East, west ... home is best
Actor shares his travel destinations
Sarah Ewing interviews actor Dougray Scott about his travelling adventurers.
● I live two separate lives, splitting my time between London and Los Angeles when I’m not working. Recently, I’ve been to Romania, Belfast and Manchester for filming.
● Scotland is my spiritual home, there’s a great serenity to it and it calms me down. My mum and sisters still live there. My family is incredibly important to me, and I want my kids to have that bond with them and to appreciate the value of their support, so I take them there regularly.
● I vividly remember the wild, unspoilt scenery and the ferry rides across to the Scottish islands as a child. Our family holidays involved caravanning in Scotland, travelling up and down the west coast. Our favourite places were around the Isles of Bute, Islay and Gigha.
● I’m not a sun worshipper but I do enjoy a little fun in the sun for our family holidays. My wife and I recently took our threeyear-old, Milo, to beautiful Mexico. The best ever beach holiday I’ve had was to Carlisle Bay in Antigua. I loved swimming in the crystal-blue water or reading by the pool.
● India is my favourite country, outside Scotland, of course. The first time I went [to India] was in my early 20s and I went to Goa. It was so good, I don’t remember most of it! I love visiting India now that I’m older.
● Golf is my passion and I first learnt how to play it when I was a wee boy at the links course at Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre. I recently went on a boys’ trip to Ireland – we did the courses at Portrush, Castle Rock, Royal County Down and Waterville. My handicap is six, although my friends said it was more like three or four on the trip. I love them for that!
● Mozambique was so rewarding but getting there involved an incredibly long journey to Johannesburg, another two-and-a-half-hour flight, followed by a seven-hour bumpy truck ride. I was there filming in small villages that needed the help of the WaterAid charity.
● Dusseldorf [in Germany] lacks soul and I wasn’t impressed with it when I visited. It felt very industrial.
● Sofia [Bulgaria] is so underrated and Bulgaria as a whole is still below the tourist radar. But the architecture, art galleries and museums are fantastic. I took my son Milo and he was enthralled by the stuffed animals in one of the galleries. –