I am half English and half Italian, so it might seem inevitable that I love travelling to other countries and meeting people from other cultures. In fact, I grew up in a working class, single-parent household where overseas trips were rarely on the agenda. My Italian mother took us – by train – to her home city of Naples when I was four and again when I was almost 14, but this was the only foreign travel of my childhood.<\/p>\n
When I was 18, I was fortunate enough to be selected for an educational tour of western Canada, but essentially I did not start to travel until I was a university student. My first independent trip was as a 21 year old when I spent a bitterly cold Christmas 1969 in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
Subsequently I have spent most of my holidays abroad, initially visiting European cities but, more latterly, venturing further afield. I have only ever lived in Manchester and London – both large cities – and therefore I love going to cities for holidays. Not for me lying on a beach wasting time and risking skin cancer!<\/p>\n
Top of my bucket list is the wish, so long as I have sufficient health and wealth, to have visited as many countries as my age. I am now 69 and I recently visited \u00a0my 71st country (Georgia) thanks to the invitation to attend the launch of a book by my good friend Eric Lee.<\/p>\n