Simon Calder | |
|---|---|
 Calder in 2009 | |
| Born | 25 December 1955 Crawley, West Sussex, England |
| Education | Thomas Bennett Community College |
| Alma mater | University of Warwick |
| Occupation | Travel journalist |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Nigel Calder |
| Relatives |
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| Website | www |
Simon Peter Richie Calder (born 25 December 1955) is a freelance English travel journalist and broadcaster. He works for various news and travel publications as well as being travel correspondent for The Independent .
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] He attended Thomas Bennett School in Crawley. [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 the 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, Calder briefly taught mathematics in Crawley before getting 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 correspondent for The Independent in 1994 and shortly afterwards began presenting for BBC 2's Travel Show alongside Penny Junor [7] 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. [8]
At The Independent Calder introduced his strapline "The man who pays his way", reflecting his unwillingness to accept gifts from the travel industry. [9]
Calder's articles have featured in many publications including Condé Nast Traveller , The Evening Standard , High Life (BA’s inflight magazine), and the trade publication Travel Trade Gazette . [10] [11]
He continues to contribute to various BBC programmes, including as the 'Global Guru' on BBC News' The Travel Show [12] and on Rip Off Britain . [13] He is also 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, including for Channel 5 on their Britain's Travel Chaos - How To Save Your Summer documentary in 2022. [14] [15] Calder presented The Travel Show, a weekly travel phone-in on the London talk radio station LBC, for four years until April 2012. He has a weekly podcast called "You Should Have Been There" and he regularly tweets travel information on @SimonCalder.
Calder is the son of science writer Nigel Calder and the grandson of Lord Ritchie-Calder. He is the nephew of the Scottish writer and critic Angus Calder and educationalist Isla Calder (1946-2000).
Calder married Charlotte in Las Vegas in 1997. He has two daughters (born in 2000 and 2003) and lives in London. [16]
In 1986, Calder made his only flight on Concorde. [17] 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. [18]
Calder has travelled to more than 120 countries [19] and lists Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland among his favourite places to visit. [20]
In 2012 Calder 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. [21]
Calder won the 2011 Christmas edition of Celebrity Mastermind , with Concorde as his specialist subject. [22] [23]
British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport.
Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books which sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it was later adapted to other formats, including novels, stage shows, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 text adventure game, and 2005 feature film.
London Gatwick, also known as Gatwick Airport, is the secondary international airport serving London, England. It is located near Crawley, West Sussex, England 29.5 miles (47.5 km) south of Central London. In 2022, Gatwick was the second-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Heathrow Airport, and was the 8th-busiest in Europe by total passenger traffic. It covers a total area of 674 hectares.
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series primarily written by Douglas Adams. It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and afterwards the BBC World Service, National Public Radio in the US and CBC Radio in Canada. The series was the first radio comedy programme to be produced in stereo, and was innovative in its use of music and sound effects, winning a number of awards.
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Whicker's World was a British television documentary series that ran from 1959 to 1994, presented by journalist and broadcaster Alan Whicker.
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