The Warm Winds of Summer

An inspiration to travel started in 1950, when a schoolfriend suggested a cycling trip to Normandy and back. We travelled from Dieppe to Paris and back, hitting the pedals hard and staying in youth hostels overnight; a modest trip by today's standards but we were to witness the devastation left in the aftermath of the War which was only slowly being made good.

Subsequent overseas ventures embraced different parts of Europe, North America, Russia and the Far East, all of which had their tale to tell. My son and family lived in Hong Kong for 25 years and bought a holiday home on the island of Bali eventually, embracing the Indian ocean. They thought of keeping a Komodo dragon in the back garden but when they contemplated the food bill they changed their mind!

Travel is an enquiry in the world; life and livelihoods are much the same wherever you go although different people and cultures give variety to these activities through habits and history. Today my holiday activities are constrained to a sandy beach on a Mediterranean shoreline with endless days of warm sunshine, a day a bit drive from the Home Country.