Q&A with Gordon

What’s your favourite place?

I love the Arctic. I do most of my career in hot, sweaty places and about ten years ago I went to Alaska, which I fell in love with and then later went up to the Norwegian Arctic and since then have taken any opportunity to go to those cold places.

I don’t know whether it’s because I’m Scottish that the climate suit me better, but they are staggeringly beautiful places and, in the High Arctic particularly, there is no one else there and that has a huge appeal to me as there aren’t many places in the world that reminds you that the world is overcrowded with people.

And least favourite?

I don’t like having to go to supermarkets. It’s such boring stuff. I can’t be bothered with shopping.

What’s the most dangerous place you’ve visited?

I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo and we had to do hostile environment training before we went and when we got there you realise it’s because of everything that has gone on there for the last 20 years; it is a very edgy place and I was relieved to have done the training. It’s all human related, though. Wherever you go, the biggest threat is never from the wildlife, it’s going to be from another person.

Are there any places you were expecting to be dangerous but weren’t?

Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea is supposed to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world, but I really liked it there, never felt uncomfortable and didn’t have any problems.

Is there anything you haven’t yet done that you’d like to?

I started my career wanting to become an underwater cameraman and then got distracted on land, and so that still feels like an unfulfilled ambition, to spend more time underwater. I love diving and snorkelling, it doesn’t matter where: the west coast of Scotland or Great Barrier Reef.