The Independent newspaper in the UK run an occasional interview series called ‘My Life In Travel’ in which subjects answer the same list of questions. Among those interviewed have been actor Darryl Hannah, singer, songwriter Katie Melua, BBC Top Gear’s James May, and adventure junky Charley Boorman. Just for fun I thought I would answer their list of questions too.
First holiday memory?
As a family we used to go to farm cottages around Britain. I remember staying at one farm where at the crack of dawn I would jump out of bed to go and ‘help’ the farmer milk the cows.
Best holiday?
That’s a tough call. I think that my ‘Long Way Home‘ tour a couple of years ago would take that title, but in fairness I could name many other great holidays or trips. Like my first trip to India back in 2004 which really left an impression on me. Or the trip I took to Rovinj in Croatia with my brother shortly after his wife died. That was special because it was one of the few times we’ve hung out with one another as friends rather than just siblings.
Favourite place in the British Isles?
The Scottish Highlands are amazing. The landscape up there is awesome and it isn’t overtaken by people, shopping malls, traffic, CCTV cameras, and urban sprawl.
What have you learnt from your travels?
A silly as it may seem, I’ve learned that people do things differently. That is to say that I’ve seen how other cultures approach things and how that’s sometimes entirely different to what I would consider normal.
I’ve also learned that the great stories come from your willingness to be brave and try new things. You can’t get memories like eating food off a banana leaf in a dirty Indian roadside eatery, or skinny dipping in a volcanically heated river on a snow covered mountain in Iceland in winter, without being willing to be a least a little brave.
Ideal travelling companion?
Someone who doesn’t cling to a map or tourist guide like their life depended on it. A person who understands that the adventure doesn’t often come with a timetable or a plan.
Beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?
I like to mix it up. I can do beaches but I couldn’t sit there for long before I’d have to get up and go exploring. I can do culture but I won’t spend time with my head in a book about the place in which I’m standing. I can do adrenalin, but it’ll more likely be a Police ride-along that a bungee jump.
Greatest travel luxury?
Noise canceling headphones! Air travel is just SO much better with these wonders of technology. Even train travel is better with them. I’m yearning for a pair of Bose, but oh the price tag!
Holiday reading?
Truth be known, I’m not much or a reader, but if my flight is upgraded then maybe I’ll be reading some expensive glossy magazine from the business class lounge that I wouldn’t usually buy myself.
Where has seduced you?
I would say that the tropical South Pacific lagoon of Aitutaki seduced me. The unspoiled and near deserted white beaches reaching out into the clear turquoise and sapphire blue water were breath-taking. I spent much of the time I was there just laughing to myself in disbelief that a place this beautiful was actually real and not the photoshopped creation of a brochure selling expensive vacations. India as a country seduced me too with its rich culture and chaotic energy.
Better to travel or to arrive?
I like to travel for sure, but I understand the need to just arrive. Travel can be exhausting and it’s easy to burn out so its imperative that while you’re traveling you take the time to stop, put your stuff down, and be grounded for a while.
Worst travel experience?
When my American friend Becky was detained and deported from the UK on our arrival back from a trip to Croatia. That was truly an awful experience. It was that experience that really crystalized my deep hatred of the UK Border Agency.
Worst holiday?
Leavenworth. The place was this nasty little fake German town in the middle of Washington State. I visited there with someone who clearly didn’t want to be with me and the entire trip was just terrible.
Worst hotel?
The Howard Johnson Hotel in Bremeton, also in Washington State. This place was so disgusting and nasty that I refused to stay there. It was in the worst state of neglect I have ever seen.
Best hotel?
I could say Hotel 71 right in the heart of Chicago, or the Royal Sonesta on Burbon Street, New Orleans, or the amazing tree house in the Northern Californian woods. However, I am going to say the White Eagle Saloon in Portland.
It could have been a contender for the worst hotel honor too. It was small, basic, and a very loud band played well into the small hours of the night right beneath the hotel room causing everything to constantly shudder. I don’t know how I found sleep there, but I will say it was the best hotel because staying there was just hilarious, and fun.
Favourite walk/swim/ride/drive?
My Greyhound bus ride across the United States from California to Washington DC and back again. My only regret about that trip is that I wasn’t writing much back then and I wasn’t brave enough to photograph life on the bus. The stories from that journey alone could be a book.
Best meal abroad?
That would be a mountainous lobster platter ‘Posh’ and I shared in a little back street restaurant in Brussels. I’m not sure it was the best food I ever tasted, but it was the first time I had ever eaten lobster and the process, with the special utensils, was a lot of fun.
First thing you do when you arrive somewhere new?
Check my email. I know it’s not cool though I suspect it’s more common than we’d like to admit.
Dream trip?
I’ve long wanted to travel across America in various different modes of transport. A bus, a Harley, a classic car, a combine harvester, a crop duster, whatever. It would be cool to take the time to travel from one coast to the next taking in various means of travel and experiencing the lives of the people along the way. I have a similar variation of this dream now traveling from Australia to England.
Favourite city?
I won’t pick one because great cities are like the great people you meet. They have their charm, the stuff that makes them interesting, and to compare them would somehow do a disservice to them all.
Where next?
Watch this space!
What about you? Taking those questions, or a selection of them, how about your life in travel?
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Wrote the following comment on Sep 24, 2010 at 10:25 pm
I have had the good fortune to experience Aitutaki, it is truly a magical place. Skinny dipping in Iceland was a great experience, even if you did leave your hat on :-)
I doubt I would have been so brave to travel to the places I have over the last few years if you hadn’t inspired me to do so. Thanks matey.
Some of the things on my todo list for the next few years.
Travel to Russia by train
Visit Australia (and visit Aitutaki again on the way back)
Travel the Arctic circle by dog sled.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 25, 2010 at 2:48 am
So wait a second … In recent posts I’ve learned that you like to relax solo in candle lit bubble baths, you enjoy listening the Venga Boys and Tiffany, and from Wilvo’s comment it would appear that the two of you spent a little quality time naked together in a icelandic river.
Uh ha.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 25, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Braden, there were 2 Russian girls there too ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Sep 25, 2010 at 6:55 pm
LOL! Naked in a hot river with two Russian girls! Heck, I might give this bravery lark a go! :-)
Wrote the following comment on Sep 25, 2010 at 9:04 pm
That Iceland trip was good fun, shame we didn’t see the Northern lights.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 25, 2010 at 11:11 pm
I love traveling and i want to travel as much as i can because traveling is my hobby…:)
Wrote the following comment on Sep 26, 2010 at 12:47 am
I enjoyed reading this Simon. I think your answers are quite revealing.
I’ll take a question then.
Where has seduced you?
Belize. I first started visiting this place regularly back when it was still a British colony. (It got independence in 81) For a central American twist on the Caribbean vacation, its hard to beat Belize.
It’s a popular place for American tourists, but find your way to the remote southern Toledo region which is just wondrous. It’s probably not unlike your Aitutaki Simon, I am quite sure you would love it.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 26, 2010 at 3:32 am
Naked Russian girls huh? Ooooookay then.
Worst Hotel
Pacific Sands Motel, Santa Monica, California. A budget hotel that smelled like a jail cell! It was nasty!!
Best Hotel
Hotel Anticos Palathos Orosei, Sardinia. I think we hit the jackpot with this stunning hotel overlooking the main piazza of Orosei, a small town on the east coast of Sardinia.
Favourite walk/swim/ride/drive?
Trekking to the summit of Gunung Rinjani, the tallest mountain in Indonesia. It took 4 days and was pretty hard going at times, but so worth it.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 26, 2010 at 3:34 pm
The Russian girls were charming young ladies. There really isn’t much more to say other than that.
@ Sindy – I’ve heard that Belize is amazing. It’s on my list and I’ll certainly take your advice about Southern Toledo.
@ Prop19 – I found the website for Hotel Anticos Palath in Sardinia, look really great. Love the wood. I’ve got a thing for wood :-)
Wrote the following comment on Sep 27, 2010 at 1:49 pm
My best holiday memory is probably a terrible cliche, but it was an Ibiza sunrise we watched on the beach after a long night of clubbing. We were still in our clubbing getup, but it was a wonderful chill to just sit there and watch the sky change colours.
Worst travel experience was being touched in a not good way by a really creepy taxi driver in Turkey. I told him to stop the taxi so I could get out and he said that if I did that he would drive off with my luggage. It was really nasty. But he stopped when my anger turned to tears. He was just touching my leg, but it horrible. I should never have got in the front, but that’s what we do here in Scotland so I thought nothing of it.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 27, 2010 at 2:17 pm
@ Hannah – And Turkish men wonder why they have such a bad reputation! I’m sorry that happened to you. You Ibiza sunrise sounded cool though.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 27, 2010 at 4:05 pm
That website of your worst hotel is shocking!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 3, 2010 at 2:37 pm
My dream trip?
Space. The final frontier.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 5, 2010 at 1:48 am
Better to travel or to arrive? The best is when you are traveling without an arrival destination; with a charming companion that likes to stop along the journey and surprise you with spectacular scenery or a quaint town with accents you can only smile and nod at; and “arrival” is only defined by the time you must return to your ordinary life.
Unless you are traveling to New Orleans…then definately arrival and being there is far better than the travel.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 10, 2010 at 4:35 am
I think it’s funny that you consider my deportation as your worst travel experience. I definitely think that it was worse for you than it was for me. You were amazing for doing what you did and you will always be considered amazing by my family and friends (and I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong).
I’m so annoyed that 2 of your “worst” experiences have been in my home state and your favorite hotel is in goddam PDX. That WAS a pretty cool hotel, though.
We share a “dream trip” as you know and I still might do the tour in my VW bus next year en route to the east coast and watch a lot of Charley Boorman, Ewan McGregor, Kevin McCloud and Benedict Cumberbatch beforehand.
Anyway, I loved this post and on a side note, GO MARK WEBBER! Hopefully next week we will be celebrating his win.