MY LIFE lessons
TV adventurer and presenter Ben Fogle, 50, on his mental health, dreams and following in the family footsteps
Children keep you down to earth
One of my boyhood dreams was to climb Everest. I was mesmerised by the romance of it all. I made it to the summit on May 16, 2018 and it felt like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Then when I got home, my daughter Iona wrote in her weekend diary, “Daddy came back, he smelt of rotten cheese!” Talk about down to earth with a bump. Looking back, I think I was not really myself for about six months after the expedition. The starvation of oxygen to the brain at 29,000ft leaves you slightly fog-like, that is the only way to describe it. Then, thankfully, I returned to normality.
Country life is blissful
It was a big step making the move to the country from west London with my family four years ago (his writer wife Marina, and their children Ludo, 14, and Iona, 12). But we wanted a little more green space and time away from the city and we are so happy in remote south Oxfordshire. It is pretty wild where we live, and you can’t see another house, but we are part of the community and close to family and friends. We have fields, ducks, dogs and five rescue horses; Marina and Iona both love riding together. We grow vegetables, go for dog walks and we have the nature around us that I always crave.
A digital detox can protect your mental health
I spent a month filming in Antarctica last year without my phone. I came back like a new person and I realised the d
