Ben travels to the coastal forests of southern Sweden to meet 24-year-old single mother Annalisa, a native Italian who left everything in her home country behind when she was a teenager, and is now developing a forest hideaway on the fringes of society for her and her toddler. Ben helps her chop wood and make her home baby-proof, while Annalisa goes busking to make a small living. They also go dumpster-diving in search of rubbish that can be put to good use to counter the amount of waste thrown away.

Ben meets a Glaswegian retired teacher who relocated to the mountains of Ethiopia, and leads an active life in her new home as she approaches her 70th birthday. She has made significant contributions to the local community, including setting up a school and building a restaurant on an isolated mountain top over the course of three years.

Ben meets Jaimie, an inventor who has built a unique home for his family on a remote island off the coast of Panama. Ben gets a taste of the unconventional family's daily routine, which includes scrubbing boat hulls, getting some exercise in a pedalo, hacking through the island's vegetation, and home schooling for the children. He also discovers the unusual family dynamics in the household and takes a look at some of his host's inventions, which include a computer game depicting his unusual life.