Once upon a time foreign travel was an adventure. It was exciting and those who travelled far and wide were looked upon with awe by their friends and neighbours. My first job, in the 1970s, was working in a wine merchants and we sold wine from around the world. We could always tell who had been abroad to exotic lands by what they bought from us.
If you had been to Cyprus you bought Cammandaria fortified wine.
If you holidayed in Italy you wanted Chianti, but the bottle had to have a wicker basket round it, never mind if it was cheaper without and the same wine.
And, of course, those who had been to Spain wanted Sangria.

These days we seem to prefer the more exotic and in a few days time many people, not to mention athletes, will be jetting off to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics. I have no idea what it is they will be drinking, but I do know there’s been a lot of news lately surrounding the possibility of being infected with the Zika virus from a mosquito bite.

Now there comes the news that it seems the Zika virus may have spread to America. Well, let’s be practical about this, you are more likely to be blown up, shot, taken hostage or killed in a car crash if you believe all that you read in the so called newspapers. So, my advice is go where you want and enjoy with an open mind and a wary eye, but don’t let anyone or anything you read spoil your adventure. You only get one life and you may only get one adventure, so enjoy it.

Tom Kane (c) 2016

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