Seven years ago Miriam Lancewood quit modern day life to live in the New Zealand wilderness with her husband. YouTube / Miriam Lancewood
For many people, the prospect of living without a car, a smartphone, a laptop and a watch is unthinkable.
However, one couple, who have a 30-year age gap and met while travelling, have revealed how they gave up their home to live life as nomads for 12 years.
Ben Fogle, from the television series New Lives in the Wild, met with Miriam Lancewood, 34, from the Netherlands and her New Zealand husband Peter Lancewood, 64, in southeast Bulgaria, where they are currently staying in the Rhodope mountains.
Peter, 64, and Miriam, 34, have been living a nomadic life together for the last 12 years and appear in the latest episode of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild. Photo / Channel 5
Before leading a life in the wilderness, they both come from high achieving backgrounds as teachers.
As a teen Miriam was an accomplished athlete but she ditched a sports career in favour of travelling the world and at 22 she met Peter while in India.
After gaining a PHD in Ecology, Peter had worked as a lecturer before deciding to leave his job and live life on the road.
He explained: "I was sitting in a staff meeting looking out of the window thing they might be paying me $50 an hour to sit here but my life is out there."
"One of the most liberating things I ever did in my life is leave my house, put the keys in the letterbox for the estate agent and then head to the airport with one bag. From that point on I became a refugee from modern life."
The couple, who are in an open relationship, ended up spending seven years in New Zealand wilderness, with no permanent address, travelling with a rucksack full of belongings.
They came up with the idea live in the wilderness of South Marlborough one day after they finished a hike in Holland.
"We wanted to be a part of nature, rather than just observing it," Lancewood told Daily Mail Australia.
Miriam was 22 and travelling across India when she met Peter who invited her to join him on his travels. Pictured: Miriam at the age she met Peter. Photo / Channel 5
"We wondered whether we could survive a year in the wild."
So the pair began to prepare for the new lifestyle challenge before heading to New Zealand.
"We packed up two 85kg bags with everything we needed, from rolled oats to milk powder, flour yeast, honey, rice and vegetables.
"We counted out everything perfectly, including the teabags," Miriam said.
The ambitious couple trained a little before they arrived in New Zealand, taking a couple of 10-day hikes through the bush and practicing lighting fires in the rain.
When it comes to survival now, Peter takes the role of the cook while Miriam is the gatherer, hunting animals for their meat using a bow and arrow, something she admits is a far cry from her former life.
"I was raised a vegetarian," she tells Ben, explaining to him it took two years to learn how to hunt.
The couple survive by hunting and foraging, with Peter responsible for cooking while Miriam catches animals for meat - despite being raised as a vegetarian. Photo / Channel 5
"'At the beginning it was quite shocking, I killed something it was quite traumatic. But then you eat it and it's so filled with energy. I feel a bit like I become that hare or I become that goat - a bit wilder in a way."
According to Miriam, the pair would wake up around when the sun rose, before heading out to find firewood.
They would then light the fire and make cups of tea and toast with bread they had made the day before.
After breakfast, they might go exploring or for a walk.
The only possessions that the pair now have can be contained in the rucksacks that they travel with. Photo / Channel 5
The couple would later head back to their tent and go hunting in the afternoon and early evening.
They would sit around the fire and have dinner once it got dark, going to bed possibly one hour later.
The couple had no sense of time and used sunlight to give them an indication.
Between hunting, exploring, cooking and sleeping the couple occasionally make trips to a the supermarket for supplies that can't be found in the wild - including ice cream.
Peter and Miriam aren't concerned about their finances as they fund their lifestyle with their £40,000 life savings, estimating they spend around £3000 a year.
She also revealed to Ben Fogle that she uses her own urine to wash her hair in streams. Photo / Channel 5
When it comes to cleaning themselves, they stick to streams and use their own urine for shampoo.
With three decades between them, Miriam admits that Peter is sometimes mistaken for her father.
Speaking about their age gap Peter said: "When I met Miriam she was an adult, and I was an adult, who says that relationships have to be like this or this? It's just another prejudice."
