Travel Tips: Matthew Teller

Our late Spring travel tips are provided by Matthew Teller, writer and documentary maker

1. Before my first trip to Antarctica, I got onto Twitter and was yapping about what gear to buy and how cold it might be, when the calmest piece of travel wisdom social media has ever seen came out of the blue at me. ‘Forget the cold, it’ll melt your heart' ,  tweeted Peter Gibbs, BBC weatherman and - as it turned out - old Antarctic hand. He was right. It did.

2. It’s never as dangerous as you think it is.

3. Do it yourself, it’s much easier that way. And even if it isn’t, it’s your way.

4. Without a local guide, it can only ever be all about you.

5. You’re tired. It’s been a long trip. There’s that one special place you wanted to see (again?) but you’re thinking about the cost, or the hassle, or both. So you leave it. It’ll be there next time. I did that when I was last in Syria.

For more about Matthew’ s work visit: www.matthewteller.com