Like many people before us, we fell in love with Nepal on our first visit and decided that once was simply not enough! We were soon back again to undertake another independent trek, this time to the Solukhumbu region. The main attraction was the prospect of seeing Mount Everest at close quarters, but aside from Everest the area is blessed with the arguably the most dramatic mountain scenery in the world. After nearly three weeks on the trail, we rafted back to misty jungles for more wildlife watching in Chitwan National Park.

In July 2008 my brother Tom, a high jumper, was selected to compete for Team GB in the Beijing Olympic Games. A month later, I was there in the "Bird's Nest" stadium cheering him on, along with the rest of Team Parsons! Although we were only in Beijing for a week, we saw plenty of Olympic athletics action along with some of the city's best-known sights.

Jen and I spent 10 days in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt in June 2008. It was a holiday shamelessly devoted to sunbathing and snorkelling in the Red Sea, cocooned in the comfort of 5-star hotels. A very different kind of holiday for us, but with good reason: we were on honeymoon! Don't expect scenic landscape photos - there are lots of fish though!

A return trip to my favourite stomping ground, the Scottish Highlands, for an early spring hike along the West Highland Way. Starting in the town of Milngavie just north of Glasgow, the 95-mile route heads north along the shore of Loch Lomond and into the mountains, passing some of the finest Highland scenery. It finishes at Fort William in the shadow of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain. I walked the route in 7 days with my Dad and my stepmother Margaret.

In September 2007 we spent a week in the Dolomites, based in the very chic resort town of Cortina, about 2 hours north of Venice (we were in a very chic tent). We had come to try out our newly acquired climbing skills on some of the region's via ferrate (protected climbing routes). Many date back to the first World War, constructed to move Italian troops secretly through the mountains. Now, they serve a quite different purpose, providing an adrenaline rush for an ever-increasing numbers of adventurous Europeans in the summer season.

Being seasoned trekkers, it was only a matter of time before the lure of the Himalayas proved too tempting. For our first trip to the world's highest mountains, we travelled to the Annapurna Region in Nepal. Here, we linked together the famous Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary treks into one long three-week route. Afterwards, there was time to chill in Pokahara and track wildlife in Chitwan National Park.