Holidays can teach us many things — about a destination, about other people and about ourselves.
My passion for fishing and my hunger for adventure has taken me to some incredible places around the world, many of them well off the beaten track.
Whenever you are on an adventure there are hassles, risks and hardships. Having to work out the exchange rate, eat foreign food and struggling to get decent Wi-Fi are NOT adventure hardships.
On a true adventure there are times when you think, "what have I got myself into?!" Such moments for me include being pursued by armed pirates, corrupt police stealing my passport, being chased by a wild bear, and sleeping in a cockroach-infested bed. But all of these adventures with hardships have resulted in incredible memories and many enduring friendships, and I often feel like I've seen too many incredible things for one lifetime.
One of the things I recall most clearly in my travels came after an eventful 67-hour journey to the island of Santo Antao, Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa. I was rowed ashore by locals to stay in their home, which had no roof, but there was no need for a roof as it had not rained in seven years. As I looked at the pale pastel block homes under the towering volcano that plunged into the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean, everything slowed down and I thought, "wow, fishing has brought me here, I'm on an adventure".
