Having started working for Regent Holidays in 1986, I have seen many changes to the destinations that we visit and I have loved seeing unknown countries evolve into thriving, cultural gems. I still recall my first work trip as a young 18 year old, walking by foot across the Yugoslav border into Albania - a country which was barely discovered in my teens. Back then Albania didn’t allow individual travellers, men were not allowed to have beards or wear shorts and Americans were not allowed entry at all. What I saw totally captivated me; the people were so friendly and to this day Albania is still a real favourite of mine.

I now specialise in our Iceland & the Arctic collection and have fallen in love with Iceland, Finland and Norway. The stunning landscapes in Iceland are hard to beat and with the northern lights dancing in winter and the central highlights opening up the rest of the island in the summer, there's adventure to be found year-round. 

Growing up in the rolling Cotswold hills and enjoying walking holidays to the Brecon Beacons, Lake District and Munroe-bagging in Scotland it seems inevitable that when I started exploring the wider world my hiking boots would be one of the first things to get packed whenever venturing abroad.

When it comes to trying to pick a favourite destination or travel experience, I'm a bit stumped. It’s hard to pick out just one because setting off along a trail leading from the guesthouse built into the cliff at the head of the canyon in Jordan’s Dana Biosphere Reserve, being invited for tea by the local Bedouin herding their goats in the valley and ending at the candle-lit guesthouse in Feynan is so different from the experience of strapping on your crampons, picking up your ice axe and heading up the stunning Svinafellsjokull glacier tongue in Iceland.

However one of the 'stand out' highlights of my travels with Regent would have to be the climb up Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu which stands at 4,096 metres and is the highest mountain in South East Asia.  Whilst the mountain is reasonably accessible and not too technically challenging (although you have the option of taking the nerve-wracking via ferrata route) only 146 permits are issued each day so the mountain never feels too busy.  The first day sees you climb solidly for about 6 hours through the pitcher-plant and bird-rich rainforest before taking a well-earned rest at the Laban Rata guesthouse.  The second day involves a pre-dawn start to reach the peak for sunrise.  As I climbed the moon was high and to the north-east, I could watch a spectacular display of lightning over the sea happening several hundred feet below me which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The beauty of this peak is that having achieved the impressive feat of reaching the top and returning to the national park at the foot of the mountain you are lucky enough to be in Borneo so can take your weary limbs to soak in the baths at Poring Hot Springs, head further into the jungles to visit the orang-utan, elephants and proboscis monkeys or simply find a beautiful beach to relax on whilst enjoying the wonderful food and hospitality of the locals.

Read more about my travel experiences in my blog

Travelling along the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan and the Karakorum Highway in Pakistan introduced me to some of the most stunning landscapes I’ve ever seen. I’ve always found such remote areas enchanting, so perhaps it’s no surprise that I fell in love with the wildernesses and endless steppe of Mongolia, where there is no contact with the rest of the world. The beautiful mountains, cheesebreads, wine and hospitality found in Georgia puts the country high on my list of favourites but Iran always continues holds the top spot. I visited when it was against FCO advice and tourists were rare, although even now crowds of travellers are delightfully uncommon. The incredible friendliness of the Iranians will always stick in my memory, accompanied by the awe inspiring mosques and rice adorned with saffron and barberries.

I have recently returned from Jordan, a country I have visited on several occasions and adored even more with each visit. The friendliness of the Middle East is found everywhere in Jordan, whether you're walking down the candle-lit siq in Petra to see the iconic Treasury facade at night, floating in the Dead Sea (a strange but must-do experience that should be on every traveller's bucket list) or hiking through the Great Rift Valley in the stunning Dana Nature Reserve. 

If Central Asia doesn't excite you as much as it interests me, Borneo is a fantastic option for a unique holiday with plenty of potential for adventure, but without having to step quite so far out of your comfort zone. The view from the top of Mount Kinabalu after a long (but well worth it) hike to watch the sun rise is an experience I would recommend to everybody, before you set off to catch a glimpse of some of the world's last remaining wild orangutan populations in the virgin rainforest.