Hot on the heels of Sir David Attenborough’s latest travel documentary, a study conducted by adventure travel company Explore Worldwide has revealed the beloved presenter’s incredible travel history.
David Attenborough
Researchers watched hours and hours of Attenborough’s documentaries, dating back to 1955, to record all the locations he is seen presenting from. The data has been visualised in an interactive map, allowing people to easily understand and appreciate the enormous travel achievements of one of the greatest documentarists and wildlife advocates of our time
The new map even allows users to enter their own unique list of places they have travelled to around the world, to see how their own travel history measures up against Sir David Attenborough’s.
Attenborough is seen presenting the most from California and the island of Borneo. Attenborough’s most-visited countries are the USA (57 appearances), Australia (37 appearances), and the UK (29 appearances). He has presented from 333 locations during his TV career, in 83 different countries.
Born in May 1926, David Attenborough was 30 years old when his first nature documentary Zoo Quest to Guiana aired. Now aged 96, Attenborough has been sharing with viewers at home the planet’s incredible animals, plant life, oceans, and natural habitats for over 65 years, becoming an advocate for wildlife conservation and awareness of the devastating impacts of climate change.
Travel regrets
With such an astonishing travel career under his belt, it’s hard to imagine whether Attenborough has any travel regrets. However, according to a new survey from Explore the majority of people aged 70 or over do have ‘travel regrets’, with 62% saying there is somewhere in the world they regret never having visited. Some countries mentioned include Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Japan, and Canada.
One in three people over 70 said they regret never seeing the Northern Lights, making it the travel experience most people regret never doing.
Travel regrets of the over 70s
| Travel Experience | % of Over 70s Who Regret Never Doing This |
| Seeing the Northern Lights | 39% |
| Visiting the Maldives | 19% |
| Seeing the Great Pyramids of Giza | 19% |
| Visiting Machu Picchu | 19% |
| Seeing Niagara Falls | 19% |
| Visiting the Taj Mahal | 18% |
| Walking the Great Wall of China | 17% |
| Seeing the Petra ruins in Jordan | 13% |
| An African safari | 13% |
| Driving a Californian road trip | 11% |
However, the same survey reveals that people in their mid-life (aged 40-55) expressed a strong desire to see more of the world. The most popular travel ‘hope’ for mid-lifers is seeing the Northern Lights, followed by a visit to the Maldives. A massive 85% of mid-life people say they hope to visit a new country in the next ten to twenty years.
| Travel Experience | % of 40-55 Year Olds Who Hope to Do This |
| Seeing the Northern Lights | 46% |
| Visiting the Maldives | 35% |
| Lying on a beach in the Mediterranean | 33% |
| Seeing Niagara Falls | 30% |
| Going to Disney Land/Disney World | 29% |
| A Californian road trip | 26% |
| Doing a European cruise | 24% |
| Partying in Las Vegas | 23% |
| An African safari | 21% |
| Great Pyramids of Giza | 20% |
| Taj Mahal | 16% |
| Gondola Ride in Venice | 16% |
| Walking the Great Wall of China | 16% |
| Visiting Machu Picchu | 15% |
| Trekking the Inca Trail | 9% |
Michael Edwards, Managing Director at Explore says ‘Everyone at Explore is in complete awe of David Attenborough. His sense of adventure and curiosity has inspired many, and with his final documentary airing we wanted to celebrate his travel achievements. By comparing your own travel history with Attenborough’s, our interactive map provides an original way to inspire people to keep on exploring our incredible planet.
‘With our research showing that so many people over 70 regret not having visited more of the world, we hope our new map encourages travellers to keep on exploring, to keep on discovering new things, and to embrace their inner-David Attenborough.’
For the full survey findings and to learn more about David Attenborough’s travels see www.explore.co.uk/how-david-attenborough-are-you
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