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Five minutes with Simon King

Simon King is a world-renowned wildlife cameraman and a regular presenter for the BBC’s Springwatch and Big Cat Diary. He took a short break at the recent walk reader awards to chat with us about the great outdoors and his advice to walkers…

walk: You’ve worked on a huge number of fantastic outdoor programs, and received many awards. What is it for you that makes you so drawn to the great outdoors?
Simon King: How can anybody not be interested in what’s beyond the door? I have to plagiarize Sir David Attenborough here.  He was asked ‘how do you keep your passion’ and his response was: ‘well how do you lose yours?’ The world just gets bigger and bigger, everywhere I travel and everywhere I see, I realize I’m going to run out of time, so I know I’ve got to cram it all in!

walk: Our best piece of walking advice received by a reader was “Never trust your Dad if he says it’s a shortcut.” Do you have any similar words of wisdom for walkers?
Simon King: (Laughs) Get the right socks, because my goodness it hurts if you don’t! Actually, my favorite bit of camping advice came from a friend when we where working in the Falkland Islands in a particularly stormy rough period, sitting in a very efficient dome tent sharing our tips. He was sitting glumly in the corner and when I asked what his best tip was, he replied: ‘Stay in a nice hotel!”

walk: Our readers are amongst some of the most passionate walkers in the country. What great piece of advice would you give to them?
Simon King: Tread softly, and look up! I enjoy walking for the physical exercise and love the fact that it’s something you can take with you or do everywhere.  People too often walk with their head down, so determined to finish the route rather than enjoy the landscape. Stop, look around, smell the roses, then you can always run up the hill to burn the calories! Make the most of it, rather than make it a time trial – take in what’s around you!

Read our the full interview with Simon from the Spring 2010 issue of walk or click here to read more about the reader awards, which Simon hosted.

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