You're filming a BBC series on battlefields; does that give you a good excuse to travel?

Yes, we went to Korea, Vietnam and Russia and we're about to visit Hawaii, the Middle East and the Falklands. These are the great battles of the 20th century and it just so happens that they're in interesting places. In Vietnam the assistant producer and I stayed on after the shoot and did all the tourist stuff, going to the Mekong Delta and up to the spectacular highlands in North Vietnam where the Montenyard people live. And of course we went to Halong Bay, where those James Bond-style islands jut out of the sea. The tourism industry there is nascent and you just pay a fisherman to take you out in his boat. I'd never been to Asia before. I've always avoided the area because of the whole gap year thing, but I'm now its latest convert.

Of all the filming locations, which was your favourite?

Stalingrad (now Volgograd) was special. You feel the scars are still there on the city. I was in the flat of a veteran of the battle and he taught me how to drink vodka properly - you eat gherkins, sausage and pig's fat with it. The fat looks like cheese and I took a huge bite. I thought I was going to die. It was swilling around my mouth and the only thing to drink was vodka. It was a hideous experience! You have to give a little speech each time you drink. By the fourth or fifth even the Brits started making emotional speeches.

Has travel always been a part of your life?

Both my parents are journalists so travel was natural, even if it was just driving around western Europe in the car. Dad also had a small boat so we used to do a lot of sailing around France. I'd never been on a beach holiday or any holiday where you stayed in one place more than three nights until I was about 20. I still can't quite understand why people would want to go somewhere for two weeks and just sit.

Have you ever lived abroad?

I lived in Africa for eight months helping to rebuild a game park in Zambia. We were working on stopping poaching, getting the game numbers up and rebuilding the lodge on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. My mother's Canadian so I've also spent time out in the Canadian Rockies in the Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia too. It's the most beautiful place I've ever been. Every day you're out hiking, climbing, fishing and skiing in the winter. I worked there washing dishes and doing some guiding at a family-run place where I've now become a regular.

And you've sailed across the Atlantic too ...

I used to sail when I was younger and always had a dream of doing a big trip. My sister Kate, my cousin Alex, my Dad and I decided to do the Atlantic. We sailed down to the Canary Islands then began the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. It's for people who are a bit scared of crossing the Atlantic alone. About 200 people set off in a giant flotilla all shouting good luck to each other on the start line. But within three hours the fleet spreads out and you can't see a single boat - you get a real sense of the Atlantic's size. It took 17 days to cross. There was a big storm for the first three days and then each day it started to get a bit warmer as we headed south. You sit reading on deck with a fishing line in the water catching tuna. Every December there is a huge meteor shower and I remember being on night watch looking up at the stars and seeing shooting stars one after another. It was great.

· Dan Snow has written the foreword to 'Battle', published by Dorling Kindersley on 6 October