The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
JOE MARLER MY LIFE IN TRAVEL
The former England rugby player on the most fascinating person he’s met on his travels – and his love of Argentinian steaks
I’M LUCKY TO BE ABLE TO EXPLORE some of the places I visit for work. I’m used to travelling abroad about eight or nine times a year for my club or representing my country. England frequent Italy, Wales, Scotland, France or Ireland for away games and occasionally Portugal for a training camp.
PORT ELIZABETH IS AMAZING, as I saw this summer when I travelled with the England team to South Africa for a three-and-a-half week tour, staying in Johannesburg, Durban and the incredible
Port Elizabeth.
I NEED A SUNNY CLIMATE but I am not the sunbathing type. The perfect family holiday for us will also need to have good children’s facilities, as my son is four and my daughter is two, so they need good kids’ clubs.
GREECE HAS BEEN THE WORD ever since we had our first holiday there with my son when he was only three months old. We stayed at the Emelisse Nature Resort in Kefalonia and the locals adore kids, which is really sweet.
SARDINIA IS SO RELAXING, as I found when we had one of our best family holidays at Forte Village Resort this summer. The food was brilliant, especially the seafood platters, and the weather was nice and warm. I took my son to the rugby camp there one day too and he had a lot of fun. We’ve also enjoyed the Westin Turtle Bay Resort and Spa in Mauritius, where we stayed in a villa which had its own private beach, which was very special. DUBAI LACKS SOUL and is just a bit over the top. It doesn’t do a great deal for me.
EDINBURGH IS INCREDIBLY UNDERRATED and has proved a great place to visit whenever I’ve been.
PARIS STANDS OUT FOR NIGHTLIFE and I’ve been out in the city with the England team after a few games – although, unfortunately, more often than not it wasn’t to celebrate our win.
ARGENTINA HAS THE BEST STEAKS and its restaurants serve very healthy portions. Great for me as a foodie. Closer to home, the chefs at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh always look after us bigger rugby boys too.
I LOVE A GOOD BEER, as does my wife. We had a fabulous time visiting Amsterdam on a city break a few years ago. The canals are so pretty and there is such a relaxed vibe there. My favourite local pub is The Six
Bells in Chiddingly, East Sussex. Apart from the two bars, it has a separate band room. BRIGHTON IS THE BEST, which is handy as we only live about 20 minutes away and find it such an attractive place. There is always lots going on there, with some eclectic shops at The Lanes and of course the beach. I love eating at The Salt Room on the seafront in Brighton.
THE MOST FASCINATING PERSON I’VE MET ON MY TRAVELS is one of the survivors of the Uruguayan rugby team plane crash of 1972. I was once introduced to him while we were on tour. I was just blown away, knowing what he had gone through.
I CAN BE A BIT OBSESSIVE and like to be very prepared for my trips. Whenever our family goes on holiday, all our passports and itineraries are kept together in one folder in my bag, which my wife takes the mickey out of.
DO YOUR RESEARCH PROPERLY. My wife and I discovered that it was monsoon season on one of our earliest holidays in Thailand, and we paid a hefty price.
BEING A BIG BLOKE, WHERE I SIT MATTERS so I don’t mind paying extra for comfort on a flight. When travelling long-haul with a
CAMERA
The HERO action camera from GoPro is great for underwater photography. I like using it to take pictures of my children swimming. From £179.99; snowandrock.com
FOOTWEAR
I like Birkenstock Mens’ Gizeh thong sandals, in this desert soil green shade, which are very hardwearing and mould to my feet perfectly. £65; birkenstock.com team, we wear special socks which stimulate the circulation in your calf muscles.
HEALTH IS MY PRIORITY when I’m travelling for work, rather than any grooming needs. I take melatonin to sleep on a plane and to help acclimatise to the destination.
TOKYO IS SOMETHING ELSE and I really enjoyed exploring the city’s culture when I was there for work in 2009. Hopefully I will get to return there during the World Cup next year. Timisoara in western Romania was also a pretty unusual place we visited for work.
I take melatonin to sleep on a plane and to help me acclimatise to the destination
IT WOULD BE A DREAM TO RETURN TO ZIMBABWE as I can remember going there as a teenager with my family. We stayed aboard a houseboat on Lake Kariba and went on a safari where we spotted a lot of wildlife, including elephants, rhinos and hippos. I’d love to be able to take my own family there one day too. Joe Marler announced his retirement from international rugby last week, opening up more travel opportunities