Simon’s STORY

1972

GROWS UP IN WEST LONDON, OFTEN CLASHING WITH HIS DAD

1980s

TURNS TO DRINK AND PETTY CRIME AS HE STRUGGLES WITH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION. REACHES HIS LOWEST EBB AGED 17, WHERE HE ALMOST ENDS IT ALL

Early 1990s

TURNS HIS LIFE AROUND AT The Sunday Times, STARTING AS A POSTBOY AND GOING ON TO HELP JOURNALISTS WITH TERRORISM INVESTIGATIONS

1998

BRINGS OUT HIS FIRST BOOK, The New Jackals, ABOUT THE 1993 WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING

2001

AFTER THE 9/11 ATTACKS, HE BECOMES AN OVERNIGHT MEDIA EXPERT THANKS TO HIS (PREVIOUSLY LITTLE READ) BOOK

2003

PRESENTS HIS FIRST TRAVEL SERIES, Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans (BELOW LEFT) ON BBC TWO. HE HAS NOW MADE ABOUT 25 SERIES IN MORE THAN 120 COUNTRIES

2007

MARRIES ANYA, A CAMERAWOMAN. THEY WILL GO ON TO HAVE A SON, JAKE, NOW TEN

2012

WINS THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY NESS AWARD FOR BRINGING THE WORLD AND ITS ENVIRONMENT TO A WIDER AUDIENCE

2018

BRINGS OUT THE FIRST VOLUME OF HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Step by Step

2021

PUBLISHES THE SECOND VOLUME CONTINUING HIS STORY, Journeys to Impossible Places

2022

CHAMPIONS THE NATIONAL TRUST’S DOGS WELCOME PROJECT, SUPPORTED BY FORTHGLADE, ENCOURAGING US ALL TO GET OUTSIDE WITH OUR DOGS. FILMING RESUMES FOR HIS TV SERIES, The Americas (LEFT)