,
20:22then the shield in the Hare Krishna movement became too tight for me,
20:28and I shed it and started growing a new one.
20:32And I think I still keep doing the same thing over and over again.
20:35When I left Hare Krishna community and landed in this mainstream that's engulfing the whole planet,
20:44I saw I cannot leave that.
20:46That's bigger than our societies.
20:49So I was stuck with this place.
20:54And then I looked for bubbles.
20:55Well, bubbles are what I call communities where I found more of my own family, so to say,
21:02where I had some freedom.
21:06What a fascinating man.
21:08Obviously his time with the Hare Krishnas was incredibly important.
21:13It was informative.
21:15It was, you know, the prime years of his life.
21:18He was only 19 when he joined.
21:21And then I think he almost had to unpick all of that.
21:24And I think that's probably where his fascination with community has come from.
21:29It's probably why he's so good at just blending in wherever he is, wherever he chooses to live.
21:35Because right from his early childhood and living through those periods of war in neighbouring countries,
21:44and those profound changes in geography and politics of what he had always known,
21:53I think has almost been a metaphor to his life in general.
22:03Despite all the changes Nara has experienced in adult life, the lessons he learned as a child are a big
22:10part of his success living with other people.
22:12Have you always enjoyed cooking?
22:15I started quite early, actually, even as a kid, when I was even 10, I think.
22:20I would make bread for the family.
22:23I learned to cook quite soon as a child.
22:27But then in the Hare Krishna, I really learned how to do dishes from different cultures,
22:34and also cooking for big groups.
22:36So I'm making a traditional dish from the region where I'm coming from.
22:40It's truffle pasta.
22:42I'm just using a very sharp knife to shave them very thinly.
22:46That's how we traditionally put them on dishes.
22:48Where are these truffles from?
22:51From my neighbour where I live.
22:54In Slovenia?
22:54Yes, he's a truffle hunter.
22:56Really?
22:57So I am a gourmet.
22:59Yeah, you are.
23:01It's funny.
23:02I live in a bush and then people come to me and they think,
23:05oh gosh, what am I going to eat here?
23:06And then I treat them with this delicious...
23:08You treat them with truffle pasta.
23:10I mean, that's not what I was expecting to eat here.
23:12It's posh.
23:13Yeah, really posh.
23:15Right, should I go and set the table?
23:16Chef, please, please.
23:18Perfect.
23:18Cool.
23:19You know you cannot make a person happier than by feeding them well.
23:23I agree.
23:24I like to spoil people.
23:35This evening, the community are coming together for dinner.
23:38I'm finally getting to see everyone who lives here.
23:41Nice to meet everyone else.
23:43Yeah, nice to meet you.
23:44So what have you got here again?
23:45Truffle pasta, pumpkin soup, great salad from the garden.
23:50Dig in, everyone.
23:51Would you care for some wine, Ben?
23:53I'd love to.
23:53Here, as I pass my glass down.
23:55Johnny, you're the closest.
23:56There you go.
23:56Johnny, you can do the honours.
23:58I'm so excited about having some of this truffle pasta.
24:01Yeah.
24:01Can I...
24:02Yeah, could I please?
24:04Cheers.
24:05Gracias.
24:06Cheers.
24:07I'll give you my verdict.
24:12That is amazing.
24:14Good ingredients.
24:15It's easy to cook.
24:16I think it tastes like al dente.
24:20Perfectly done.
24:20That's what I was aiming for.
24:22It could be even better.
24:23Oh, really?
24:24Yeah.
24:24There's the perfectionist in you.
24:25I think it tastes delicious still.
24:27Do you always eat as well as this, Johnny?
24:29Yeah.
24:30Really?
24:30Really.
24:30We don't have wine every day.
24:32No.
24:32I have to admit.
24:33Food is a very important part of our community.
24:36Yeah.
24:36And do people always share the cooking duties?
24:39Yeah.
24:39Yeah, that's wonderful because we get new ideas, new recipes and new approaches for food.
24:47Most people learn here but also teach things from their countries.
24:52It's a way of travelling also.
24:53We are having things from Slovenia and different skills.
24:56And the moral of this is spend time with Slovenians because they're going to have access to truffles.
25:02And good wine.
25:04That's the actual reason we're here, you know?
25:06We have many good friends.
25:07Everywhere in Slovenia and everywhere else where they have access to the resources.
25:12There's a very welcoming feel to this place.
25:15But everyone except for Johnny will at some stage move on to somewhere else.
25:20It makes me wonder if Nara ever yearns for a less nomadic lifestyle.
25:39Since arriving in Spain, I've learnt that Nara's someone who's very comfortable in his own skin.
25:51Having spent much of his life living in communities, he's learnt that working hard...
25:57These ones up here.
25:58This plant growing here?
26:00Yeah.
26:00Watch your eyes here.
26:02...can, in this environment, be a currency in itself.
26:07Do you worry about money?
26:09Well, I had a moment when I did worry.
26:11Especially when I have other people around me depending on me.
26:14Or when I'm in connection with other people.
26:16It's more about them.
26:17For me, I can fast for a week or for 10 days and I'll be even more healthy then.
26:23So I will celebrate my lack in this funny way.
26:27While in the situations when I have some dependence around me, I feel tense.
26:31I never have money.
26:33It's not like I have savings or anything.
26:35But I trust, you know, it's... I don't know.
26:38You trust what?
26:39That I can have zero money, but I know that I will be taken care of somehow.
26:45Even when my car broke and I had to fix the exhaust pipe, I had to pay 20 euros to
26:51fix it.
26:51It was my last 20 euros.
26:53But I didn't have any money to buy fuel.
26:55So, at that very moment, my friend calls me and says,
26:58You remember that project we participated in?
26:59We were getting the refund for the travel expenses, so I have your 150 euros.
27:03And I said, Oh, really? Where are you?
27:06I'm just nearby, so he gave me 150 euros.
27:09I filled my tank.
27:10I got bought some food.
27:11So, it happened so many times.
27:14I just trust.
27:15You got emotional there, though, when you were thinking about kind of trust and...
27:20Why is that?
27:22What's going through your head?
27:23Well, it's more the people there.
27:25A friendship is important for you.
27:27Yes.
27:28I can be alone, but it's very valuable to know.
27:35I have friends everywhere in the world.
27:37I got thrown out of a house in the Netherlands once.
27:41I put it online.
27:42And I said, Can anybody help me?
27:44In 20 minutes, I had a place to stay.
27:46Wow.
27:47And I didn't have any more money.
27:49So, that's trust.
27:52It's risky, but putting value in friendships instead of the monetary system seems to work for Nara.
28:00And I've learned that one of the most important friendships he has here is with the founder of the community,
28:06Johnny.
28:07Oh, hello, goats.
28:10Have you seen this?
28:12This is the baby.
28:13Can I have one?
28:14Yeah, sure.
28:15Oh, look at you.
28:17Yeah, here's the proud mother.
28:19Is this the mummy?
28:20Kitana is her name.
28:21Well done.
28:23Oh, look at you.
28:25Yeah.
28:27One day and a half old.
28:29Don't worry.
28:30She's there.
28:30Look, mum's just there.
28:32Yeah.
28:32Mummy's here.
28:33Oh, my goodness.
28:34How many goats have you got?
28:35Well, now it's 24.
28:37Yeah.
28:38Most of them are pregnant now.
28:41You've got a lot of work on your hands then.
28:43Well, yeah.
28:44They do most of the work themselves.
28:47These goats play a big part in making this community work, as does Nara when he's here.
28:54I take the chance to ask Johnny about his eccentric friend.
28:58He's quite a fascinating, intriguing man.
29:02Absolutely, yeah.
29:03He's so authentic.
29:04Yeah.
29:05We have a great relationship.
29:07We have such a good connection in so many aspects.
29:09Like, we like many things.
29:11We have many things in common, but he's really outstanding.
29:15Like, everything he does, like, he's to the core.
29:18Has he always been like that since you first met him?
29:21Since I met him, yeah.
29:22And I guess, like, since he was born.
29:25Because all stories that he tells when he was younger is really amazing.
29:29But, yeah, since I knew him and we met, it was, like, he's been always surprising me.
29:35He comes here very often to the community and it's a pleasure to have him here because
29:40he's so helpful and he's so skillful and so easy to live with.
29:48Yeah, it's great.
29:50Does he still surprise you, then, with some of the things he's trying out or some of the experiments that
29:55he's living?
29:57Crouching on the loo when he does a poo, you know?
30:00So, some of these things are maybe a little bit more maverick.
30:04Yeah, well, in some aspects, it's not so, so far away from all the practices that we do.
30:10But, yeah, he is, the thing is that he is very consistent in doing everything, like, to the limit, let's
30:17say.
30:17Like, for example, the barefooting. We do lots of barefooting, but we don't do it, like, permanently, no?
30:21And we don't do it in the winter when it's so cold, no?
30:24But he does it, like, really.
30:26And also something that connects us is that we both are willing to change the world for better.
30:34And I'm wondering how you kind of cope with the transitory nature of this community.
30:39Because you're obviously here, but it's like constantly flowing water.
30:44Yeah. Yeah, it's like a river. We are in a river, and we had to adapt to that.
30:50And for me, it's okay. I like change. For some people, it's too hard.
30:55For some people, it needs more stability.
31:01It must be strange spending lots of time with him and someone like Nara here debating, philosophizing,
31:09coming up with ideas, and then suddenly Nara's gone off to another community or another place.
31:15I think what's really interesting for me is to see that relationship between Nara and Johnny,
31:20both big thinkers, kind of what I would call both big intellects.
31:25And I wonder whether there are lots of Johnnies in different communities all around Spain,
31:31all around the world, where Nara spends his time.
31:35I suspect that this is just a small microcosm of a wider movement.
31:45I take a break in my chores to join Nara on the beach and finally get to indulge in sunny
31:53Spain.
31:53Well, sort of.
31:56I'm very English. I'm sunbathing with all my clothes on.
32:00Good for you.
32:04I'm assuming if I wasn't here, you would be completely naked.
32:10You're assuming correctly.
32:13Right now, it's hard to argue with the lifestyle Nara's chosen,
32:18moving from country to country, constantly meeting new people.
32:22I get the appeal.
32:24But I wonder if he ever longs to put down more permanent roots.
32:28If you look out at the ocean now and you imagine you in a couple of years,
32:33do you think, will you have found a person that you think you will settle with?
32:38Or is that too much of a rigid plan?
32:42The fact that I am independent and happy to be alone
32:46is not always good for intimate relationships.
32:48Because the sense of dependency between two people brings a bond
32:53that's important for an intimate relationship in a couple.
32:58So, for me, I've had relationships in my life.
33:02I was planning to have a family and somehow it always went a different way.
33:11So I separated with my ex-partners and continued my path with kind of being alone
33:18but still exploring intimate relationships whenever an opportunity occurs.
33:24So I'm very open to intimate relationships but I'm not clinking to them again.
33:30And you touched on family. Is that something that might still be...?
33:36I was planning a family when I was in my late 20s
33:39after I left the Hare Krishna movement after my celibacy times
33:42and it didn't happen. So I tried again, it didn't happen again.
33:47And I... Again, I'm flowing now. I'm not... I'm not...
33:53If I don't do it, my life will be wasted because I didn't make a child.
34:00I have other children I'm making in different ways. Ideas, books, stuff like that.
34:08Despite his contentment, I now know that Nara's freedom has come at a cost.
34:14With no long-term partner to anchor him,
34:16it must make his relationships in the communities he spends time in
34:20all the more important to him.
34:36What's... What's... What's going on here?
34:38My favourite thing in the world.
34:40Every full moon, there's a celebration here
34:43and this time it's contact the dance with live music
34:47and it's something I really love.
34:49Okay.
34:50Do you want to check it out?
34:51Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this.
34:54Yeah, I can show you how it goes.
34:57Okay. I'll follow you in then.
35:00It's fair to say that celebrating a full moon like this isn't for everyone.
35:05I'm certainly outside my comfort zone right now.
35:09Put your wrist next to mine.
35:11And now you just follow me.
35:13So...
35:14When I... When I move...
35:17Follow.
35:18Follow.
35:19And just try to relax. Just try to relax.
35:24Try to relax.
35:25The rest of my body.
35:26If you don't think too much, it helps.
35:29You're asking a lot of coordination from me.
35:34After initially questioning why Nara was here,
35:37I now understand that these people, and those in other communities,
35:41are like a family to him.
35:59I'm in the wilds of southern Spain, discovering that my Slovenian host lets nothing go to waste.
36:06I'm just making an improvised rake.
36:09I mean, that kind of looks rake-like.
36:12Well, I mean, that this was just lying in a...
36:14I think it's... I don't even know what it is, but...
36:16It kept me also handy for picking figs later on.
36:20I like that. You're really thinking of everything.
36:22So I like when I find something so it doesn't go to waste,
36:25and I just put it to good use.
36:27You know, scavengers among humans?
36:29Yeah.
36:29I'm a bit like that kind of guy.
36:31I find something and I just turn it into something else.
36:35Among all the different communities that Nara spent time with around the world,
36:39the one thing they all have in common is preservation.
36:43Communities are often ecologically conscious.
36:46We go to trash piles and we find what's useful and reuse it.
36:49There's so much good stuff that's been thrown away.
36:52What are the big challenges when you have a community?
36:55Is there one behavior that people might have that drives you crazy?
37:00There's actually two.
37:03One is when the rules are set, that they are just ignoring them.
37:10And the other one is when there are no rules,
37:13that they have zero consciousness of the space.
37:16They just move things that are in place and never bring them back.
37:21They break something, they don't fix it.
37:23That's that kind of thing.
37:25Not being conscious of other people and the space that they occupy.
37:31Presumably you need to be open-minded.
37:33Yeah, to put it mindly, you have to be very open-minded, yes.
37:37But I'm wondering, when you've spent as much time observing and living as you have,
37:42how do you remain as open-minded?
37:44If I get a better explanation for something, I am fully open to whatever you suggest to me.
37:50I've changed myself too many times.
37:53I've heard people even say, what I like about Nara is that he's not stuck on things.
37:58He's in a constant process of change.
38:01If something makes more sense, I will do it that way.
38:04I won't stick to it.
38:05At this moment, I'm in a period of transition.
38:09This place here is perfect for my transition.
38:12Johnny likes to call it, it's a liminal space, perfect for transitioning.
38:17And that's a perfect place for me to be right now.
38:20And you wouldn't believe it, but I'm so open, I don't even know what's happening to me in a month.
38:27Living in the community is a tough experience.
38:30I've done it myself and I have experienced how hard that is, the intimacy of people with very different attitudes
38:41and outlooks on life.
38:43And I think he's very brave, you know, living as he does, being such a powerful individual force, if that
38:55makes sense.
38:56It's almost like this weird dichotomy.
38:58Here is an individual with really strong beliefs, but he has this amazing chameleon-like ability to blend in.
39:06And I'm very envious of that.
39:15I find it remarkable that Nara has been able to recycle his life so many times.
39:20I've met some intriguing characters on my wild travels, but I don't think I've ever come across anyone quite like
39:27him.
39:28You go, we call it the box, you look at the corner of a box, look at the lower corner
39:33of a box,
39:33then you jump to the higher up corner of a box, lower corner of a box.
39:39And in the reverse sequence, that's the kind of movements you do.
39:43And what do you get out of this? What does it do for you?
39:46On days when my eyes are tired, then I always do these exercises just to move them around a bit.
39:51Do you ever feel self-conscious? You're sitting cross-legged, wearing kind of a sarong right now, doing eye exercises.
40:00I think if you were dropped into the middle of a city, you might stand out a little bit, but
40:05I'm wondering whether you care about that.
40:09When people ask me about my strangeness, I always remember I used to be a Hare Krishna.
40:16I was wearing sheets, orange sheets, I was shaven and I was singing Hare Krishna in the street.
40:21So nothing come close to that.
40:23But I learned to wear it in a way where I'm not bothered by what other people think about it.
40:31Everyone is someone else's weirdo.
40:34I'm gonna steal that, can I say. I love that.
40:37And I don't know anyone who, when you get to know them well, doesn't have any peculiarities that are really
40:42weird.
40:43I just have them more into the face.
40:47My barefootedness comes immediately across.
40:49I don't think that's so strange. By the way, to be clear, I don't actually think the barefootedness is that
40:54strange.
40:54I think if I had, if I wasn't as self-conscious and it wasn't going to be as complicated for
41:01me, I would consider doing it.
41:03But I think I am too worried about what society would think.
41:08Because on one hand, what I do is all about being a bit different.
41:13I'm in the public eye. I actually quite like that I'm different.
41:16But I also feel myself conforming to the expectations of society.
41:25I wear shorts all the time.
41:26People are always commenting, what are you doing wearing shorts?
41:29But it's kind of me. So I think we all have, I like this idea that we all have a
41:35strangeness.
41:36It's how you wear it that counts. And you wear your strangeness with great confidence, in my mind.
41:40In a community like here, I don't need to worry about anybody judging me in any kind of way.
41:46Because there's so many strange habits that we can wear on the open and nobody is judging us.
41:52As long as we build more groups of people doing good stuff together and learning how to communicate, collaborate, I
42:03see a great future for humanity.
42:06I love the relativity of strangeness, that our normality is always going to be odd to someone else.
42:14It's all relative, isn't it?
42:15And I think here is a man who is very, very comfortable in his own skin and in his own
42:23normality.
42:25And with that comes great liberty, if you think about it.
42:39The time has come for me to leave this insulated wild bubble and return to the outside world.
42:46Hey, Nara.
42:47Oh, Ben. Ben.
42:49That sounded beautiful.
42:50Oh, just...
42:51I've got to go.
42:52Wow. The days have passed. I can't believe it. You had to go, huh?
42:56I've really, really enjoyed meeting you, spending time here, hearing some of your unusual philosophies and some of your quite
43:04sensible ones.
43:05I think it's all sensible, at least to me.
43:08Any last advice for me on how to be a more successful human?
43:13Follow your heart, take off your shoes more often, squat on the toilet.
43:21I can't wait to do that at home. You just wait till you see what my family say.
43:25Listen, I have really, really enjoyed myself.
43:28Keep being you. And will you thank the rest of the community?
43:31Oh, yeah. For sure. For sure.
43:32You're a special man.
43:33Take care, Nara. We'll meet again.
43:37I think he's a very happy man.
43:39He's not someone who wears that happiness with a big rictus grin on their face, but he wears it with
43:45a great satisfaction.
43:47He's very comfortable. He's comfortable in his own skin. He's comfortable in his own bare feet. He's comfortable in nature.
43:57Bye, Nara! Bye!
43:59Bye!
44:05Next time...
44:07You hit the target, you hit the target.
44:10I'm in the forests of Maine with primitive skills expert, Arthur.
44:14It's tough, because we have to start breaking through ice.
44:18Yeah.
44:18I'll learn how a wilder way of life helped him heal.
44:22The forest to me is like this cloak of invisibility.
44:26And his vision for his family's future.
44:31Brand new next week, dive into the volcano with Dara O'Brien capturing the awesome power of nature at its
44:39most volatile.
44:40And asking why anybody would live near one.
44:42That's next Tuesday at nine.
44:44A new next.
44:45A family compelled to investigate where they felt authorities fell short.
44:50A killer makes a call in just a moment.
44:58Unless it is
44:59There's azarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzarzs.
44:59But if you've been tested,
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