He effectively combines the genre of travel writing with investigative journalism, and brings to light little-known conflicts and events from around the world.' - Perceptive Travel Assistance dogs may be taken into the concert hall where there are a limited number of suitable seats in row G of the stalls. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the cloakroom staff during the performance. Because Anya and I had conflicting priorities, I suggested we used a 0-10 point system that I often use to help quantify mine and others’ beliefs and desires. Say we’re filming in South America and have 60 seconds to decide whether to join a drugs raid with local police: I ask everyone to make a snap judgment for how positive they feel about proceeding. Whether out on location, or sat in the living room, I use the same method. The higher you score a statement, the more you agree. We played the game. She was enthusiastic, but I needed children more than her. I recognised the physical suffering of both IVF and a potential pregnancy (and the rest of it) for her. In return, she recognised fatherhood was a necessity for me. We decided to give it a shot. Simon shares what his unique experiences and encounters have taught him, and the deeper lessons he draws from joy and raw grief in his personal life, from desperate struggles with his own fertility and head health, from wise friends, fatherhood, inspiring villagers, brave fighters, his beloved dogs, and a thoughtful Indian sadhu.

Journeys to Impossible Places: In Life and Every Adventure

Now I’ve written a book, Journeys to Impossible Places, in which I recount my trips to many corners of the world – and it would have been dishonest not to include my journey to fatherhood, too. We’re poisoning ourselves out of existence, and our consumer capitalist democracies seem incapable of stopping it. It’s a reality of our health and wellbeing that should fill us with rage and fear. During the series, Simon meets an array of people living and working in the Lake District and wider Cumbria. He visits Barrow-in-Furness, an industrial town struggling with under investment and poverty, and Sellafield, the world’s largest nuclear processing facility that overlooks one of the biggest offshore wind farms in Europe. Simons own vulnerability and candidness about his struggles I find particularly endearing and raw. He does not possess a stuffy privileged view of the world, and his travels convey his real honest enthusiasm for both the world, and the people around it. He comes across eager to seize every, and any, opportunity to learn about other cultures to our own, and give a voice to the marginalised. The accounts of his travels are addictive. They are at times dangerous but also humorous - played in-part by the people he meets - however, they also call into question the way we are treating our planet. He inspires me to travel more and seek out even more of an authentic experience. Priority booking for Barbican members opens from 10am Thu 2 Sep 2021. Priority booking links will be shared via the Members' newsletter. Please get in touch if you haven't received it.This book postures as a travel book, but is so much more. And just like Simon plans everything with his travel, as he self proclaims in the book, every word in this book has a purpose. From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: The endless facts about how our natural world is being threatened makes for quite harrowing reading and will, hopefully, inspire change.

Journeys to Impossible Places: In Life and Every Adventure Journeys to Impossible Places: In Life and Every Adventure

Tourism in Durban causes much killing of marine life due to efforts to keep sharks away from swimmers Reading more about the subject saw my frustration turn to anger – fertility is on a downward spiral and we’re being poisoned by the modern world. Some experts believe the sperm counts of western men have fallen by more than 50% over recent decades and that their defectiveness is on the rise. Meanwhile, others believe the number of miscarriages is increasing and that egg quality is in steep decline. At its core I find the book is quite life-affirming, peppered with huge moments in his own personal life, and finishing with a beautiful written letter promise to his young son that even made me choke up.I’d recommend also watching his relevant travel documentaries afterwards to fully place the scenarios and places he talks about. It is a nice accompaniment to visualise these landscapes for yourself. Borneo: Dayak people; highest biodiversity on the planet; deforestation dominos effect (drilling for oil/gold, loggers exploit abandoned new roads to chop down trees for wood, farmers exploit deforested land to grow palm oil)

Simon Reeve explores the Lake District in his new series

The travel, which Simon brings so to life that you feel you are there with him. Seeing, feeling, smelling and tasting it all for yourself. About the Author: Simon Reeve is an author and adventurer who has travelled to more than 130 countries, making multiple award-winning TV series exploring and explaining the world.

Having a conversation with my son – now 10 years old – about what to include was scary. He has strong opinions. I was worried something I’d written would upset or embarrass him. Thankfully, he was up for sharing. I found talking to him cathartic, too. Mother Nature took pity on me, helping me see off the chemicals I’d spent a lifetime consuming. In less than a year, enough of my boys became healthy enough to have a shot. It was time, we were told, to try IVF. For Anya, this would mean enduring invasive treatment. My job would be short and simple. I tried to remain considerate of that fact. It was August and she and I were on an idyllic holiday in Denmark. My brother came to see us, keen to deliver some news. We walked down to the end of the garden and, looking out across the Baltic Sea, he told me his partner was pregnant. While the books do contain elements of extreme hate, and even attempted murder between teenagers, the story is laid out in a way where you can see the battle between good and evil—darkness and light—fighting it out to the death. As a reader, you’re taken on this incredible journey to discover how dangerous your thoughts can be and how our perception of things that are true changes by what we are influenced. I was pulled through the story, willing the light to win, learning the lessons right along with the characters, and allowing my heart to change as the characters hearts changed. He was rebellious, drinking too much and failing exams, and by the age of 17 found himself standing on a bridge staring “into the final abyss”, but he struggled on and slowly began to transform his life. He got a job in the post room of a newspaper where a curious mindset and can-do attitude was soon noticed, and he was promoted to researcher, and then writer, specialising in organised crime and terrorism.

life is full of adventure – but being a father has been My life is full of adventure – but being a father has been

Brilliantly vivid and passionately written. Lots of genuine jaw dropping moments, perhaps even more so than when watching the documentaries. Alongside all this Simon Reeve tells stories from his journeys around the equator, tropics of Capricorn and Cancer , the Indian Ocean and along Sacred Rivers. The need to safeguard our seas, our wildlife, and indigenous communities is made very clear throughout, and the stories Reeve tells in this book somehow make the whole issue very up-close and very urgent. Like its predecessor, it is a story of Reeve’s personal life and travels, but this is primarily focussed on the filming of his Tropic of Cancer and Indian Ocean series. Reading about Reeve’s travels was fascinating, as it felt that by this point in his career he had become more confident as a documentary maker as he gained further experience. Simon’s latest tome, Journeys to Impossible Places, is a follow-up to Step by Step, and equally candid, including more tales from the road, as well as his personal struggles, such as the fertility problems he and Anya experienced before Jake arrived.Simon Reeve is an author and adventurer who has travelled to more than 130 countries, making multiple award-winning TV series exploring and explaining the world. They include The Americas, Indian Ocean, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Sacred Rivers, Caribbean, Tropic of Capricorn, Russia, Mediterranean, Colombia and Australia (Winner of the British Travel Press Award for Broadcast Travel Programme). I set out to “proof read” this series to see if it would be appropriate for my 10-year-old son. I was concerned that the elements may be too mature for him, even though it states it was for ages 9-16… I hadn’t realised there was a value in sharing in life’s stories before I wrote the first volume. People reacted so warmly and so beautifully, so I had no hesitation sharing these stories of struggling to create a little bit of life myself because that was the biggest impossible journey of my recent existence, and I couldn’t really talk about my life without that. I won’t make any bones about it,” the specialist informed us, “you are basically infertile.” Conceiving, she said, would be impossible. We had no chance of having children. It was the starkest of messages and I could hardly take it in. Reflecting on what the experience taught me, I’ve certainly become more determined to regularly assess what I want, whether from life or specific situations. If I decide pursuing something is important, I try to act urgently and aggressively – full throttle – rather than be half-arsed. I know I might not make it, but I give those desires everything I’ve got.