Inspiration

For our winter 2021 issue of Stories, we asked adventurer and presenter Ben Fogle to share the ways he and his family coped during 2020, and to suggest outdoor activities for when cabin fever hits. Even now, as we emerge back out into the world again, his words feel like a sort of manifesto for a slower, more considered way of living. So we decided to share them again, here on our journal, in case you missed them the first time.

Twenty years ago, I spent a year living on Taransay – a remote, uninhabited island in the Outer Hebrides – as part of a ground-breaking experiment to celebrate the millennium. Thirty-six men, women and children were ‘Castaway’ for a year to start a community from ground zero. We reared animals, grew crops, built a school. It was a year living off-grid, sustainably and self-sufficiently. The experience taught me about isolation, boredom and loneliness – and resourcefulness. Who’d have thought that, two decades later, the whole world would shut down as we all became castaways in our own homes.

2020 was quite a year. One that we’re glad to see the back of but also one we’ll never forget. For someone like me, used to spending eight months of the year overseas in the wilds of Mongolia and Papua New Guinea, it took some adapting to the new normal. I love travelling and the thrill of adventure. Much of that stopped in 2020 and it took time to adapt, but I now find the thrill of travel in everyday life instead. A run through the countryside or watching the changing seasons. I never had time to do that before. I approached lockdown like an inverted adventure. What it taught us is the importance of health, friends, family and the outdoors. Sometimes you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone and, for many of us, it was a timely reminder of life’s priorities.

We had been moving, living and working too fast. 2020 taught us all to slow down and take measure. It gave us pause to reflect on where we’re coming from and where we’re going, both on a personal level but also on a global one. We needed to change our habits and 2020 forced our hand. For the last decade, I’ve been making a series called ‘New Lives in the Wild’, about people who’ve retreated to the wilderness and cut their ties to the grid. There are many lessons we can learn from this, the main one being the importance of nature for our physical and mental wellbeing.

For me, the outdoors has always been my refuge; as a family, we spent as much time outside as we were legally allowed during lockdown. We walked in the countryside and explored the woods. We grew a vegetable patch and we worked on the garden together. We tended to the pond and adopted some guinea pigs to join our family. In short, we attempted to make the most of an extraordinary situation to try and feel normal again.

Of course, if there is one thing we’ve really learnt, it’s the importance of home. I’ve always loved my home: my long absences have given it an extra allure. I appreciate the comfort and consistency it offers and I like having a retreat. Last year proved just what a sanctuary home is for me and my family.