On holiday with ... Jeremy Vine

Broadcaster and author

EARLIEST HOLIDAY MEMORY?

GOING to Lusty Glaze Beach, outside Newquay in Cornwall, with my parents. The seagulls always swooped for Mum’s ice cream.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A HOLIDAY?

IF YOU give me a good book and a deckchair, I’m happy for days on end. But my wife likes to go sightseeing and thinks if she’s not moving it’s a waste of time.

DO YOU CYCLE ON HOLIDAY?

NOT really. I cycle during the week, but mainly for work — I take it easy when I go away.

HAS COVID SCUPPERED ANY TRAVEL PLANS?

I HAD hoped to take my youngest daughter to Ireland.

DID YOU TAKE A STAYCATION INSTEAD?

WE WENT to Devon and visited Sidmouth and Tipton St John, both of which have immense charm. We even got to go crabbing.

DID YOU DIP YOUR TOES IN THE SEA?

I ONCE went swimming in a perishingly cold sea off the Devon coast and felt real physical pain — but getting a wetsuit has transformed the experience.

FAVOURITE UK HOTEL

THE Hotel du Vin in Glasgow. It has a wonderful restaurant.

TOP TRAVEL TIP

DON’T pack too much in — the less you do, the more you’ll enjoy it.

ARE YOU A LINGUIST?

MY WIFE speaks French, German and Italian, so I’m nervous about my A-level French and German.

WHERE NEXT?

I’D LOVE a cruise but my wife’s afraid of being stuck on a ship and not enjoying it.

DREAM DESTINATION?

AUSTRALIA (pictured) and New Zealand — but air travel’s out at the moment . . .

Jeremy’s novel The Diver And The Lover (Coronet), is out now.