When it comes to holidays, don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of a number of British destinations.
I've had many happy holidays in the West Country, much of rural Wales and Scotland is beautiful, I always love visiting York and its environs, the Lake District and the Peak District both have their attractions - and probably my favourite holiday destination in the UK is Northern Ireland, especially the beautiful North Antrim coast.
But for everywhere in Britain that boasts wonderful scenery, history, culture, architecture, seaside or whatever grabs you, there are countless destinations overseas which also tick those boxes. And broadening one's horizons is doubtless A Good Thing.
So given the options available - and bearing in mind that money cannot be the biggest issue, since MPs are in the top 3% of earners in the country - I am surprised at how many of our politicians are holidaying in Britain.
The Mirror carried this list the other day, which included more than I would have expected indicating that they are holidaying at home - with Gordon Brown and David Cameron taking the lead.
Is it that it is deemed environmentally unfriendly and therefore politically incorrect to get on a plane for a pleasure trip these days?
Or is it that they feel that it would be deemed in some way disloyal to Britain to be seen to be holidaying overseas and that staying here is therefore the patriotic thing to do, especially in these difficult economic times?
Or perhaps it is that they are opting to have a summer holiday here and then go abroad at some other point in the year when the weather is less clement in Britain - and when newspapers are less likely to be conducting surveys as to where they are...
PS As regular readers will recall, I spent a glorious week in Budapest last month.
