Let’s have a huge round of applause for today’s guest……….NIGEL MAY!
Nigel May is a TV presenter and author. He regularly presents on UK shopping channels where he has built up a substantial fan base. He has also featured on Channel 4, C5, ITV and broadcast live from America.
As a writer he has written for many of the UK’s most successful magazines and newspapers, specialising in showbiz and celebrity, as well as writing on subjects ranging from relationships through to travel. He is also one of the UK’s most popular craft personalities, having launched his own successful range, A-May-Zing.
Nigel has written two glam-fiction novels online and been dubbed The Male Jackie Collins. Trinity http://myBook.to/TRINITY_NigelMay and Addicted http://myBook.to/ADDICTED_NigelMay are available now for 99p each. He has also written for the chart-topping beach-read anthologies Sunlounger and Sunlounger 2.
Nigel and Al in Rio
ES: Where did you spend your last holiday and why did you choose to go there?
NM: Our last main holiday was in northern India earlier this year. I went with my partner, Al, and it was totally wonderful. We spent nine days there and did what they call the Golden Triangle tour, travelling between the cities of Agra, Delhi and Jaipur. It wasn’t my first choice to be honest when Al suggested it but I absolutely loved it. The people were so friendly, the sites were so colourful and everywhere was so full of life. The temples were amazing to visit and just sitting in the back of a car watching cows, monkeys and elephants wander by on the highways was just mesmerising. We’ll be back there as soon as possible.
ES: You will love my latest book, then: Singles and Spice. It’s about a group of singles touring the Golden Triangle.
NM: Downloading it as we speak!
ES: Thank you! What’s your favourite type of holiday? And your least favourite?
NM: I love holidays where there is always something to do. As much as I love lying around a pool or a beach if I am somewhere I have never been before I like to try and see everything I can. I probably drive people mad as I will literally start planning what we can do that day as soon as I wake up on holiday. You only get one life and I want to fill it with as many wild and varied experiences as possible.
My least favourite holiday would probably be camping these days. I used to love it but my days of trying to change out of soaking wet clothes in a tent and running off to dig a hole in the forest for a makeshift loo are definitely behind me.
ES: I couldn’t agree more! Camping is my idea of hell. Where did you spend your best ever holiday and what made it so memorable?
NM: India was amazing, but one other holiday that I really adored was a two week stay in Brazil to visit friends who lived there. Rio was an amazing place to see because of the variety of life there, and flying around Christ’s Redeemer in a helicopter is still one of my favourite things ever. Such a buzz. We also visiting the incredible Iguazu Falls, which are a group of waterfalls on the Brazilian/Argentinian border and they were just awesome. My step-daughter got engaged there as it’s such a romantic place and it’s steeped in legend too. I wrote a short story based in Iguazu Falls which was featured in the online anthology, Sunlounger.
ES: Any holiday or travel disasters?
NM: I went to Spain and managed to have my credit card stolen, lose my job due to redundancy and fall out with one of the people I went with quite successfully all during the one trip. I was only there for a week. Plus the room we stayed in was like something from a 1970s scary horror movie. It wasn’t my finest holiday looking back now.
ES: Oh, dear….Tell us about a place you long to visit and the reasons why.
NM: I really want to go to Machu Picchu in Peru as it looks like one of the most breath-taking places on earth. That’s probably the only time I’d consider trekking again and doing the tent-thing. I think a few days of rain-soaked camping and getting back to nature would be worth it for the peace and tranquility you’d feel on reaching the beauty of Machu Picchu.
ES: Who’s your favourite travelling companion(s) or do you prefer your own company?
NM: My partner Al. We just love doing the same things and thankfully he doesn’t mind me organising things to do. He also likes a good bottle of wine which helps enormously on trips to far flung lands!
ES: Ever had a holiday romance? Details, please!
NM: Oh yes, a few to be honest. My first will always stand out though. I was in the Canary Islands back in the early 90s and had a two-day fling with a Spanish tourist. He went home and my heart was broken. We wrote to each other for ages, soppy cards in pigeon English, that sort of thing, and then one day he sent me a letter saying ‘I meet another, I love he, bye’. I sobbed and then got over it!
ES: How would you spend your dream twenty-four hours if you could travel to multiple, worldwide destinations with no travel restrictions?
NM: I love seeing huge monuments and iconic places so if I had 24 hours I’d take Al to the Pyramids as he’s never seen them. I’d go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, ride the Bullet Train to Mount Fuji in Japan, check out Mount Rushmore in the States, fly over a volcano in Hawaii, play with gorillas in Uganda and spend a few hours at Dollywood in Nashville as I adore Dolly Parton.
ES: You and me both! Love Dolly! What tip or piece of advice would you give to holidaymakers and/or travellers?
NM: It’s great going to places you love now and again but always try and venture to somewhere out of the ordinary once in a while. Somewhere you might not have considered before. Even if it’s not the best holiday ever you can guarantee it will be an adventure.
Words of wisdom, Nigel! Thank you so much for sharing with us today.
