Mexico is a great place, but too many people are happy to spend 2 weeks on an all inclusive resort and not see the real Mexico. I will go to see the real Mexico and not spend it stuck on a beach drinking and eating.

Spend two days & nights in Juarez, now that was an experience I'll never forget.

About ten years after that we went on an all-inclusive to Cancun and after about four days I ws bored [is[/ihitless. Chatting to a few other couples in the bar one night four (couples) of us decided we wanted to break out so we got the hotel to book a couple of cabs to take us to the local village (this was over 20 years ago, they still had them then).

When we got to the second bodega I knew we'd made a mistake, it was like walking into the Mexican equivalent of The Slaughtered Lamb. I went to the bar and ordered drinks for us all and tried to order two taxis. Unfortunately there was only one cab driver in the village, so I ordered him and when he arrived we put the women in the cab and asked him to return for us.

I went back to the bar and ordered drinks for the four of us, the other three guys were too crapped-out to move. As I sat back down I heard "hey gringo" - yes really, just like a Sergio Leone movie. I looked over to a table in the corner to see the head honcho holding up his glass in a salute. I held mine up to him and we both necked 'em. He beckoned me over and as I sat down he said: "you are not American?" when I told him I was English he said, "I thought so, you made sure the ladies got home safe".

Upshot was, by the time the cab came back, my companions had joined us and we were all on our way to becoming totally ratted. The cab driver was dismissed while we all finished the job, he ended up pouring us out of his cab about three hours after he'd dropped the women off.

As an ex-matelot, you'll be OK going native in Mexico. People who have previously supped in various bagshanties around the world invariably have a nose for trouble and an equally good aptitude for avoiding it or getting out of it.

Mediterranean cruise in May, then Vancouver and Alaska at the end of August.

Looking to go aboard in August with the family for the first time this year (2 girls age 6 & 4). Any serious recommendations, we have been looking at the Algarve and Majorca but haven’t decided on anything yet.

We took our two girls to Menorca at about the same age as yours and went there every year for several years, particularly to Son Bou, large safe beach and a couple of family friendly hotels right on the beach (one of them Flinstone themed ) although we rented one of the villas in the hills above the resort which are also nice but a bit of a walk (about 1 to 2 km) for the beach and the resort - its a small one-street resort with several family friendly restaurants and one club that stays open late, very laid back and great for young kids.

I visited The Algarve last year and will be going there again in June on a "business" trip (lol) but haven't really been to any of the family resorts, it is a very family oriented area though and I'd imagine should also be ideal, the beaches are gorgeous.

Finally, after procrastination brought on by complex work commitments and downright panic, I have booked my first solo trip out of the UK.

Be gentle to me – I'm 50: of course it's going to be nerve-wracking.

In less than a month, I catch the Eurostar to Paris, change and get the sleeper to Hamburg, and then take another train (just 40-odd minutes) to Lübeck, the Queen of the Hansa. I'll have three nights there – to explore all the medieval city, do the literary pilgrimage and sample the food (and beer). Then back to Hamburg and a flight to Amsterdam (saves doing five changes by train) where I'll meet T'Other Half and we'll have four days.

After the panic, now a mad rush of excitement – swotting maps and guides to the extent that I dreamt I was walking certain routes the other night.

Two weeks in Rhodes this coming August. Nothing better than having the sun beating down on your back after a hard year!

It will be the first time we will have gone away as a family of 4. Just teaching my youngest (3) how to swim in preparation.

I went to Rhodes last July. Hottest place I've ever been, think there must have been a heatwave as even the locals were struggling. The dancefloors in the clubs were empty as everybody was stood next to the air conditioners.

I went to Rhodes in 1979, one of the best holidays I've still ever had, stayed in the "Old Town", in fact the hotel had the ancient city walls as its back garden, cockroaches in every room and every morning you were expected to shake your duvet out of the window and hang it on the balcony rail for airing.

I never found any in mine but as you walked the narrow 12/13th century streets first thing in a morning you'd be crushing dead roaches underfoot that had been wafted out of duvets and every now and again a dead scorpion.

Fantastic authentic holiday although I'll add the caveat that it was before I met the wife and if I took her back there now she'd would literally be on the next plane home, the VERY next one.

We used to take the car and hire a cottage in France.