What made you decide to become an explorer?
I wanted to be an explorer because my dad was a test pilot in the days when planes didn't have computer models. They weren't designed in some clever way, or rather, there wasn't all that much technology to help people. So being a test pilot was quite a risky thing. And people just used to experiment with these planes, and these pilots were at the forefront. So I think that sort of drive, or certainly the mental equipment, I got from my dad, the ability to be calm in a crisis. That's something I have, perhaps, from him. But something compelled me. I think I was romanticized, I romanticized places like the Amazon, Borneo. I just thought, wow, wouldn't it be great to be out there. I'm just like every other boy, really, and perhaps every other girl. I just thought, wouldn't it be a great life. So my dad, being a pilot, brought back birds' nests and little baby stuffed crocodile, and there was a bottle he bought with a snake. All these things excited my imagination. But I've something beyond that. I did have this drive, and I don't know quite where that came from. I had it even with my dad. So, whatever that was, it gave me a sort of resolve. My brother and my sister don't have it, so I think that's something inside you. I do think you need to be an explorer - I mean, you need to feel it's vital. It's no good just saying, well, I want to. Otherwise, you'll drop out along the way, and it's rare to be absolutely able to be a successful explorer, to be able to keep your income going along and not just sell out, So, yeah, it's not that easy. So you need to have that sort of drive, and it was just something I set my mind to do, and I think that was the absolute key. I didn't compromise.
