MY TRAVELLING LIFE
’THERE IS SO MUCH PENT-UP DEMAND FOR TRAVEL’
I have a passion for travel and love learning about different cultures, meeting interesting people and tasting multiple styles of food. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to turn my passion into a job. In my role at NCL, I (typically) get to travel every few weeks to Israel, the Middle East and especially to Africa, where I spend most time in SA.
I live in the UK and the last place I visited before lockdown was Dubai. I spent lockdown in my home in Ampfield, a small village outside Romsey. It wasn’t an easy time since I have not been in one place for so long in over 30 years. However, it also had a beautiful upside: some uninterrupted quality time with the family.
In the past few months, some countries opened for visitors [in Europe], so I used the opportunity to return to Athens. It’s my favourite international city. I lived there for a while and feel a close connection to it and its people. It was amazing to see it with so few visitors and truly enjoy its splendour.
One of my most vivid memories is of my first skiing vacation at the age of 11. I fell in love with skiing and practise it to this day. My first trip abroad was also for skiing — to the Italian Dolomites.
I am always looking for experiences off the beaten track, where I can connect with the local culture and people. Some highlights include driving across Cambodia and horseback riding through coffee plantations (originally poppy fields) high in the mountains of Colombia, pictured right.
My favourite city in SA is Cape Town. It has so much to offer and I just love it. Whenever I visit, I discover something new. I can’t wait to return and I aim to be back in the country in February 2021.
My best piece of travel advice is that life is short, so use every opportunity to explore close-to-home destinations as well as the world. We live in amazing places and, if anything, the current situation has taught us to appreciate travel even more.
All NCL’s cruises are suspended through November 2020, but we are optimistic and hope to relaunch in the near future. The health and wellbeing of our guests has always been our priority and we have convened a council of experts to develop recommendations that will help us safely resume operations.
We recently unveiled over a year’s worth of voyages through 2024, including several new ports of call and itineraries. With cruises available well into 2024, guests have more time to dream and plan. We are especially excited for the second quarter of 2021, when we will launch our new South African sailings. Norwegian Jade will be the first ship in our fleet to offer round-trip cruises from Cape Town. She is set to make her South African debut from December 2021 through January 2022, with overnight calls in Cape Town and Richard’s Bay, and visits to Lüderitz, Walvis Bay and Durban — truly one for the bucket list.
Through these challenging months we have seen consistent inquiries and bookings for 2021 and beyond. There is great pent-up demand for travel and our guests can’t wait to get back on board.