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 ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''.

Biography

In 1962, Calder joined the Woodcraft Folk and travelled with the group to the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. That same year, after the USSR sent nuclear warheads to Cuba, Calder's parents decided that with

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

only two miles away they were in the line of a potential Soviet target. He attended Thomas Bennett School in Crawley. Calder's first job was a cleaner for

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

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 The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, 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 Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

and John o' Groats. After university, Calder briefly taught mathematics in Crawley before getting a job as a radio engineer with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in London. 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 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

in 1980. Calder became travel correspondent for ''The Independent'' in 1994 and shortly afterwards began presenting for BBC 2's ''Travel Show'' alongside Penny Junor until the programme ended in 1999. He then contributed to several

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

shows, including ''Perfect Holiday'' and ''Departure Lounge''. Calder presented the final film in the last edition of the long-running ''Holiday'' programme in 2007. At ''The Independent'' Calder introduced his

strapline Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etymo ...

"The man who pays his way", reflecting his unwillingness to accept gifts from the travel industry. Calder's articles have featured in many publications including '' Condé Nast Traveller'', ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'', ''High Life'' (BA’s inflight magazine), and the trade publication '' Travel Trade Gazette''. He continues to contribute to various

programmes, including as the 'Global Guru' on BBC News' '' The Travel Show'' and on '' Rip Off Britain''. 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. 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".

Family

Calder is the son of science writer

Nigel Calder Nigel David McKail Ritchie-Calder (2 December 1931 – 25 June 2014) was a British science writer and climate change skeptic. Early life Nigel Calder was born on 2 December 1931. His father was Ritchie Calder. His mother was Mabel Jane For ...

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 Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 1997. He has two daughters (born in 2000 and 2003) and lives in London.

Travel

In 1986, Calder made his only flight on

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

. In 2006, Calder travelled more than 5700 miles by rail across Russia from Moscow in the west to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

in the east, on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Calder has travelled to more than 120 countries and lists

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

among his favourite places to visit.

Books

*''Hitch-hiker's Manual: Britain'' (4 Feb 1985), *''U. S. A. and Canada Travellers Survival Kit'' (1 Feb 1997) *''Cuba in Focus: a guide to the people, politics and culture.'' (1999) *''Backpacks, Boots and Baguettes: A Walk in the Pyrenees'' (9 Dec 2004), *''No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low-Cost Revolution in the Skies'' (6 Feb 2008), *''48 HOURS IN EUROPEAN CAPITALS: How to Enjoy the Perfect Short Break in 20 Great Cities'' (21 Dec 2015),

Awards

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. Calder won the 2011 Christmas edition of ''Celebrity

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

'', with

as his specialist subject.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Simon 1955 births Alumni of the University of Warwick Living people English travel writers Travel broadcasters Guernsey writers People from Crawley English people of Scottish descent The Independent people Simon