Living as I do in the heart of Europe, I’m spoiled for choice. So many countries are within easy reach. From our village, we could leave the house after breakfast and have driven through four other countries before coming home for tea.

I’ve been fortunate in that I know people (or know people who know people) who are from most of the places I visit so when I go there, be it for work or pleasure, I get to do what they do. I’m not bound to a guide book for information and I nearly always get the backstory. Travel these days is less about seeing and doing and more about understanding.

After Ireland and Hungary, I’m most familiar with Malta, most in love with Serbia, most impressed with Georgia, and most likely to move to either Ericeira in Portugal or Piran in Slovenia to be near the sea (not that I’m moving anywhere).

Europe has so much to offer by way of diversity, particularly when it comes to culture, religion, and art. And it’s easy to get around.