We did itYour Stories

Somewhere over the rainbow

Steve and Vicky Rowe were newlyweds when they fell in love all over again – this time with the Rainbow Nation of South Africa, which has been their home since 2007. Steve talks to Richard Webber

“When Vicky and I honeymooned here, it wasn’t long before we’d fallen in love with the country. We returned regularly on holiday and each time were impressed with the changes taking place, making it a fairer society for its people. Back in Guildford, Surrey, where I worked for Trading Standards, my career seemed to be stagnating. I knew it was time for a change and our growing admiration for South Africa saw us turn our sights to, in particular, Cape Town.

The more we discovered about South Africa, the more we knew we wanted to bring our children up in a country that will become, in our view, the benchmark for Africa; and it has much to offer, including a fantastic and simplistic outdoor life, not one cluttered with the relentless pursuit of possessions and risk assessments for playing conkers!

The traveller finds Tuscany

When most of your life is spent on the road, you have to make sure that where you come back to is perfect, as Jonathan Clarke discovered. Words Anna Gizowska

Ex-professional football player Jonathan Clarke has swapped English fry-ups and drizzle for cappuccino and panzerotti in the Italian sunshine. “Growing up I always knew I wanted to live somewhere warm, but I didn’t know where,” says Jonathan, who left school at 16 to play football for Doncaster for three-years before injuries put an end to his flourishing career.

Family holidays to Europe with regular trips to the South of France, Spain, Tenerife and Malta gave him a taste of life abroad and cemented his passion for travel. By his early 20s Jonathan was ready to set off for a new life in the sun, as a holiday representative with Airtours in Mallorca and Tenerife – a gruelling, but fun introduction to a working life abroad. “I worked morning, noon and night with hardly any sleep, but it was a great experience.” But there were certainly some surprises in store for the young rep.

The eternal summer job

port01 Nikki Dale took a summer job in the Algarve because she fancied some sun, sea and socializing. 10 years later she’s happily settled with a husband, a baby and a high-flying career. Words Isobel Palmer

“It was my best friend from school, Heidi, who gave me the idea. I was 21 and working as a receptionist at a design and marketing agency in London. Heidi had gone out to the Algarve, found a great job at a golf resort and was having a superb time partying on the beach. Another friend and I decided we should join her for the summer and get a tan.

I flew out on a one-way ticket, with no job and no plan, but I was young and just wanted to have fun. I immediately fell in love with Praia de Lug in Western Algarve and the laidback lifestyle. You can imagine what a change it was from my home in Southend-on-Sea in Essex.

Been around the world

Helen and Phil Lisle didn’t want to be the kind of people who missed their chance at a new life, so they moved to Singapore, before discovering that Sydney suited them perfectly. Words Jane Riley

First Singapore, now Sydney, Australia. It’s all a far cry from Cramlington, near Newcastle, where Helen and Phil Lisle started their journey around the world nine years ago.

“We got the travel bug,” says Helen, “and it wouldn’t go away and we knew we didn’t want to be the sort of people who kept talking about doing something but never acted on their impulses.”

The couple were each born, went to the same school and lived with their families just around the corner from one another. While they’d been on European holidays before they weren’t, by their own admission, “worldly”.

How green is their valley?

Michelle and Tila Braddock have harnessed wind and solar energy to create Lanzarote’s first entirely self-powered eco-haven. Words Sarah Monaghan

Luxury combined with green credentials is a rare thing in most parts of the world,
and perhaps nowhere is it rarer than the Spanish island of Lanzarote in the Canaries. Some of Lanzarote’s more touristy areas, such as Puerta del Carmen and Playa Blanca, have even been dubbed ‘Lanzagrotty’, crammed as they are with busy hotels and package tourists.

Yet one British couple is succeeding in attracting a new kind of tourist to savour the other side to Lanzarote, and to discover the island’s striking raw beauty, after opening its first sustainable eco-retreat. “We wanted to reveal another, more traditional side to the island, and open up people’s eyes to the beautiful natural landscapes Lanzarote has to offer,” explains Michelle Braddock.