A friend told me she plans to walk the Camino de Santiago in north-western Spain.

She’s been wanting to do so for a long time but first had to save a bit of cash because she doesn’t want to stay in backpacker accommodation. She’d much rather stay in a hotel, even if it’s only a bed with and her own bathroom.

Someone else told me the story of an adventurous granny who, on the other hand, prefers to travel alone – and she does like staying in backpackers because “in hotels you don’t get to know people and then what’s the point of travelling?”.

I quite like a hotel holiday too, but I do have pictures to prove that I’m not afraid of a camping trip either. In fact, those holidays were among my favourites. As long as there’s a little bit of luxury. When I went camping, my little bit of luxury consisted of a piece of shade cloth nailed into the ground before the tents and gazebos went up – a ground cover of sorts, the best way to alleviate the perpetual dust, I found...

Luxury is, of course, relative. If you’re starving, a slice of fresh bread and real butter (and if you’re really lucky, peanut butter) is, in my opinion, food fit for a king. The other day, Enid, our layout artist, arrived at the office with a loaf of fresh bread and every now and then people would nip into the kitchen for a slice of comfort.

Someone else’s idea of a real treat might be a plate of curry or something sweet like the doughnuts on page 114 or, if you’re feeling flush, a five-course meal with good wine in a top restaurant.

But for some Home readers, I suspect, a cement floor would be the ‘icing on the cake’. I’ve yet to come across someone who doesn’t love this type of finish, and we see it regularly in the beautiful homes we visit. Along with all the queries we get about paint techniques, it seems our readers are keen to find out more about this versatile flooring option.

Which is why we decided to do a feature on cement floors in this issue (see page 56). It will give you a good overview of what you can do in your own home and what it will cost you. And because we know Home readers are avid DIYers, we’ve also shown you which of the processes you can do yourself. But remember, you do so at your own discretion, and if the suppliers say it’s better to have it professionally installed, you may prefer to save costs elsewhere and leave the floor to the experts. But, of course, it’s your decision.

And speaking of luxury: our reader homes this month are breathtaking – yes, they’re luxurious, but the homeowners have also shared valuable advice. And none of them were afraid to get stuck in themselves! As Teresa Groenewald of Stellenbosch says: “My hands have sanded plenty of wood...”