Messing about on a river

Last week I spent 7 gloriously sunny days on a narrowboat in South Wales on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. It was my first such experience though one I am determined to repeat in time.

Generally, I like my holidays active. Travelling tens and hundreds of miles to sit and lie around, doing absolutely nothing has always seemed to me a somewhat bizarre activity for a holiday. Yes, holidays should be relaxing and time to 'chill' is vital, but they should also be interesting and enjoyable. The prospect of spending a whole week on a 50ft boat, however, filled me with great excitement and more than lived up to its expectations. It provided the perfect balance. Spending many enjoyable hours a day manhandling the long craft through the narrow bridges and locks was offset perfectly by the odd hour here and there to read, to walk, and to sample Wales' finest ales. (I also endured a beating at Monopoly).

The holiday was a success for many, many reasons. The lack of phone signal provided the peace and quiet, the water provided the charm, the fiancee provided the affection, and the spectacular views came courtesy of the partnership between South Wales and the weatherman.

Of particular note, however, the joy of the holiday played perfectly to my strengths. I am an over-thinker. As an academic, I have that incurable inability to switch off - whether it's planning next year's classes, debating the form of an upcoming project or fine tuning the wording of an article, my mind is invariably ticking over from dawn 'til dusk, 7 days a week. Sitting and relaxing on a beach, bored out of my mind, would just have provided a nice backdrop to the usual mental noise. A narrowboat holiday, by contrast, takes the mind elsewhere and forces you to stop thinking and to start concentrating. You may only be going at walking pace, but on the narrow turns of the canal, let the mind drift for a second, and the boat will head for the sides, perhaps run aground, and lacking both the agility of a motorcar and the immediacy of traction that comes on the roads, it can take drastic action just to correct the direction and get the boat back on course.

It was a perfect holiday, then. And I return refreshed and revitalised for a few more months of work.