It was an utterly beautiful and very spiritual experience, but also slightly scary. With all those lights dancing around in the sky, I felt as if the ghosts of Scott and Shackleton were looking down on me. At that moment, I really wanted to be close to someone I loved; unfortunately, I was with a bunch of guys, and didn’t feel like cosying up to any of them. I just wish I could have shared it with my wife and family.
Fortunately, we’ve had some amazing experiences together. We tend to go away for several long weekends throughout the year, then have a big three-week trip in the summer. One of the best was to Mexico, a couple of years ago. We stayed in a villa in Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of Baja California. It’s a beautiful setting, with wonderful beaches, surrounded by mountains. And there’s plenty to do, which is absolutely necessary. If I find myself forced to lie on a beach for more than a couple of hours, I start digging holes out of sheer desperation. We did everything the area had to offer, from whale-watching and fishing to riding and diving, and the girls really loved it. That was one of the best things about it, just watching them laughing and enjoying themselves.
Last year, our big trip involved hiring a Winnebago and driving around the national parks of America and Canada. We travelled from San Francisco, through Death Valley, to the Grand Canyon and up to Canada. I think Canada is probably one of my favourite places in the world. I love the can-do attitude of the people, and the fact that it’s not overpopulated. You can drive for two hours and not see any other cars, just beautiful coastline, mountains and forests.
One of the things that made the trip special was the fact that we were together in the van most of the time, which forced us to get along and spend time just talking and playing games. That said, there were times when I found four women in the confines of one vehicle a bit hard to take. On one occasion, they were going on so much that I stopped the RV just outside Salt Lake City, got out and told them that I’d had enough, and was going to walk into town and fly home. The next thing, they’d thrown my bag out and were preparing to set off without me.
Ballooning has to be one of my favourite ways of seeing the world. Although I’ve seen some beautiful, exotic landscapes from my viewing position inside a wicker basket, the best trips have been over the English countryside, which, to me, is the most beautiful in the world. I’ve broken several ballooning records, including making the longest solo flight by a British balloonist and being the first balloonist to fly solo across the Arctic Ocean, but I think the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was flying Bill Deedes over the Marlborough Downs. He was 91 at the time, and writing a piece on a trip I was about to do. He insisted on flying with me before I went, and I was absolutely terrified, especially of landing. I really didn’t want to have on my CV the fact that I’d killed Lord Deedes.
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I discovered my spirit of adventure on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award trip to the Brecon Beacons. It gave me a taste for climbing, and once you start exploring places where you can climb, you want to do more. When I left school, I went straight off to the Alps, with a friend and virtually no money. We spent our days climbing, living off bread and beer, and sleeping in barns. Some of the happiest moments of my life were spent there.
I’m a firm believer in travel broadening the mind, and after that trip, I went to the States to work for Camp America, which was a complete eye-opener. I was teaching climbing in a Jewish camp, and until then I’d had little contact with anyone Jewish. All the catering was kosher, with no cooking of dairy and meat products together, and no pork. The first morning — when someone asked me what I wanted for breakfast, and I replied “bacon and eggs” — was the start of a steep learning curve.
Throughout my life, I’ve had a hit list of things I want to do. At the moment, it includes visiting Petra and going into space. I’m not talking about package tours to the moon — just going into the upper atmosphere, experiencing weightlessness and seeing the curvature of the earth. That would definitely be an experience to bottle and take home.
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David Hempleman-Adams talked to Lizzie Enfield