JENNY

What was your last overseas holiday or time you went travelling?

I think it was too Sicily.

What was the reason or draw of travelling to Sicily? Was it due to a review you had read or something another person had said?

It was the scenery. A television programme, which had shown the stunning scenery.

So you saw this on TV did you go on any websites or use any travel agents?

We are particular drawn to a travel company. We have been with them on numerous other occasions. As we thought we would like to go to Sicily we had a look in their travel brochure to see what they were offering.

What company was this?

Riviera.

Thank you. Does their brochure have a travel guide?

No, it just really had details about what each day entailed. What the accommodation was and how many meals there were each day. It was really based on previous experience when we went with them on a holiday to Spain. We had a particularly good trip and so thought they would be a good company to go with again.

So they were reliable. Obviously you booked through them and used their brochure. Did you use any other source of information or did you look online prior to traveling with them?

Umm, no in fact I wish with hindsight I regretted not learning more about Sicily and learning more about the places we were going to. I can’t remember whether it was it was just leaving it all just to them or assuming whether when we got there we would of picked up on the interesting points. But with hindsight I wish we had learnt more about Sicily before we went.

With Hindsight would you normally have bought a guide book or looked online before you went?

Yes, I’d bought a guide book definitely or borrowed one from the local library. And probably would of looked online to see now knowing where we were going to read up in more depth about the places.

Moving away from the trip to Sicily holiday. Is there a dream trip you would like to still go on?

Well I have always thought it would be good to go to the North or South Pole. Having had a cold long weekend in Iceland. I don’t know whether that it is a dream that still appeals.

Thinking about planning a future trip not necessarily a trip to the North or South Pole how would you go about planning another trip overseas, say a long weekend or holiday for one or two weeks? If you were not going to go with Riviera?

It would start with somewhere that would interest us. That had aspects of scenery that we would like to see or places I wanted to see. Places like the Baltic I find attractive and the Scandinavian countries so uh. Starting of with somewhere you like to go to and start researching, age comes into the equation now. What you are capable of doing and what you can manage. A manageable holiday but still seeing the countries you want to.

When you start looking for inspiration and information where do you look for your initial resources?

Probably on the Internet.

Internet, do you have any preference on the internet?

I’d probably just Google the different places and see what Google offered. Then go through the sites.

Our friend Google?

Yes, however you can’t discount other people talking about holidays. Obviously this is a big influence. People tell you they have been to certain places and have enjoyed it. Aspects of their holidays that were good then you think that you might quite like that.

So personal recommendation is quite high?

Yes personal recommendation is very high.

When you are looking at booking a holiday do you like to book everything altogether? Flights, hotel, travel, insurance etc. Or do you shop around to get the best deals?

No I normally like something that is all-inclusive. Apart from insurance which we would probably do ourselves.

When you say all-inclusive, do you want the day trips, excursions included also? Or is something that has changed overtime.

Yes that has changed overtime. In former years I would not want too much arranged. Options are good so you can either join a group going somewhere or do your own thing. Or a degree of freedom to explore places even if there are trips you are given time to do your own exploring. Not everything laid out on a plate.

You would like activities prearranged there but options to attend or do your own thing?

Yes.

Thinking in the past when you were younger. Would there be anything you would of booked once in the destination. Compared to now that you have had a family and are older is there anything that you would of saved until you were settled into your destination?

No, I preferred to do that once I got there and talked to people who had been to see various parts. Then book to do that yourself or just go where the spirit took you.

So it is more just as you got older you preferred prearranged holidays. Compared to when you were younger you were happy to go with the flow?

Yes when you are younger you know you are capable of coping with whatever is presented. As you get older you need to know what it is going to entail with regard to terrain and everything else.

If you returned to Sicily or went on a similar holiday what type of resource, Guide Book or App, would you take and how could this help you enjoy your holiday better?

I think the main trouble was how the tour was organised. The hotels were not positioned in places where you could go out in the evening and feel the atmosphere of the place. All the meals were in the hotels so there was no chance to go out and choose where you ate. That in fact when we arrived which was a very poor part of the holiday you were not able to access anything out of hours. So when you came back from a trip there was nothing apart from the hotel grounds so you couldn’t see anything under your own steam.

So it felt a bit contained?

Yes if I went back I would want to stay in the middle of a Sicilian town or somewhere so that in the evenings you could just mingle with the locals.

In the past when you have had guidebooks how have you used these for planning your holiday?

Yes a good example when we used a guidebook travelling around New Zealand. We used it for our whole trip. It was invaluable as nothing was booked until we got there other apart from the first couple of nights. Everyday you could decide where you wanted to go and where you would stay.

What guidebook did you use for New Zealand?

Lonely Planet.

Did you find the information up to date?

Yes it was really good. It made suggestions off track. Explore things just short routes off the main road you were driving. So as you were driving you could make decisions to explore something that was explained in the book that sounded interesting. We did this all the time it was excellent.

Did you find the book was sufficient? Or did you need the Internet at all?

No the book was great. I don’t think we used the web at all.

Did you just call ahead for accommodation?

We just called ahead for our next accommodation.

It was the total freedom of the holiday. You felt as you had basic things booked the rest was free to do what you liked.

Did you have full trust in the book?

Yes, we also had a great map.

So a good guidebook and map was essential for a good trip?

Yes.

Anna

When was the last time you travelled overseas?

It was July/August 2019.

Where did you go?

The Artic, I went up the Svalbard.

Wow, not where I was expecting.

They didn’t have much snow.

Not much snow? Its probably a better time to?

Yes

What drew you to go there? How you seen a tv show or something online?

I wanted to do something with my sister. She has a condition which will become terminal. And on her bucket list she wanted to see polar bears. So we went up there to see them.

Did you see them?

Yes we did. They were fantastic. We saw a lot of things, a lot of wildlife.

Did you see the Northern Lights?

No, not at this time of year as it we had 24 hours daylight.

You get a lot for your money if there is 24 hours daylight.

Yes it’s a good way to get the most out of your holiday and spending a lot of money.

When planning a holiday like this do you have any preferred resource for booking a trip.

We just went online and scouted around what there was that was available and what there was in our price range.

Do you rely on any reviews? Or more on just what was available and in your price range?

My sister had probably used some sort of thing that had been in The Times. I had been looking in other places. Then she came up with this particular one and suggested we look in to it. When she started talking to the guy who was running it he said we could wait till next year or there are still spaces this year. We were only looking in June and we went in July. Very short notice.

Great that you managed to fit it in considering the trip probably would not have happened in 2020.

Yes, we wouldn’t have gone otherwise. So it worked out.

Do you have any dream destinations or if you could travel this year where would you go?

We have just had a trip cancelled to the Holy Land. We were going to go to the Holy Land. That was postponed from last year but now they have cancelled it. We were planning a trip up the Norwegian Coast. Not on the ship that is like the local bus that goes up and down the coast each day. There is a cruise that is a natural history cruise and it calls into specific ports and give you more time to explore. They also have a room called a science room onboard that allows you explore more about the wildlife and the natural history of the area.

So it’s more of a specific interest cruise. How do you go about finding a cruise like this? Was that on similar sites you normally visit?

No, this trip was a bit different. I have been up the Norwegian coast before so knew about the ferry that goes up and down each day. However when they stop in the ports for only 40 minutes which is not that long to go sightseeing. So I was hesitant about booking this. They sent me information about a new boat that they had just refurbished and were anticipating sending up and down on more of a wildlife cruise kind of thing. So it was more about knowing the company beforehand but it was very much sort of looking at their website and seeing what they had. How you could, it was possible to use the boat that goes up and down everyday you can get off at one point and wait for the next boat or travel overland. So I was looking at options. But it would be much easier as Gordon doesn’t like travelling very much to be on a boat that takes you to the places you want to go.

Do you prefer a trip that is all planned out?

It is much easier when a trip is all organised and planned out. When I went up the Norwegian coast before we didn’t have anything planned but we got off wherever. However I was in my early 20’s back then. We were getting off at all the ports. The ports were all in the grottiest parts of the town. By the time you had walked to the interesting part of town you had to head back to catch the boat. But to be on something I think this cruise would be more like we have the day here so there is a walking tour, or there is a mini bus to take you round or you can explore on your own. It would be bit more leisurely but we could probably fit in things that we wanted to do as opposed to being just taken around yet on the other hand you would still have that introduction such as a walking tour so you could at least then know what you wanted to go back and have another look at.

Compared to when you were younger do you prefer to buy your holidays in a package rather than booking everything separately?

Currently yes. I think now what they are pre booked expeditions or whatever you know what the cost is going to be before you go. You are not going to be landed with an extra cost when you get there. Generally they seem to know where to go and how to get there and how long you need to see whatever it is. We have not done a lot in that way, however it seems to work. With my anxiety levels now it is easier now for someone else to do all this planning.

Compared to how you used to travel when you were younger. How did you used to plan your holidays when you were younger?

I think it was much more planning on the hoof. Aw there is an opportunity to go to this. That sounds great lets go and try that.

Was this from other travellers recommendations, travel guidebook or tourist information?

Mainly just from talking to people who you met. Have you seen so and so you really should go and see that. They would say there is a bus that goes there. Oh we have a free day so lets do that tomorrow.

Personal recommendation had a lot of weight?

That was pre-internet and the places I was travelling to that were not in the guidebooks. So sometimes you had to rely on people to suggest where to go. Just people being very helpful wherever you went.

I guess you get some sort of honesty from people when you see them face-to-face.

Now traveling to destinations such as the Artic or up the Norwegian Coast. Do you follow what you should be doing or check in online or in a guidebook to see what they should be doing each day. Do you check in on what you should be doing in each place?

The cruise we went on was absolutely brilliant. It was fairly basic in many ways but every day they put up the plan for what was happening. You could join whatever took your fancy. They also did a summary each evening of what you have done. A lot of it was going out in small crafts so you could get close to the glaciers. So you had to be in a certain place at a certain time if you wanted to do it. You were either there or not so no pressure you have just missed your chance.

So, quite a relaxed company?

Yes exactly. At one point there was a Fin whale in the sea and it was travelling quite fast. The captain just decided, even though it was in the middle of our meal, to follow this whale. Everyone just left their meals and went to the windows to see the whale. The staff just understood that the customers would be away from their table and they would offer to warm up food if required. They seemed quite used to this and super flexible to work around the change of plans.

They seemed used to this?

Yeah they seemed quite used to this. There was one point when we were following this polar bear. It was on land and we were in a small craft. We went over the time we were meant to be out in the water. So when we returned we had missed lunch however this wasn’t a problem they still served us. They didn’t stick to a set schedule, which was great. It was a very relaxed very much you can do it if you want to. Giving us the information to make the decision as we went along. Sometimes there were a couple of things going on at the same time and you could choose what you did. Generally there was a lot of information onboard. We did take guidebooks, which did give us some added background. They didn’t help with making decisions, as we were limited to what was on offer.

Looking at the trip to the Holy Land that has been cancelled. Have you been there before?

Yes I have been there before but in a very different experience. However Gordon has not and does not like travelling so much. This was going to be staying in one place like a retreat so not moving around and would suit Gordon more.

How did you find out about this was it through a recommendation?

I knew the company that was organising the overall flights and everything. I knew someone who had done something similar before. I had been to the Holy Land but Gordon hadn’t and regretted maybe not having gone before. When I mentioned this trip he sounded like it would be one he could enjoy so I booked through this company I had been with before.

Shaun

Where was the last overseas holiday or trip that you took?

The last overseas trip I took was in the Netherlands but I wouldn’t call that a trip.

How do you go about planning your trips over to Netherlands or elsewhere?

I normally use Google Flights and 9/10 ill fly Easyjet. I will normally fly from Edinburgh. That’s because I can get a flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam for £30 and if I flew from Inverness and there are direct flights from Inverness with KLM for £180. So I just view it as that I need to go down to Edinburgh so all in to go down to Edinburgh from Inverness is about 4 hours. The way I see it is 4 hours of my time is worth less than £150.

So you know what your worth?

Yes I know my worth, I know how little I am worth.

You have travelled to the Netherlands quite a bit? Did you start travelling when you were studying in London?

The first time I went to the Netherlands was in 2016 or 2017 when I was studying in London. I went over to see my friend Ruud. I was studying with him in London and he was over every other week anyway. I thought it would be nice to go over and meet his family. I think that was with British Airways and nothing expensive like £20 each way. Super cheap, half an hour flight, so I just did that. I really liked it over there and after we finished studying I then had a couple of art shows over there. And yeah just started going back and forth to there.

What did you do whilst you were over there to plan restaurants or places to go and see?

When I started I was staying with Ruud and his family a lot so they would look after me and suggest places to go and see. But then when I was in Amsterdam I would book on Hostelworld.com and there were a couple of hostels I liked which were nice and chilled. They were a little bit better than some of the dank horrid central places they were an extra 10 euros more but were a little more chill and clean. Good not to be surround by people out of their heads all the time.

How did you find out about places to see in the cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam? Did you use guidebooks, from Ruud or places you were staying?

Taking advice from friends mainly and also looking up on Google search. Quickly having a scan and not sticking to tourist recommendations and I give them a quick scan and acknowledge what they have to say. Its then banked and I try not to stick too much to that. The other times I was over there in that period before we moved over with my pal Daryl and another pal or ours Wilem. We went over to ADE and Amsterdam electronic dance event and a lot of that was booked online with Resident Advisor and seeing what gigs were on. We then booked accommodation well Daryl did through Air B’n’B.

Where else have you been travelling recently?

Yes recently I have been to Cuba in 2018 I think.

Did you plan that in a similar way?

Well that was planned in a different way as the internet there is not such a thing. We did that in a different way. We booked the flights kind a separately and we flew to Holguin in the East through Thomas Cook, RIP.. Flew in to Holguin and then it was very ad hoc. We booked the first couple of nights accommodation and then the rest we did as we went along.

Did you rely on the locals or did you have a guidebook?

Yes I had a guidebook. I took a Lonely Planet guidebook. As there is no internet in the air. To get the internet you have to go to a phoneshop and wait in a queue and get a scratch card and type in this code. You would get an hour of internet but you had to stand in a specific spot in a public square. It will only work in that square and it will only last an hour. The places we were in none really had any internet either. It was a really different experience so we did that as we went a long just staying in casas and b’n’bs. A couple of times we booked up through Air B’n’bs and sometimes it was just down to speaking to locals. They would want your money for them to get a foreign western person that can pay them its like a months governments pay. So sometimes a person would take you to their family friend who would put you up. Its so cheap anyway. Most of bus travel we would just buy in person just buying it at the bus station and find out what was happening and leap frogged around the country. It was very pre-internet with little splashes of internet. A bit like the 1980’s or whatever.

A bit like dropping off the grid?

Yes absolutely.

Do you like to plan most trips before you travel? Or are you happy to make arrangements once you arrive in a destination?

I’d say a mix, actually Cuba was an ideal blend. The first three nights were booked and we had these arranged, pre-booked 2 nights in one place then the third night somewhere else. Then we had sketched out penciled in the towns we would then go and the accommodation and the tickets were not booked. We knew where we wanted to end up but what was in between was unplanned. I wouldn’t want to arrive without anything planned as that would of be stressful.

How long were you there for?

About 2 weeks just over 2 weeks.

Its nice to get yourself settled in the country and then figure out the rest.

Exactly.

When you are in the country what would you say is your favoured source of information? Internet, people or local tourist information.

I normally would use the internet however I’d say the guidebook for Cuba. As we didn’t have the internet. It was handy to have that and when we arrived in a town we could just flick a page and find out where to go. If there had been internet then we would of probably used that more than a guidebook.

Was the guidebook useful however did you find the information?

Umm yeah, we used it because we had to there. However they can get dated quite fast. Even if they are 2 years since they were printed then information can be out of date pretty fast. We didn’t have that issue luckily.

Yes quite easy for it to happen with opening times or dates being out of date.

Exactly, Cuba is a bit different however when you have access to your phone and the internet you know the first couple of searches will be quite current and when they were published. 2014 this information might be a little dated.

Would you just Google or do you go onto a specific website, Forum?

I usually just Google. I haven’t done this for a while however I sometimes just put a tweet out or on Instagram and see what people recommend for say Berlin. Leave up to people and sometimes people come back to you with where to eat or what clubs or an art show.

Are there any dream places you would like to go once lockdown has ended?

Ah tough one South Georgia by the Falklands or Antarctica. Or even the Falklands. Although that is a rigmarole to get there well even the Falklands would be difficult to get there. I don’t much fancy getting an RAF flight. All these places, prohibitive places. I would like to Greenland.

Alison

Where was your last overseas holiday or trip?

Last overseas holiday was Lake Tahoe and San Francisco.

With regards to that trip would you go back there?

Yes, I would go back to both. The trouble is there are too many other places I want to see. So I probably wont go back.

How did you go about planning your trip to the USA?

Ummm, yes so considering dates with Helen (who she was going to visit). Looking at flights. It was mainly online kind of looking using Kayak.com and different comparison sites for flights. In terms of trying to find, oh I used Air Bnb for accommodation. But for itinerary wise I didn’t do much for Lake Tahoe as Helen was going to be my guide. But San Francisco I looked online I think on Trip Advisor mainly. I also got a little guidebook.

What guidebook did you take?

Mmmm not sure I think it was DK Witness. I don’t really remember the name but I think that is my favourite one. Definitely wasn’t Rough Guide or the other main one.

Why did you like the DK Guide?

I prefer it as it has better pictures. The other two are more intense. Small print and less enjoyable.

Is it more for the inspiration?

Yes inspiration the visual idea of what I am going to prioritise.

How do you get inspired for a new place to visit? Is it from TV, Youtub, online or newspaper?

It would probably be a mixture, visual stimulus. TV programme, online or a friend’s photo on Facebook. That then inspires me to look further into the place. It makes me think of how good it would be good to take a photograph of the place.

What would a dream destination be for you?

Cuba is up there at the moment.

Have you seen some visuals or photos of the place?

Yes the look of the main city, I can’t remember it just now.

Havana

Yes Havana that’s it. Its got a real retro vibe to it with amazing graffiti. Kind of, that urban. I like the mixture of the lovely beaches there but also has the urban side to it which I like also. Places to chill out and places to take photos also.

Good comment and some sun for you.

Absolutely. Yes well Japan and New Zealand are up there as well. But they are probably my top three.

Your round the world trip?

Yes.

If you were to plan a trip to one of those destinations how far in advance would you start?

Probably about a year in advance ish. We tend to be controlled by school holidays and thinking which school holiday would be best one to go. Depending on where the destination was we would have to decide what the best time of the year to go. It would probably have to be a summer holiday for some of the longer destinations. And then it would be thinking about booking flights and accommodation and then I could get into the enjoyable bit of actually planning what I am going to do on different days what are the priorities to see. I really enjoy coming up with plans whilst Kit is a bit more spontaneous and is a bit more spur of the moment. I quite like a bit of research.

That leads on to the next question of how much would you plan prior to arrival and how much would you wing it once you arrive in the country?

I would have a top, a list of the things I definitely wanted to see. And perhaps have a sense of um, as I need to rest quite a bit around doing things so I would space things out over the time I was there. I would have a doing day and then a chill out day. Then I would have a look at a map and see what makes sense in terms of geographically. Yeah so kind of be, I would leave some space just for if when we got there that there was just something we just came across that sounded really good. Prioritise the absolute main must do things and have a sense of how that might fit and be the best use of time. But it certainly wouldn’t be planned out day by day.

How about planning transport and how you would be getting around in the destination? Would you book meals and activities prior to travelling?

Yes we might book a rental car before we travel. However we wouldn’t book a restaurant or anything like that that would be a spur of the moment decision, spontaneous. We would do that on the day and if we were walking past a place and it looked good.

How would you do this would you do any research whilst on holiday such as using the internet or a tourist information?

Yes, no definitely now that wifi is easier to access abroad. Um yeah just to get the details that it is open on the day. Before we turn up. Like with some countries their art galleries are closed on Mondays. Yes so really making the most of the details before we head off, or the night before. Or if we had a few days to spare then just to see if there was anything else that took our fancy.

Do you normally take a guidebook on these trips? Such as a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide?

Yes, I like to get one of these a few months before I go away and reading it, being a bit of a geek. I find it part of the holiday the researching and it helps with getting excited.

So in some ways you use it for your research and planning not just on the holiday?

Absolutely, it helps me find out what to do.

Do you watch any Youtube or read any forums?

Only Trip Advisor really. I tend to put in the location and it comes up with the top 50 things to see in that place. And then people have rated it and left comments. And I go down those to check whether it stands up for being that good. I find that quite helpful.

So you find actual travellers reviews useful for rating whether a place is worth visiting?

Yeah, what its like in reality.

When you are booking trips or dinners do you book them when you are there or through Trip Advisor or something similar?

Yes when we were in Montenegro. I think we booked Kits Game of Thrones tour through Trip Advisor. Something’s come up with a deal so we sometimes use another site. Trip Advisor sometimes comes up with experiences and actually on our honeymoon on Air bnb it came up with experiences so we have booked an afternoon with naughty sheep.

So suggestions are quite important

Yes suggestions are really useful and we will go through that site to book that. Otherwise we will just book direct with the experience. However I don’t think we have ever booked a restaurant in advance we have just rocked up.

So it depends on whether something catches your attention or not, otherwise you just wait until you are in the country?

Yes occasionally I think, oh I know when we went to Barcelona I booked the Segrada Familia tour well trip that goes up to the rooftop because it was cheaper and more guaranteed that you would not risk that there would not being any tickets if you did not book in advance. This was recommended to avoid being disappointed.

In a normal year how often would you look to book a holiday?

Without Covid we would look to travel overseas at least once a year and another longer trip in the UK. However we have been trying to get away once a month to still feel like we are living..

Orlando

When was the last overseas trip or holiday that you took?

The last holiday I went on was to Naples. I went for 3 days 2 nights and stayed in both in Naples and outside of Naples.

How did you go about planning that trip?

The flights I booked I think through Sky Scanner or Opodo. I knew I wanted to spend a long weekend there so I booked through Opodo/Sky Scanner as I knew I could get good prices. I also went with a reliable airline even though it was a bit more expensive like BA or someone. Then for the hotel I think we looked at like options which had reviews outside of normal review websites. So places that had been recommended because of their design. So one night we stayed in this amazing architects design place with a kind of light up, sounds a bit gross but a light up spa bath. But it was an amazing old warehouse building right in the centre of Naples. And that had come up with a nicely designed but really simple and comfortable. The other night we stayed out of Naples but that was for work as Rosie was there for work. Then planning all the of the travel I got the Train Italia app kind of allowed me to see where the trains were. Actually the trains were really quite difficult as there were a lot of problems with them. But using the app helped us to know when to get off and when to change. I think I bought a ticket on there but due to the problems I had to buy more tickets. It was a combination of Opodo, flight app, train italia and travel blogs.

Can you remember what travel blogs you were looking at?

I couldn’t tell you. We were looking for somewhere that was nicely designed. I think we might of ended up booking it on Booking.com even though we had see it elsewhere.

In a non-pandemic year how often would you go away?

Maybe twice a year, some years I would go a lot. When I went to India and Burma that year I was away a lot. In the last few years I have had my head down I have only been away once or twice a year at most. Just for a few days at a time. But I think maybe 3 times a year if I was going to be doing a summer holiday though I don’t travel abroad much. But actually having said that I wouldn’t count is when I sometimes do a cycle trip to Paris. Ive done that a couple of times now and that’s probably counted as a holiday. So if I put that down. If I count when I go abroad or for exercise.

It sounds like you plan a lot online before you go is there anything that you book once you are there in your destination?

I think I do a lot of planning before I go. I kind of hate, it can be useful to have your phone out but not having to scroll through a lot of stuff. I’d rather have a Google maps out where I have dropped a couple of pins where you know there is a café there or a museum there, or a restaurant there that’s fine. You don’t want to have to scroll through pages of Safari to find recommendations of a café. So if you can plan that in advance that is useful. We also wanted to go to this museum like a chapel with these famous sculptures. We did that on the day which was something that was kinda last minute. We left that until we got there.

Do you take any guidebooks or e-guides on your phone?

I think we had a guidebook. I like the Wallpaper guides they are quite small and you get the feeling that they have been curated. But on longer trips I have bought the Rough Guides and the Lonely Planet.

Is that when you have travelled in India and Burma?

Yeah, also when I have travelled a lot in Spain, France and Portugal. I have used those guys. More specifically when I was surfing a lot I would use the Stormrider Guide. That’s really specific but it’s a great book to have in between trips that it’s an interesting good book to have and to read that’s true of the other guides also. That’s the true also with the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide also. They are more than a guidebook there is enough in them like when you are stuck on a train you can flick through them and read about interesting parts to see. You don’t get that with Trip Advisor or Sky Scanner.

Do you have a dream destination to visit in the coming years?

I think Istanbul is on the list. The food would be amazing and the east meets west would be really interesting. Also to go skiing again as that’s been about 10 years. And because of the current crisis it would be nice to get anywhere like Greece would be good even if we could get there for a week. But Istanbul or skiing are on the list for sure.

How would you go about planning a trip to Istanbul?

I think definitely plan it. I would never book a package. I wouldn’t book a Flight and Hotel as a package but rather always book those separately. Finding independent views outside of websites about accommodation. Looking at things like the Guardian travel pages. See if those reviews come up in other places. Get an idea on independent views.

Do you book restaurants in advance or do you wait until you are in your destination?

In Napoli we knew we wanted to go to this pizza place that had been recommended and when we got there was 200 person deep. So it doesn’t always work out but the reviews I had looked at in advance were good and I think I do that quite a lot. I think that making sure you are going to somewhere because food is quite important to me, so making sure you are going to a good place not only the tourists would go to but also locals would. I know that sounds prentious but its important to me.

It’s a bit more like what the locals might see rather than just seeing the place through a tourists eyes?

Yes even if it’s a bit more expensive yeah.

Have you had any issues with the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides when travelling?

Issues are really that they can be quite out of date. So the restaurants can of changed one year to the next so they can be terrible in the Rough Guide. So if you look it up you can see more recent reviews you can get an idea of whether it is up to date or not. Sometimes you can turn up somewhere, same with accommodation and its really bad and the management has changed. It happened a lot in India. The management knows it has gone downhill but its in the Rough Guide so its still busy.

I guess the business has value as its in the guidebook so the owners are able to sell it on?

Yes. As an overview I think they are quite useful as they give you an idea of how to get to one place and another. They show you how places link up. That’s more useful where you can’t use your phone or trying not to use your phone. One thing that came up whilst travelling was Rome to Rio app. I would not think to use this in Europe as we are so used to just booking flights. It has some really good suggestions of routes on coaches and it has some many alternative options using buses, trains and even taxis. I think you might be able to book through it also.