Travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.

I do believe that not a truer word has ever been spoken.

For me, travel isn’t just a chance to escape the gloom of UK weather for 2-weeks in the summer, it’s an opportunity to learn about new cultures, explore exciting lands, meet new people and create little pockets of memories in various corners of the world.

One thing I believe is that if we remain in the same setting, then we never reach our full potential – you can’t grow if you stay in the same place, doing the same things and seeing the same people.

Travel allows you to embrace the things you may rarely or never come across at home, it allows your mind to learn and become more educated and understanding of other religions, cultures and general ways of life. It stops us dismissing something simply because we don’t understand it and I can’t think of a better way to do all of that than via a cruise ship.

Waking up in a new place every day is the thrill of the adventure for me, although I really do like sea days, I’ll be honest! I like the fact that I can enjoy a day ashore in Belize, return to my cabin and go to sleep while sailing the Caribbean Sea and then wake up the next day in Mexico. I also enjoy the diversity of cruising. What do you mean, I hear you ask? Well, my Mystery Cruise with Saga last year is a great example. One of the ports we visited was Tangier, in Morocco. Personally, I love Morocco, but it’s not for everyone and the way of life in some parts is very different to that which we are used to. We explored the city, the old medina and then some of the more lavish neighbourhoods in the area. It gave a great insight into life there, but just a few days later we were in the Canary Islands, where everything was very different: beaches were bustling with bikini clad females, couples were enjoying lunch at various little cafes and cruise ship passengers were heading ashore in their thousands looking for bargains on all sorts of goodies. In the space of just a few days, we had experienced two completely different cultures.

You don’t always need to head to foreign lands, however, to experience something new. I’m sure there are towns and villages just a few miles away from your own front door that you could visit and still learn something. I live in the north of England, so I’m quite close to Scotland. I may be able to make it to Edinburgh by train in one hour and thirty minutes, but that doesn’t mean my palate is prepared to be met with a deep-fried mars bar when I get there – a Scottish delicacy.

Go on, go and explore our planet and see how much richer it makes you!