I always find myself out of kilter with people, an oddity if you like. A person posting on a website I use for those of us with leukaemia could not wait to visit Greece. Is she suffering with dementia, or what? With temperatures close to 40C in Greece and much of the Meditteranean, why would anybody want to go there? Well, it appears I am on my own. In recent runs in the Peak District, Ann and I have been struck at how quiet it is. Few walkers, few amblers and almost no runners. How strange we people are. Okay, I love the silence and the absence of people, but the pubs, hotels and cafes need visitors. The buses are all but empty even though we have gorgeous country and wildflowers. What am I missing here, as you all head for holiday heat?

Overheated bodies

A holiday in a hot country highlights two themes. Firstly, a tendency to eat. That is not good as obesity rises ever higher. Secondly, a tendency to sit down, perhaps even in the sun. After all, who can exercise when the temperature is so high? All in all, holidays like these are bad for us physically. We get heavier and heavier and our mental health also suffers. Meanwhile, back here in old blighty, where we can exercise to our heart’s content, few do. That’s why Ann and I have the entire place to ourselves much of the time. However, with so much illness around, something needs to change.

Holiday heat

It looks as though I must keep my own counsel. Who wants me ranting on about fitness and weight rather than a Greek Taverna? Does anybody really wants to walk in the British countryside? Who cares about the wildflowers on our doorstep. There must be more status implicit in holidays, in looking bronzed and visiting Olympia. Hold on! Wasn’t that the place where lithe male bodies performed feats of athleticism. What would they think of all these podgy holidaymakers trying to fit in a visit between meals? We live, of course, in a very different world.