The last few years. There’s a beauty to getting to an age where you really don’t care about stuff that used to bother you.
When were you happiest?
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
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In 1982, having travelled for three years to do the first journey around the earth on its polar axis. Charles Burton and I were trying to get from the north pole down to our ship on the edge of the Arctic Sea. We had to float for three months on a diminishing ice floe. Eventually we had to leave the floe and try to get to the ship in canoes with skis under them. In the maze of broken ice we saw its masts on the horizon. That second was probably my happiest moment.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 May 2008 source ↗
Others on this question
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Johnny Flynn
British actor and musician
When I was about eight, by a river waiting for my dad to finish fishing, eating a Mars bar, drinking a can of Coke and listening to Beat It by Michael Jackson on my Walkman. I remember feeling I couldn’t be happier.
Patrisse Khan-Cullors
American artist and activist
In elementary school. I loved learning.
Vinnie Jones
English professional footballer and actor
In 1988, when the final whistle went in the FA Cup final and we beat Liverpool.
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