How Simon took first steps into a world of adventure
WATCHING TV adventurer Simon Reeve charm people from a myriad of different cultures, it’s hard to believe he was once a shy, depressed teen, who dropped out of school with no prospects or hopes for the future.
His new memoir, details a remarkable rise from the dusty post room of to the nation’s TV screens, via several investigations into terrorist groups and a very prescient pre-911 book about alQaida.
However, travel wasn’t on his radar when he was younger.
“I didn’t go on holiday abroad as a kid and I didn’t get on a plane until I started working,” he says.
“But my grandma used to take me and my brother out in her car exploring exotic West London – as far afield as sunny Hounslow or glamorous Park Royal, which was a favourite because there was a McVitie’s factory. We were allowed to say, ‘Go left grandma, what’s down there?’
“It showed me something fundamental about myself. Most of us love knowing what’s over the hill or around the corner – whether that’s in grey West London in the 1970s or the Peak District or the Amazon.”
Despite his success today he struggled when he was younger. “I’d had a lot of mental health counselling in my teens. I was struggling with life and I’d flunked out of school, had no girlfriend and was in a very bad way. It’s a painful memory.
“I woke up one morning and I decided I needed to do something. It was very specifically a journey – the act of putting one foot in front of another. I followed some advice a woman in the DSS office had given me, which was to take things hour by hour, moment by moment, step by step.”
He scraped together enough money to get the train to Glencoe. “I started climbing this hill, which became a bit of a mountain, which became an epic journey. The sun started to go down and I only had my trainers and a shower curtain cagoule. But I was driven by this urge to achieve something. If I hadn’t been on that journey, I honestly don’t know if I’d still be here.”
Reeve says Michael Palin was a big influence. “I remember the difference between him and other TV travellers, who wore Panama hats and slightly raised an eyebrow at the funny foreign folk. (Palin) sat alongside and talked to people as if he was on the 207 bus.”
His travels for his TV documentary programmes have taken him all over the world and given him some unusual experiences – like playing polo with the corpse of a headless goat.
“It sounds wrong and is wrong, but it’s a reality of life in Central Asia. They call it kokpar. It’s something that’s been done and played for thousands of years. It teaches horsemanship and Genghis Khan’s warriors are thought to have played it to tighten up their riding skills.”
He’s also had a few close shaves. “I contracted malaria in Gabon, but in terms of sheer terror, my worst moment was staring down the barrel of an anti-aircraft gun in Mogadishu in Somalia. Or once, when I was younger, I found myself in a room with some alQaida supporters who were discussing whether I should leave alive.”
However, he believes travel is life affirming. “Travel has become so much about the Instagram experience,” he says. “For me, rather than taking a picture away, the most powerful experience is a memory – and it’s a memory of an encounter with somebody whose story, smile and interaction sears itself into your mind and heart. That’s what matters and lasts.”