I wasn’t destined to be an astronaut. I had to turn myself into one.

I guarantee if you walk into 100 spider webs, you will have changed your fundamental human behavior. And you can apply this to anything, And figure out a way to reprogram yourself, to change your primal fear.

To me, it's not about being anywhere, but being able to change my perceptions and experience something new.

Our three big emergencies are fire, loss of pressurization or contaminated atmosphere. Any of those things in a spaceship are very deadly and time critical. Everybody's trained, but I'm the commander of the ship, and it's up to me to decide.

Still, I also know that most people, including me, tend to applaud the wrong things: the showy, dramatic record-setting sprint rather than the years of dogged preparation or the unwavering grace displayed during a string of losses. Applause, then, never bore much relation to the reality of my life as an astronaut, which was not all about, or even mostly about, flying around in space.

My favourite city for nightlife is Toronto, as it has such a multicultural feel, with so many different restaurants and theatres.

"What's the next thing that's going to kill me?" is a mantra for pilots and astronauts.