GREEK ISLAND HOPPING

There’s nothing too extravagant in what I’m longing for. Balmy climes with little to do but loll, carefree meals prepared by someone other than me; nowhere that requires a long flight. A swift voyage around the Greek islands, on a relatively smaller vessel, is just the tonic for a year put on hold. I’d choose an itinerary that allows for a heady culture blend – Minoan ruins to Cycladic architecture – and time to explore narrow, rough-hewn streets on foot. To visit Santorini’s volcano or soak in the Aegean after months cooped up in a west London flat is akin to discovering a new world.

A three-night Iconic Aegean cruise on Celestyal Olympia, departing June 4 2021, costs from £489pp (0800 411 8038; celestyalcruises.uk) ies, offer the chance to see wildlife from the water. A day meandering the channels of Lake Kariba might bring sightings of crocodiles, weaverbirds, egrets, hippos and elephants. And how else to explore little-known gems such as the Gache Gache river and Matusadona National Park?

A nine-day Southern Africa: Travel to the Ends of the Earth cruise, departing February 2021 on the 16-passenger African Dream, costs from £4,604pp (020 8328 1281; croisieurope.co.uk).