Simon Calder is Britain's leading travel commentator and is known as “the man who pays his way”, which means that he pays for his own travel.

He began his career at Gatwick airport, where he cleaned out planes for Sir Freddie Laker and, later, frisked passengers (for a job, that is; not a hobby).

He then started to write travel guidebooks and travel articles. Today Simon is Senior Travel Editor of The Independent and is known as “the man who pays his way”, which means that he pays for all his own travel.

Simon also writes for the Evening Standard, the i newspaper, Waitrose Weekend and BA’s inflight magazine, High Life plus a host of other publications.

Once a month, he presents the Global Guru section of The Travel Show (BBC Worldwide and BBC2) where he answers viewers travel questions and queries.

Simon is also a regular guest on national TV, often seen on BBC Breakfast News, Good Morning Britain, ITV News, CNN and Sky News. He is often interviewed on BBC radio, particularly for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Five.