Journeyman Ben Fogle, 48, on his latest off-grid trip – to Slab City, an alternative Californian desert community calling itself the “last free place in America.” Metro, April 22
Slab City is both an artistic utopia and an edgy dystopia. Were you nervous?
It’s always been a place that’s intrigued me, ever since I read about adventurer Chris McCandless’s time there – which became the Sean Penn-directed film Into The Wild. Anyone can go to Slab City, but to actually meet and live with people there is much harder. I wanted to go and see what has become something of a Mecca for wild folk, and I definitely found a pretty extraordinary place of great hope, opportunity and freedom. But there are elements of Slab City that are quite wretched, too.
The first person you meet is a stoned artist who looks like he’s come out of the circus. You are very normal in comparison!
True, but even though I didn’t wear makeup and a weird waistcoat, I saw that there were mirrors to what I would quite like to be in my life. Like these characters, my life has been about alternatives, and not necessarily conforming to a standard nine to five job or lifestyle.
Do you think yearning for escape has intensified because of the pandemic?
I think so. It’s complex; obviously there are a lot of people who live that wildness by watching shows like mine on television. But filming New Lives In The Wild, we now find there are a lot more people making a move and changing their lives since Covid – some because of watching the show!
Could you live somewhere like Slab City?
I don’t think my utopia would be within Slab City itself, but the idea works – I loved the freedom. So my Slab City would definitely have community and lots of different, eclectic people.
Which character in Slab City did you like the most?
Probably DNA. They are just the most intriguing and fascinating individual, an incredible, mesmerising character who had been through so much; they’ve been in prison and lived in a drain for half of their life. I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this but I’m actually heading back to Slab City to spend another week with them – there’s so much more substance to their story.
DNA and others really opened up to you – why do you think that was?
Well, I think the usual television thing would have been to go to Slab City and laugh, sneer and “other” the people who live there. But I really wanted to be open-minded and not judge. It was about having a genuine interest in people – I always pride myself in making people trust me and gaining their confidence.
At the end you say you met people that you hadn’t reached before. What did you mean?
Well, I think New Lives In The Wild has always been about the person that moved to the cabin in the woods; although they’re very different and have gone to live largely off grid, they are also individuals who might look like us and have lived like us. But a lot of the people in Slab City, are genuine counterculture, alternative types. I just don’t think I had ever met anyone like Pirate Rob before!
Pirate Rob manages to be both scary and incredibly gentle, right?
I’m glad that comes across; I can’t reiterate enough that there is a dark side to Slab City, it’s not a utopia. But there is there is just tremendous creativity there. And individuality and hope. And that’s what I really took away. I loved how hopeful it made me feel. And I really hope that people watching it will feel the same.
What did you learn about yourself from Slab City?
I don’t think there were direct lessons. But there were headlines, if you like, about being open minded, and having belief that there is always a way. People like Charlie, who has his own used bicycle shop in Slab City, have literally been searching their entire lives to find somewhere they could achieve their dreams.
Is Slab City a place of dreamers, essentially?
Well, everyone has different dreams, that’s what we must always remember. We live in a society that worships money, and there’s this assumption that everyone’s dream is to be really wealthy. What I found really inspiring about Slab City was the differing levels of aspiration and achievement – we shouldn’t all be blinded to the notion of success as it might be defined by the business pages of a newspaper.
Talking of dreams and aspirations, where next for the man who has already climbed Everest and rowed the Atlantic?
To be honest, I think making programmes like this is giving me so much happiness, satisfaction and joy that I’m very happy to carry on visiting places like Slab City, exploring counter cultures and different folk around the world. That doesn’t mean I won’t do something one day; just for now, I think I’m done with the big expeditions. But then, I turn fifty next year, so maybe that will be the moment when I suddenly have a crisis and decide I need to go and do a big mountain or something again!
Ben Fogle & The Lost City is on Thursday 21st April at 9pm on Channel 5
