Siobhan a vet from New South Wales in Australia, it's always good to travel with someone who knows one end of a scalpel from another even if it's usually animals she operates on. Siobhan chose to join me for an extreme ride into the icy Arctic, the great ride up to Dead Horse, Alaska, the northernmost settlement that can be reached by road in the Americas. It was a long, cold ride, through snow and ice. dodging bears and moose, camping on frozen tundra - unable to even hammer the tent pegs into the ground.

Maggie in a typical thoughtful moment. Originally from Galway in Ireland, Maggie has ridden across Africa and into the Middle East with me, followed by Central America, Spain and Norway. She is particularly good in her role as the one- woman mobile Diplomatic Corps and her favourite moment...she rode Thelma across Botswana in one day.