Don Riddell, CNN's London-based sports anchor and the host of the network's "Living Golf" show, had a whirlwind visit to Bangkok last week for the Royal Trophy tournament.

Unfortunately CNN's post-New Year schedule is so tight that he didn't get here until the event was almost over.

"I played golf a bit and did some work with CNN clients," he said. "I filmed the show and met with some of the golfers on the European team."

But travelling around Asia is pretty commonplace for Riddell, even if his visits to each country are swift and most of his time is spent on planes.

Riddell loves travel and considers himself lucky to be able to do so for a living. In compensation for the lack of sleep and other tribulations of the road, he tries to find the humour in any given situation.

"What's fun about travelling is when things go wrong - it's like an adventure for me. It's fun when a taxi driver takes you to the wrong place, for example. For me, that's more fun than easy travel, and it actually does broaden the mind, as people say."

Riddell's main domain is "World Sports", the 30-minute sports news segment broadcast live from London five mornings a week. Because it's live he prefers to present it in his own way, so he does the scriptwriting.

"Living Golf" gives the big names of the game the feature treatment, with a nod to stylish living.

Riddell has been a sports reporter ever since he graduated in public media, communications and cultural studies from Leeds University in 1997. He started out at Yorkshire Television operating the camera and editing tape before joining the on-air sports team.

A year after he began presenting the sports updates on air he was invited to a reception for young achievers at Buckingham Palace. Among the other up-and-comers greeted by Queen Elizabeth was a rookie footballer who was going places named Michael Owen.

Riddell, 25 at the time, claims he doesn't really know exactly why he was chosen for the royal privilege. But thinking back on it a decade later prompts him to assess himself today. He says with a grin, "I think I'm still young.

"And I'm now having fun with all my jobs in sport. But perhaps I might shift to another area one day, because live news broadcasting always intrigues me."

This travelling man has good reason to consider something a bit more stationary: He's the father of five-month-old twin boys.

"My family has led me to discover the value of time and discipline in life, and now I don't want to waste any time in a day. I get up at 4, arrive at the CNN offices in Oxford Circus at 5 to write my script, and start the live show at 9.

"I plan my day, like having my own tick box, and tick out what I've done, and I'm home early to be with my family."

The rest of his seven-hour day at the office is spent preparing for upcoming shows. Beyond the office, the laptop is kept busy. He enjoys writing, and occasionally pens profiles of sports stars for CNN. The articles are distributed to newspapers worldwide.

Some aspects of his interviews, he says, "can't be presented on the television, and I really love to write.

"Like my interview with Tiger Woods in Dubai - it's very impressive for me to be in his world for 30 minutes. That's something I need to write about in order to properly convey my impressions, and my articles for CNN appear everywhere. Even my parents on holiday in Malaysia saw my name in the newspaper, which is great!"

Planning future shows involves picking the sports personalities who Riddell and his team want to get to, but not everyone is keen to make time for interviews. Setting up appointments can be aggravating, but hopefully the results will be worthwhile.

"I've arranged another interview with Tiger Woods in the next two weeks. He's the father of a baby now, and also he's about to open his first golf course in Dubai, so I think it's an interesting story for us."

Does his job come up all the time in conversations with friends?

"It's impossible not to sound like I'm bragging," he says with a shake of the head. "Other people just send e-mails and do meetings, but I meet Tiger Woods at a beautiful golf course! I prefer to understate my work in my social life - probably it's typically British to do that."

It's the British way too, he notes with a laugh, that if you score a hole-in-one on the links, you have to buy everyone at the clubhouse a drink. In China, he says, you have to buy them dinner!

"And it seems like you have to invite as many people as possible to the dinner to celebrate. So Chinese golfers have to have some sort of insurance in case you land a hole-in-one.

"I once went to a restaurant and the whole place was filled with people celebrating a golfer's hole-in-one. This is interesting golf culture, I think!"

Vipasai Niyamabha

 The Nation