I always wanted to be an explorer, but - it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person.
Michael PalinI am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art, and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.
Michael PalinThere are people who travel because they want to push themselves to physical limits, people who walk across deserts or cycle across the Antarctic - like Ranulph Fiennes, who just does it because it's there. And then there are people like me, who are just genuinely curious about the world.
Michael PalinI have been unusually blessed in that I've been allowed to pursue two strands of a career that both delight me and seem to please the public.
Michael PalinI would love to go to Iran. The island of Madagascar, everyone says is pretty exotic, or the wonderful Namibian desert.
Michael PalinJohn Hall, my geography teacher at school inspired me to a lifelong interest in geography and a curiosity about our world which has stayed with me through my life. Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. For me geography is a great adventure with a purpose.
Michael Palin