Michael Palin and Paul Theroux are my travelling icons. I have a soft spot for Joanna Lumley. I'd love to go on an adventure with her.

I'm a very light packer. I don't like checking in luggage. I only like hand luggage.

I love the ocean. Anywhere near the ocean will do. Preferably the Atlantic Ocean.

For anyone, taking yourself out of your natural environment and comfort zone is such a great way to reflect where you've come from and where you are going.

We tend to default to complacency. Stick to the easy option. We all do it. We've tried to create a business model and society around us that is as easy and boxed as possible. We love creating boundaries and borders.

Some people confuse confidence with arrogance. There's no doubt in the business world there are a few big egos and I think arrogance can get in the way. But if you have the confidence to go to your higher superior and say this is wrong, it can make a difference.

Often, a seemingly clear clean beach has a huge amount of hidden litter.

On the face of it there is a pristine white sandy beach, but within an hour, around 100 of us can collect up to 250-300 kilos of rubbish. It's mostly bits of plastic, fishing line, nylon, bottle caps. We've found everything.

In some ways, I'm in danger of doing too many things to be able to appreciate and enjoy them. I look forward to thinking back to carrying the Olympic torch, or going to the Royal Wedding, when I'm in the middle of the ocean on my own far from anywhere - that's when I'll relive those moments.

I don't think you can ever get closer to the natural world, than just a man - as in mankind - in an ocean, just you and it. It's not about conquering the ocean, it's about working with it.

People are being overwhelmed with social issues, political problems and economic problems - and this notion of giving everything up and going to live off-grid and to have a simpler way of life is quite attractive.

I met a Swedish single mum called Annalise who is living in the wilderness. Her dilemma is finding enough wood to make a fire to keep warm.

It's not a surprise that the mental health epidemic is affecting so many people because we can't escape this bubble from being on our phones and tablets.

I think we are becoming more obsessed about getting a certain amount of likes on our Twitter and Instagram accounts rather than actually living a proper, real, honest and organic life.

When suddenly your focus changes, you see the years going by and it's an extra reminder that you don't want to live life with any regrets.

We so love to stereotype people in this country - I can relate to that myself as I've experienced it. By taking on challenges over the years, I've tried to show people I'm not just some 'posh boy' and that there's far more to me.

After all, island living is where I began on Taransay, and I have such fond memories of it.

When I travel with my family it's important that we do stuff together. I'm not the sort to send my children off to a kids' club.

I love sharing my travels and I've had some fascinating travelling companions over the years. I really believe travel is made the richer being with people.

I'm equally happy bouncing across the African savannah in an old Land Rover as I am staying in a luxury resort in The Maldives. Travel and the wilderness excite me.

I got rounded up by the police in Quito as I didn't have my passport with me. I was in prison for a night, which was pretty frightening, made more so when one of my male companions started crying.

I can't even cook an egg. The only thing I can do well is baking bread. I love it and find it incredibly therapeutic.

I have a terrible memory. I never remember names or faces. It's incredibly embarrassing.

I know some people obsess about their appearance but I don't - it's not something that bothers me.

There are a lot of people that I think look very good - Bryan Ferry and Jude Law dress really well, Steve McQueen was cool, and all the James Bonds have been very dapper.

In terms of TV shows, if you're a public figure, we've all been asked to do some sort of ridiculous show at some stage.

What I miss is being close to nature - collecting your own water and generating your own electricity, catching your own food. I still dream of doing that with my own family, even if it's just for a year-long experiment, I would love to have tried that.

We experienced a miscarriage at 13 weeks and then a few years later we lost our son Willem at 30 weeks. I held him in my arms and had to organise his funeral.

I have found myself increasingly moving away from meat. It hasn't been so much a conscious choice as an organic change.

My wife Marina likes salad and fish and I have reduced my meat consumption to just three times a week. It wouldn't take much to go vegetarian and I may well make that decision soon.

I am honoured to be taking part in the Diamond Jubilee flotilla along the Thames in my 20-foot rowing boat. The energy levels will be high, partly because I'm planning to ply the crew with thermos flasks filled with Typhoo!

At 19 I left school and embarked on a 9-day bike ride with friends from London to Monte Carlo.

In many people's minds, Everest has lost her crown. She has become a mountain synonymous with death, exploitation and pollution.

As United Nations patron of the wilderness, one of my roles is to report back from the Earth's remaining wildernesses and to act as a voice for the wild.

I have spent time in many of the world's popular wilderness locations and I would say Nepal should be proud. It is an example of man repairing the damage he has done.

As our focus turns to the oceans and the seemingly impossible task of repairing our marine habitat, we could look at Everest as a fine example of turning back the clock.

I saw firsthand the devastating consequences of poaching. I saw elephants with ivory hacked from their faces and the lengths private parks go to protect their precious wildlife.

Ivory is quickly becoming the new blood diamond of Africa and one that fuels militia battles. Some of the most notorious armed groups on the continent, including the Lord's Resistance Army, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons.

Armies and former soldiers are working in the field to help protect elephants. Some have suggested staining the ivory; cameras and trackers have even been embedded within the tusk; others have arranged for tusks to be removed pre-emptively by conservationists.

Many locals in east Africa are calling for fences to separate wildlife and people. They argue it will reduce conflict and also make it easier to protect the wildlife from poachers. From my experience in Tanzania, no fence and no militia will hold back the tide of poachers drawn by the huge sums of money at stake.

I don't want my children to feel the same sense of failure I did growing up because they're not good at passing tests.

Let's be honest, some people are better suited to exams than others in the same way that some of us are more sporty or arty.

The wilderness rescued me. I have been shaped by my experiences in the great outdoors. Feeling comfortable in the wild gave me the confidence to be who I am, not who others want me to be.

Part of the beauty of wilderness schooling is that the overheads are very low. You want a classroom? Build a shelter from nature's store. You want to eat? Forage for it.

I have an overactive mind and I find that doing exercise clears it.

I take echinacea to ward off colds and I go through phases of taking vitamins, but I'd rather eat a lot of fruit and veg than take pills.

I don't enjoy doing exercise at the time, but I enjoy the feeling afterwards.

Stroking my dog calms me down.

If you look at the positives, if you test yourself and challenge yourself... I describe myself as a 'yes' person. If you say no to too many things, you think 'what if'.

Both my wife and I are optimists and we look at the positives in life.