‘Bucket List Holidays’
Our magazine this week is counting down to ‘Bucket List Holidays’ I’m not expecting to kick that one anytime soon but that doesn’t mean my mind never wanders there when it comes to travel. To be honest though, when I do have a little think about travel these days its coupled with not just location but the people, I want to share that with and funnily enough my sister and I have been discussing the very topic. Since Mum died, we want to take our 90 year old Dad on a few adventures. We know Brian inside out, his passions, hobbies, likes and dislikes and after putting them all into the mix we’ve come up with three all of which we fully intend on making happen. One is within our own glorious country and the other two will need a passport but not very far away.
When I competed in Celebrity SAS with Ant Middleton and his crew 3 years ago – I know, what was I thinking?
We were plopped down into our exhilarating torcher chamber on the Island of Rassay in the Scottish Highlands, it sits between the mainland and the isle of Sky. During the journey part plane, part road and finally a boat all I could think about was how, as a teenager I’d complained to the point of parental abuse to my parents when they dragged me there for holidays. Even the new Afghan coat I was sporting and bell bottoms in Donny Osmond’s favourite colour purple and the Jackie Annual I was reading in the car could not put a smile on my face. Now with adult eyes all I could see was exciting, stunning, wild, craggy, beauty so as a way of grovelling apology to Dad I need to return with a smile on my face. The other two involving a passport are on the same theme Dad studied geology at university in the 50’s I only managed ‘O’ Level but growing up went on many excavations searching for fossils and by osmosis have a sound understanding of our Geological history so next Iceland. Presenting holiday programmes like ‘Wish You Were Here’ means you visit a vast number of locations - approximately 23 a year for me - all for a very short time although enough to work out the ones you’d like to return to.
Iceland for a Geologist is spectacular its volcanic plateau is erupting constantly, it has lava fields, mountains, glaciers, and glacial rivers flowing into the sea.
Finally, if he’s not too fed up with me and my Sister, it’s the Norwegian Fiords. I first learnt of their existence going to see in 1970 the film ‘A Song of Norway’. It’s about the early struggles of composer Edvard Grieg’s attempts to develop an authentic Norwegian national music. I was plainly dragged along and would have preferred ‘Love Story’ which came out the same year but the scenery stayed in my mind although to be honest it is a love story between Grieg, his music and his wife Nina. If you can find the film either on a download or DVD bought through Amazon, I’ll bet after seeing those stunning fiords it’ll be on your Bucket List.