Yahoo News Ben Fogle relieved to find New Lives in the Wild yoga retreat a success
The TV presenter admitted he had been concerned about Alex living in isolation in the Portuguese mountains as he tried to pursue his dream.
What did you miss?
Ben Fogle has confessed his relief at revisiting one of the people that he had met on his New Lives in the Wild show to find they were not alone.
The 50-year-old TV presenter has been making the Channel 5 show about people who have chosen to leave the rat race and live off grid for 10 years. And in the latest series, New Lives in the Wild Revisits, is returning to see how they are getting on.
In the latest episode he revisited Alex who lives in the mountains of Portugal and has achieved his plan to renovate an old farm into a yoga retreat. Fogle — who has confessed he has ambitions of living in the wild himself — admitted he had been concerned at how isolated the retreat was, and was pleased to find it a success.
What, how and why?
When Fogle first met Alex three years previously, the former successful fashion retail manager revealed he had quit his job and urban life following the death of a close friend who had taken their own life. He was also grieving the recent death of his mother from cancer.
Alex was working to renovate the farm and was hoping to open a retreat with his yoga teacher friend Ila. On Fogle's return he found Ila had moved on but that the retreat was now up and running. And Alex has found a new passion for photography and was hoping to offer photography therapy as part of his retreats.
Fogle said: "When I first met Alex I was impressed by his positive attitude. He was adventurous. He was ambitious. He had big plans. He had come here with quite a lot of emotional baggage, but he had also properly escaped into these Portuguese hills.
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But he added: "I think when I first visited Alex, I could see the appeal in having your own mountain here in Portugal, your own wild place to create your own dream. But he also seemed quite young to be pursuing retirement alone.
"You know, this is an isolated place, so I'm really glad that not only has he been able to attract people here, but he's continuing to evolve. So he's remaining very agile, but still dreaming big."
On his visit to the retreat Fogle was also pleased to find Alex had overcome his grief and was now in an even more positive place in his life.
Fogle said: "Alex has overcome so much. But what I love is that he was able to reconcile with his mum. And although she never came here, she never visited her spirit is everywhere and I think this has been an incredibly healing journey for him. It carries on. I've returned at this crossroads this juncture in his life where things are getting even more exciting."
Ben Fogle's New Lives in the Wild Revisits airs on Channel 5 on Tuesday.
