GOOD year, bad year? With 2014 drawing to a close, we ask Mark Beaumont, adventurer and broadcaster: ‘How has it been for you?’.
Briefly, what is it that you do?
I am an endurance athlete, mainly known for cycling, and a broadcaster/TV presenter, mainly for the BBC. I have filmed in over 100 countries and last year completed a tour of the Commonwealth nations and territories during the build-up to Glasgow 2014.
Choose three words that sum up 2014 (so far), from a professional point of view.
Exciting. Sporty. Jet-lagged (that may be two words!)
In 2013, what was your biggest ambition for 2014, and to what extent did you achieve it?
My greatest aim on the back of the Commonwealth journey was to spend more time at home in Scotland. It has been a wonderful summer and autumn, both busy with work and enjoying more time with my wife and daughter.
How has 2014 (so far) been for you, personally?
I really can’t complain. I get to ride my bike and chat to a camera for a living! And I live in rural Perthshire, which is an absolutely stunning part of the country, with my beautiful family. A lot has changed personally with the arrival of my daughter, and I have made promises not to go away for as long, or to take some of the risks that have nearly cost me my life in the past. For all the uncertainty in a career like mine, I wouldn’t trade it in because of the freedom to take on whatever project interests me and that my family can share in.
Any changes this year in technology, legislation, the economy, etc that have had a relatively significant impact on the business?
As a broadcaster, it is hard to keep up with the changes in technology. But because of the nature of my work, as kit gets smaller, lighter and higher-quality for lower prices, it opens lots of opportunities that weren’t there when I started filming documentaries eight years ago. We were shooting on tape back then!
What looking forward to, in 2015 – personally and professionally?
2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year. I am back training full-time and in great shape. I cycled 407 miles in 24 hours a few weeks ago. And in the New Year I am going to announce some big plans. They are so big, they scare me… but if that wasn’t the case, then they wouldn’t be right! Watch this space for news. Personally, I hope to spend as much time with my family as possible, as I was away for a lot of last year, so making up for lost time.
