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Jonathan Agnew's Travelling Life
How often do you travel?
As often as the England cricket team travel in the winter, which is pretty extensively. So I tend to go to Australia, New Zealand, India and the West Indies and South Africa every four years. Midway though a tour I’ll usually get a week or so off – and my wife, Emma, will come and join me for several days and we’ll have a short holiday. In all, I spend about three months a year travelling.
What do you need for your perfect holiday?
Warmth – I can’t do cold at all. We once went to Paris and it was minus 10, and the holiday was a complete disaster. It’s also got to be quiet. Ideally I like to find somewhere with a bit of shade, immerse myself in a good book, hit the bar about lunchtime… and have a nice quiet, hazy afternoon.
Anglesey (Getty Images)
Where did you go on holiday as a child?
Anglesey. Once there, we’d do all the usual things you do on a seaside holiday – go paddling in the sea, have ice cream and so on. The trouble was that Dad was a farmer – so summer was an important time for him and he had a lot to do, such as get in the harvest. So I spent most of the summers as a boy playing lots of cricket, which was fine by me.
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Your earliest memory of travelling abroad?
A family holiday in Beg-Meil, on the Brittany coast, as a kid. To an eight-year-old English kid, the food seemed awful. I remember having to eat artichokes, and my siblings and I nearly driving our parents to despair.
Are you an adventurous traveller?
I like to think so. Some people get the wrong idea about what the job of a cricket correspondent involves – it’s not all laid-on luxury travel. I’ve “roughed it” a bit over the years. For instance, I remember being on a cricket tour of Pakistan 20-odd years ago – and going up to an old boy in northern Pakistan near the Afghan border, paying him a few rupees and hitching a ride on the back of his donkey and cart, and off we went, clip-clopping down the road.
Beg-Meil on the Brittany coast (Alamy)
The most remote place you’ve ever been?
The Franz Josef Glacier in Westland Tai Poutini National Park, on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, with my wife a few years ago. It’s miles from anywhere, you land on the snow, and there’s utter silence all around you. We were actually quite lucky to get up there because you only get so many windows in the weather.
Most luxurious travel experience?
Taking the Ghan, the luxury train going from Darwin to Adelaide. Your daytime cabin doubles up as a double bedroom at night, and the food is first-class. The view from your window is forever changing.
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Favourite hotel?
The Prairie Hotel in Parachilna, a six-hour drive from Adelaide. It’s remote, on the edge of the Outback, and you can watch incredibly long cargo trains go thundering by. Kangaroos hop around the place and it’s a stopping-off place for all sorts of random people. The food is also very good – I’ve eaten everything there from emu to kangaroo.
Your most memorable travel experience?
Going swimming with sea lions off Streaky Bay, South Australia. You simply go out in a boat, put on a wetsuit and jump in the water – and find yourself surrounded by baby sea lions, jumping up and down. That was extraordinary. Going on a safari at the Pench Tiger Reserve in India was also special – we drove around for three days without seeing much, and then on the last day we came across a tiger and her three cubs.
Franz Josef Glacier (Alamy)
Favourite city?
A toss-up between Rome and Adelaide. I love Rome and the way that you can wander around and find something interesting around every street corner. You can smell the history. I’m also very fond of Adelaide. I like it for its peace and tranquillity, its river and beaches, and its ease of access to the Outback.
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Your worst travel experience?
I once had to get from Lahore to Islamabad to catch a flight home to England, which flew only once a week. I caught a connecting flight in a small plane, and it circled Islamabad airport a couple of times, but then flew back to Lahore because there was something wrong with the aircraft. So two other Britons and I hired a panel van owned by a couple of local lads and we set off down this appalling potholed highway full of ox carts. We drove all night through and it was just the most terrifying experience. Luckily we got to Islamabad airport with an hour to spare.
Best piece of travel advice?
No matter how bad your hotel is, take a deep breath, because if you can get through a night, it won’t seem quite so bad the following morning. And always take a photocopy of your passport. I once had mine stolen from a safe in Durban. The British High Commission was very helpful, but it would have been so much easier if I’d had a photocopy. Oh, and if you go to Australia and the Aussies rub in the fact that our cricket team isn’t playing very well, just take the flak and let them enjoy their moment of glory.
Adelaide, Australia (Alamy)
What do you hate about holidays?
The queuing – but being such a frequent flier, I luckily don’t have to do so much of that these days.
Where next?
My wife is celebrating a big birthday this year, so we’re planning to go on a horse-riding holiday in Argentina in October. After that, I’ll be going to the UAE to see England play Pakistan and, later, heading to South Africa. So it’s going to be a busy few months.
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