No Place Like Home

In a change from the last few months of recommendations of places to go, Local Secrets travel writer Lizzy Wood talks to author and broadcaster Simon Reeve about his experiences off the beaten track of conventional travel journalism

Simon Reeve has an enviable occupation: he travels to often undiscovered, primarily impoverished, parts of the world in order to educate both himself and the general public on otherwise silently struggling destinations. He’s travelled 25,000 miles around the equator and, more recently, spent months visiting every one of the thirteen countries dissected by the Tropic of Capricorn. He talks passionately of the beauty and relative safety of North Colombia and of life changing moments spent in Bukhara, and yet frequently refers back to his home in London – ‘the greatest city in the world’ – and how fortunate he has come to see himself as a British citizen, and all that brings with it.

Now renowned for his travel documentaries, it becomes immediately obvious that this career was not born out of any childhood passion for exploration and adventure. He openly admits that he’s not the ‘kind of guy who buys an inter-railing ticket’. Rather, Reeve was thrown into the BBC’s spotlight as Al Qaeda flew into the Twin Towers in 2001, and his book ‘The New Jackals’, which predicted the rise of Al Qaeda and the inevitability of an attack of never-before-seen proportions, became a New York Times bestseller. Initially providing commentary on the people behind the unfolding ‘War on Terror’, Reeve’s obvious intrigue, curiosity and basic thirst for knowledge eventually led him into travel journalism, seeking parts of the world about which the vast majority of us know little about – and perhaps should know more.

During our conversation, Reeve laughs at the suggestion that his is an ‘idealised’ job, arguing that this depends on your perception. He adamantly contends that making travel documentaries is not a job that takes you from one luxury pool to another, and that it is, in fact, hugely tiring, draining, not-to-mention poorly paid. However, it is also extremely rewarding to travel across the planet, and enhance your understanding of the world in which you live.

When you consider the remoteness and isolation of many of the places Reeve travels to – indigent regions of Central Asia, South America, Saudi Arabia and Africa – his earlier laughter is unsurprising. Reeve has spent significant periods under threat, whether that be the risk of being shot in Mogadishu, or the fear of suffering a horrific car crash in Saudi Arabia. He’s well aware of the risks involved in what he does, and knows that a situation can change rapidly, altering the whole experience. Nevertheless, the risks are managed as best they can be, and Reeve assures me that you’re just as likely to have a skiing accident – as his friend Tom just has on their recent holiday.

Despite the danger, Reeve is welcomed wherever he travels, a fact that continually surprises and amazes him. He confirms that people are very rarely hostile, even in war zones; having the ability to distinguish between individuals and governments. People’s natural behaviour is simply to be curious, inquisitive and friendly.

Although his initial interest lay in regions of conflict, Reeve finds that his interests are developing beyond this, becoming increasingly fascinated with the ‘stories that happen along the way’. A long list of destinations he’d like to visit for the first time, or spend more time in, roll off his tongue, including North Africa, India, South America and Russia, and yet he finds it hard to define what it is that piques his interest in a country. Any number of things, I’m told: eccentric cultures and characters, amazing open spaces such as in Australia, incredible wildlife such as in Botswana, or even troubled politics. Reeve is a generalist, not a specialist, and enjoys a general fascination with places and stories.

Given Reeve’s background as an author on such serious topics as global terror, I am intrigued by the light-hearted style for which his documentaries are renowned. Reeve acknowledges his humorous approach, but hopes that this does not make his reporting insincere: by taking five minutes to taste penis soup in Madagascar, he hopes he will then be given five minutes to highlight the poverty endured in this country. His aim is to reach as wide an audience as possible, to educate the public, as well as himself.

Reeve never went to University: he declares that it’s a dangerous game to have regrets, but he would enjoy the friends, fun, confidence and contacts that University brings with it. Nevertheless, he has learned an important lesson from travelling – he has, after all, graduated with Honours from the University of Life. Despite the cliché, Reeve asserts that seeing the planet has placed his own life in context, allowing him the realisation of how lucky he is to have a British passport, belong to a country that 90% of the world’s population would give anything to live in, and where debates in parliament focus on the decibel level of fireworks, as opposed to the suffering of the indigenous population.

Reeve is ‘chuffed’ to be British, his favourite city, of all those hundreds he’s travelled to, is London and, with so much world experience under his belt at such a young age, for him, there still really is no place like home.

To find out more about Simon Reeve visit his website at: www.shootandscribble.com

Tropic of Capricorn by Simon Reeve, BBC Book. Available now.

Article by Lizzy Wood