Sideswipe: November 15: Nice selling point

Nice selling point. Photos / Supplied

Free range visitor nuisance

According to UK columnist Tom Welsh, "over-tourism" once referred to the enormous pressure that places like Venice face as they struggle with too many visitors. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Welsh argues that "extreme environmentalists" have latched on to the phrase to make holidays socially unacceptable, just like eating red meat or driving a car. Ironically, he says, the Spanish resort of Benidorm, lampooned in the British comedy of the same name, is really environmentally friendly. "Concentrated in one place with all the right infrastructure, it can be more efficiently mitigated by the authorities. The real nuisances are those travellers determined to step off the beaten track in search of 'authentic' experiences in places that are quickly swamped because they can't handle the pressure."

The Spice People

The Spice Girls in their 90s prime were all about girl power but next year's reunion has one fewer girl and a lot less spice.

The nostalgic euphoria around the chance to see four-fifths of the Spice Girls live next year has been dulled by the fact they have diluted their 90s "girl power" mantra, to something less controversial. Now they're all about "people power". "It's people power. We're about equality and bringing everyone together," Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton said in a new interview with the Sun, after tickets for their comeback shows sold out in a matter of hours. Not all their 40-something lady fans are buying it though; tweets of disgust include, "Stop Right Now, thank you very much".

What simple thing did you learn at an embarrassingly late age?

1. "I was in my mid 20s when, after we filled up our car at the petrol station, I said to my partner: 'I'm amazed how much petrol goes in such a small pump, it should be almost empty now'. He burst out laughing ... When he was able to talk again he explained that the petrol is not actually in the pump but in underground tanks. I still get teased about it now."
2. "I didn't know that when you get a mortgage you have to pay interest , until I got one and was horrified and thought it terribly unfair."
3. "I was 21 and visiting Paris for the first time. I was amazed at the number of bra shops around; the Parisians must be obsessed. After a couple of days it dawned on me. They were restaurants - la brasserie ... "