In 1845, a young Harvard graduate leaves the city and decides to live on the shores of Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts. This man was none other than the later significant American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, considered by many to be a pioneer of modern ecological movements. He builds a small cabin by himself, plants a field of beans, and primarily feeds on fruits and vegetables. He reads, writes, contemplates, keeps a journal, and discovers the power of connecting with nature. For the next two years, he tries to combine "the robustness of the wild with the spirituality of the civilized man," adopting a lifestyle that contrasts with the spirit of industrialization of his time.

In "Walden or Life in the Woods," a book that holds a place of global testament for the author, Thoreau describes his radical yet utopian endeavor of returning to nature in a decisive and simultaneously disarming manner. It is no coincidence that, after almost a century and a half, the work continues to move and maintain a relevant discourse, as it almost prophetically points out the negative consequences of man's detachment from the environment.