Why we can’t wait to visit lands where memories are made...

When I was 20, I backpacked across Europe with my best friends. Our Eurorail ticket took us from Paris to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and across Italy – Venice, Florence, Rome – before hopping across the Med to the Greek Island of Corfu. We stayed in a budget hotel called the Pink Palace, drank Ouzo and swam in the sea, before travelling homeward again via Switzerland and Belgium.

It took us a month. We drank 25p beer in Prague, listened to classical music on the streets of Vienna and got lost in the labyrinth of Venice.

We lived on banana sandwiches because we were skint students and we slept in grubby youth hostels. There was the occasional panic – losing your friends in a strange land was a lot scarier before mobile phones – but the experience sparked a life-long love affair with travel.

I never feel so alive as when I step into a foreign city, so I am relieved that lockdown restrictions are slowly easing.

The Scottish Government is still grappling with the complexities of world travel restrictions, but this week we are planning ahead with the return of our travel section after a 14-week hiatus. Whether you are planning a staycation or thinking further afield, you’ll find advice and inspiration on pages 20-25.

My journal from that European tour two decades ago sits in a shoebox in the attic alongside photos and other souvenirs. So until the day we can jet off again, I can, at least, return to my memories while I dream of my next adventure.