Alan Dein travels the world via the internet, talking to people trying to survive against the odds.

Locking himself away in a studio in Broadcasting House, Alan crosses time zones and continents speaking to random strangers using Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.

Among those Alan gets chatting to today is BJ who spends half his life working on the confines of an oil rig in the East Timor Sea so that he can spend the rest of his time throwing himself off high rise buildings as he pursues his super dangerous pastime, base jumping. Then there's Syrian refugee Abdulkader who tells of his epic journey to Europe from the ruins of Aleppo. Also on Alan's contacts list today are Sam and Anna, co-workers in a call centre in Ukraine, who dream of leaving their poorly paid jobs behind forever.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.