Holidays can teach us many things - about a destination, about other people and about ourselves, writes Jesse Peach.
When I travel I head straight to the theatre. Theatre in any city gives an amazing insight into the culture and vibe of a destination and I actually plan trips around what shows I can see and which theatres I can visit. In fact, I went to London on a theatre trip three years ago and I got so carried away that I never left.
London is the grande dame of the international scene and it can be tricky to navigate. You either need to book well in advance, or to find seats on the day. If you don't mind leaving it right to the last minute (like 15 minutes before it starts), theatres will often slash prices at the box office to get rid of empty seats. But you run the risk of missing out so your tactic here depends on your budget. I'm also a big fan of apps like Todaytix, which can get you cheap tickets on the day but you've got to be a hound as these get snapped up in seconds. It's worth it though as the London theatre scene is incredible.
New York is my favourite place to see theatre. I love everything about that city. I'd recommend going to anything and everything you can while you're there. That's where I first saw the original production of Once which I'm home to direct this June. They have a ticket booth in Times Square called TKTS. It's still worth lining up - although the Todaytix app actually works better there than it does in London.
