No one will pay you for planning an expedition at first: you have to work in pubs at weekends so you can pay the gas bills. I joined the Territorial Army, which paid me when I turned up to drill nights, and so did my wife.

As a rule, anything that is pretty you avoid when on an expedition in the polar extremes. Normally anything other than white means a hazard such as a crevasse.

While I was serving, I worked as an adventure training officer, teaching soldiers how to ski, canoe and climb.

People who go to the polar regions are statistically less likely to die than salesmen who drive on motorways in England.

Whenever feasible, pick your team on character, not skill. You can teach skills; you can't teach character.

I go on expeditions for the same reason an estate agent sells houses - to pay the bills.

The ultimate starting point for planning any adventure or expeditionby far and away the greatest book on earth