Sorry Debbie, took a while for me to finish these, and now I’ve also got
some from Merry as well.
1. If money and time were not limited, where would you most like to go on holiday?
Everywhere ? 
It would have to be round the world trip, maybe twice to fit all the places in? By train – we love long trains journeys and also motorhome, and by bike – it could be long trip…… I’d probably actually do it in stages, coming home for bits in between.
Itinerary, ooooh hard one. We’ve done the Trans-siberian, maybe do that again in winter, or the ‘southerly’ – more ‘Asian’ route. Get in trips to places such as Samarkand (I just love the sound of that word), or maybe travel the old Silk Road? End up in Bejing, travel down through China though SE Asis, into India and down through India, hop skip and jump through Indonesia to Oz.
‘Must do’s’ there. The train from Darwin to Adelaide, via Alice Springs, Last time we had to bus it from Darwin to Alice Springs, then the train, and of course the Indian Pacific across the Nullabor plain to Perth. And at least explore some of Western Australia by motorhome/4×4.
Where next? – the Americas. Maybe start right down the bottom, work our way up through South and Central America, by road and Train etc. then say train across the US west to East, up to Canada, back across Canada on the train, crossing the Canadian Rockies, then by RV up the west
coast to Alaska, back down through Canada Cross the US from NW to SE by road.
Would finish off with a south to north Africa trip – obvious stuff like the big game/wild life etc., but also places like Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, and soem of the interesting places such as Greater Zimbabwe, and some of the places Don Cruickshank was visiting recently on TV.
Saunter home via Europe.
2. What would you consider to be a successful education for your
daughters?
Well one of our plans for SB is ‘to do’ a Britney Spears, and make sure that we ‘filter’ off enough of her millions to set us for our retirement (and the above trip…) so whatever facilitates that really
Plan B:
I guess in short, to enable them to achieve their dreams, what ever that might be (assuming that, unlike me, they know what their dreams are of course – that’s the first goal then….) that they grow up to be independent, confident, caring, assertive women, feeling able tackle
whatever situations they find themselves in. To have enquiring minds, enough of an understanding of the culture, history, science etc. of the world around them to make sense of it all. To see life as an adventure. To be able to write symphony or build a house if they so wish.
I do believe that this probably involves qualifications of some sort or another at some point. No I don’t think you should necessarily just do them for the sake of it, but nor to I really go for the idea that some HE’s put forward that you can always do them in life when you want them.
Yes, you can, but it can be much harder work. In the end I think qualifications are to an extent about choices – sure you don’t always need them, and yes there are examples of people succeeding without them. but in general, I think they open more doors to you in life.
3. What would you most like to learn?
To play a musical instrument, or maybe even to sing. Helen comes from a very musical family, is good musician and has perfect pitch, I am tone deaf – a great mix. I love singing to the girls, but I know that I sound crap, I’d really like to be good at it. And as the girls get older they will start playing instruments (we have a piano, and SB already has acute little violin) I’m going to feel very left out.
4. Which experiences in your life (max. 3) have influenced who you are
today?
Hmm, a toughie, I can’t say that there is one moment that hits me as a great ‘changing experience’. Maybe I’ll try and pick one thing from different stages of life.
a. 1964 – When I was almost 2 year old, my Dad had an operation in hospital for a (benign) lump in his neck. Short version of story is that the lump was next to the carotid artery, the surgeon cocked up the op in major way (Carotid artery? oooo, just snip here….), my Dad’s blood supply to his brain on that side was cut off for too long and he end up very close to death. He ended up paralysed on the left hand side (arm and leg) and it also affected his mental capacities as well.
Now I don’t know exactly what influence this had on my life, as it happened so early on in my life. But it meant that we stayed in London a lot longer (my dad had been part of group self building their houses), my dad never really had proper job again (he had a pretty crappy job in Sainsbury’s for bit), but mostly didn’t work, or my parents ran businesses such a guest house and an old people home. It meant that for lot of my life both my parents were around lot of the time. I’d don’t know, I just feel that it will have influenced my life in all sorts of ways
b. 1982 (age 19) When Channel 4 was launched, once of the early programs was ‘The Animals Film’ . Now the film itself is I suspect a bit dire, I can’t remember, and much on their I suspect I knew a fair bit about anyway. But it did inspire some good conversations with the rest of the family, esp. my Aunty Ethel as I remember, which led to me shortly becoming vegetarian, I’ve been so ever since, a fair while also vegan (though not now) and with me being involved in various stuff at University. As is the way of these things, I guess I don’t really do or think much about that sort of thing any more really, but my veggieness has stuck, and has been a thread through my life.
c. July 1988 (age 26) met and fell in love with Helen, the rest as they say, is history – and a happy one at that. I think Helen has influenced my life much more than I hers, she’d I’m sure still be an O&G consultant now even if I’d not appeared on the scene. I’m a bit of an aimless soul really. When I met Helen I was living the scruffy post student life in Brighton. I moved to London and hen to Leeds when she got her job up here, I became teacher, I had two lovely daughters. If I hadn’t met Helen I honestly don’t really know what direction my life would have taken, which bits would have been similar and which different.
And Helen, when you read this, no I don’t mind/regret this one little bit. No need to get all wibbly on me
5. If you had the chance to meet a celebrity for dinner, who would it be and why?
Ohh, now you’ve got me. I’m such a celebrity unconscious person, I’m often pushed to recognise even really famous ones, let alone more minor ones, so first of all I’ve actually got to think of one…..
And most celebrities come across as quite uninteresting people – well I suppose some just are anyway, but understandably – they want to show a public front and hide away to an extent the real them. So can’t say I’m inspired by a lot of them to be bothered to meet them, even though they
may turn out to be quite interesting people. So I’d want someone who either seems to have something in common with me in some way, or who would be entertaining, or who just seems that there would be scope for interesting conversation.
If we are talking ‘A’ list (in her time anyway) then maybe Lauren Bacall, with such long and active life she must be good for a story or two.
For the first criterion, maybe Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall for his interest in self sufficiency , food, cooking etc. and his general laid-backness or Kevin McCloud so we can muse on interesting houses.
Entertaining? – well Steven Fry should be ‘Quite Interesting’ :-), there does seem to be bit of depth to him, but if not he should have some good tales and jokes
On a different tack, and not a celebrity in the typical sense I guess. If he was still alive then I’m sure the scientist Stephen Jay Gould would be fascinating guest, I’m always amazed at how much he draws into his writing, from science, the arts, history, sport. Alternatively, EO Wilson might be an interesting, if different alternative. I always found him an interesting writer, even when I did agree with his ideas necessarily, and he is one of the key evolutionary biologists of the last 50 years. I’d hope for some stimulating conversation.
Thanks Debbie, some interesting questions there, a bit of food for
thought.
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