Under the microscope
CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?
YES, filming documentaries can be physically demanding, so I do need to be fit. Preparing for my Wilderness series, I ran several times a week wearing a 15 kg weighted vest. I also take my two dogs out for half an hour every day. Now that I’m the wrong side of 50, unless I’m doing exercises regularly, my muscles disappear.
GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?
I’M a meat-and-two-veg kind of guy, but I try to eat healthily. I’ve eaten some weird things while on the road, including bull penis soup in Madagascar.
EVER DIETED?
I HAVEN’T, as I’ve never wanted to overeat. As a teenager, I worried I was underweight, so I drank Complan [a vitamin shake] to get more calories. I’m 6ft 3in but haven’t weighed myself for a while.
ANY VICES?
CHOCOLATE and tequila.
ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?
MY father died of bowel cancer at 67. It’s starting to worry me and I’m conscious I should get tested.
WORST ILLNESS?
THE closest I’ve been to death was when I got malaria in 2006. Then, two years ago I had paratyphoid fever, an infection of the intestinal tract and bloodstream that I picked up in Peru. At home, three days later, my temperature spiked at 42c and I noticed a bulge on my leg — a soft tissue infection. I’m only the second person in history to have this form of paratyphoid, so I get mentioned at medical conferences.
POP ANY PILLS?
I STRUGGLE with concentration, so I take tablets containing choline, ginseng, guarana, ginkgo and L-tyrosine. I feel they’re helping.
COPE WELL WITH PAIN?
I’M a drama king, but I can tolerate pain long-term.
EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?
DEPRESSION will always be part of my wiring. I was at my lowest aged 17; I’d flunked out of school at 16, didn’t have a girlfriend, had no direction and felt like a failure. What’s worked is being in nature, getting enough sleep and trying to think about the positives in my life.
WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE?
BEING able to sleep anywhere is my superpower. I’m an owl but faff too much before bedtime.
ANY PHOBIAS?
ARMPITS! Only my son [Jake, 12] can get close to mine.
LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?
YES. I’m pretty unhappy about this whole death thing.
■ SIMON Reeve’s To The Ends Of The Earth tour begins in April.