Simon Calder

In 1962, Calder joined the Woodcraft Folk and travelled with the group to the Lake District. That same year, after the USSR sent nuclear warheads to Cuba, Calder's parents decided that with Gatwick Airport only two miles away they were in the line of a potential Soviet target.[1] The family moved to Guernsey, for a short holiday while the danger passed. The school he attended, Thomas Bennett in Crawley, compulsorily taught Russian, which Calder comments was not useful on regular school and family trips to France.[2]

Calder's first job was a cleaner for British Airways at Gatwick and later as a security guard. He began writing budget travel guidebooks during this period, starting with the Hitch-hiker's Manual: Britain. He later studied for a degree in mathematics at University of Warwick,[3] while also indulging his love of hitchhiking around Europe. At one point he was the holder of the record for the quickest hitchhike between Land's End and John o' Groats.[4]

After university, Simon briefly taught Maths in Crawley before landing a job as a radio engineer with the BBC in London.[5] Calder wrote several books and series of guides including the Traveller's Survival Kit series and Backpacks, Boots and Baguettes. His first broadcast as a travel expert was on Simon Bates programme Studio B15 on BBC Radio 1 in 1980.[6]

Calder became travel editor for The Independent in 1994 and shortly afterwards began presenting for BBC 2's Travel Show until the programme ended in 1999. He then contributed to several BBC 1 shows, including Perfect Holiday and Departure Lounge. Calder presented the final film in the last edition of the long-running Holiday programme in 2007.[7]

In 2011, Calder wrote an article for the Independent entitled "A new age of the train is dawning across Europe" about how competition on the railways was improving service across Europe.[8] Calder's articles have featured in Condé Nast Traveller, The Evening Standard, High Life (BA’s inflight magazine), and the trade publication, Travel Trade Gazette.[9][10]

He continues to contribute to various BBC programmes, including The Travel Show[11] and Rip Off Britain[12] as a presenter of short films and as an expert providing advice to consumers. He regularly comments as an expert on travel issues for other radio and TV stations. Calder presented The Travel Show, a weekly travel phone-in on the London talk radio station LBC, for four years until April 2012.

Calder is the son of science writer Nigel Calder and the grandson of Lord Ritchie-Calder. He is the nephew of Scottish writer and critic, Angus Calder and educationalist Isla Calder (1946-2000).

Simon married Charlotte in Las Vegas in 1997. He has two daughters (born in 2000 and 2003) and lives in London.[13]

In 1986, Calder made his only flight on Concorde.[14] In 2006, Calder travelled more than 5700 miles by rail across Russia from Moscow in the west to Vladivostok in the east, on the Trans-Siberian Railway.[15]

Calder has travelled to more than 120 countries[16] and lists Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland among his favourite places to visit.[17]

• Hitch-hiker's Manual: Britain (4 Feb 1985), ISBN 978-0907638261
• U. S. A. and Canada Travellers Survival Kit (1 Feb 1997) ISBN 978-1854580894
• Backpacks, Boots and Baguettes: A Walk in the Pyrenees (9 Dec 2004), ISBN 978-0753509029
• No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low-Cost Revolution in the Skies (6 Feb 2008), ISBN 978-0753510445
• 48 HOURS IN EUROPEAN CAPITALS: How to Enjoy the Perfect Short Break in 20 Great Cities (21 Dec 2015), ISBN 978-1633533776

In 2012 Simon won the Outstanding Achievement and Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the 2012 Travel Press Awards and also the News Journalist of the Year for Print at the 2012 Business Travel Journalism Awards.[18]

Calder won the 2011 Christmas edition of Celebrity Mastermind, with Concorde as his specialist subject.[19][20]

• Simon Calder at IMDb