What We Learnt from the People that Live in the Jungle

And why they wanted to escape the West

Last week I told you we were releasing our next documentary. It’s out now. And I want to tell you about some of the things we learnt.

The Hermit in the Swamp

One of the most unexpected people we met was Mark. He’s 66, American, has been travelling since his twenties, and now lives completely alone in the middle of a swamp in the Costa Rican jungle. To get to his place, we had to wade through bog up to our knees.

When I asked him what he thinks about when he’s by himself, he told me his main focus is to think as little as possible. That the world is too busy, that most people’s minds never stop chattering, and that the quiet out here is the point. He plays Yahtzee by himself. He watches spiders trap ants in holes in the ground. He told me that for the first time in practically forever, he feels truly comfortable.

I believed him.

The line that stayed with me.

Another member of the Pura Fruta commune called Tamsin that we spoke with during our stay said something else that I haven’t been able to shake:

“The challenges here are the bugs and the mould. The challenges in the UK are the government.”

It got a laugh. But she meant it. And honestly, it’s hard to argue with the logic.

Then there are the kids.

This is where the film gets complicated — and it’s the part I think people will find hardest to watch.

Tom grew up at the commune. He’s smart, self-aware, and remarkably candid. He told me, without prompting, that his upbringing was “a little too free,” that there was a big gap in his education, and that it was now impacting him. He’s having to work harder to catch up. He wants to move to a city, get a job, save for a house. The things that commune life was built to escape are exactly what he’s now aiming for.

What struck me most while filming was a question I kept coming back to: how do you best prepare a child for a life where they might choose to rejoin the system, when you’re raising them completely outside of it? I don’t think there’s an easy answer. But it’s one the film sits with rather than tries to resolve.

What Happened Next

We spoke with Tamsin again a few months after filming. Things had been difficult. The electricity had gone down. She and her son had both contracted cutaneous leishmaniasis — a flesh-eating parasite that leaves wounds that grow bigger and bigger. She’d had four at once.

But rather than a story of defeat, what came through was someone thinking carefully and evolving. She spoke about exploring a more 50/50 existence — perhaps spending time in Kuala Lumpur, or a world-schooling hub in the Dominican Republic, somewhere that might offer her son more social connection and educational structure while keeping the spirit of what she’d built. It felt less like giving up and more like someone figuring out what the next version of this looks like.

So is it Worth it?

I still don’t have a clean answer. What I do think is this: you can never truly escape the system. You can trade one set of problems for another. And for adults, maybe that trade makes sense. But children don’t choose it. They’re just brought along. And that, more than anything else, is what this film is really about.

Watch it and let me know what you think.

Exclusive for Zandland Members — The Deleted Scene

One person whose story didn’t make the final cut was Carl. Before arriving in Costa Rica, Carl was a motion animator working for some of the biggest companies in the world. He walked away from all of it to live in the jungle. His account of why is one of the most honest and unexpected things we filmed.

The deleted scene is available exclusively for Zandland members.

Not yet a member? Join here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk2NR63vgSVfZ_D4Csd61XQ/join

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See you next week.