There is increasing talk now of holidays. Where might we be allowed to travel? Will we be able to come back without having to pay another thousand pounds in hotel quarantine fees?  Should we book? Is it worth the risk? It would seem that the associated stress and worry might mitigate against any of the potential benefits of foreign travel, at least at the moment. For myself I am off to Yorkshire in a couple of weeks.

Yorkshire is the county of my birth and continues to be a deep part of my identity. Although I was born in an industrial city, the glory of the Dales and the North York Moors was only a short drive away. I love the landscape: gentle rolling hills, wild moorland with vast expanses of purple heather, rivers, rocks, trees, the sound of the curlew.  Then there is the joy of setting off on a new walk, or a familiar walk for that matter: boots, waterproof (just in case!), map and guide book, small back pack with a little light refreshment (just in case) and now the essential phone (just in case).  I have to admit to being a very modest walker, generally following the well trodden path rarely for more than five miles. But I enjoy following the directions in the book of walks: follow the path to the left of the field then cross a small style. Where is the style? Is it this path or that one over there?  Then of course there can be the mud making boots essential and frequently causing laughter, and the discovery that the descent from a hill is much steeper than you anticipated and very rocky.  

But there is nothing to beat arriving at the top of a hill, heart racing after the unfamiliar level of exercise, and taking in the view. The deep silence is broken only by the wind and the sound of the birds. You feel the air around you and in you. You are expanded into the space and become the beauty which surrounds you. All else fades and the moment is perfect. It is so good to be alive.

The walk might well end in a little teashop or a pub with that delightful feeling that you really have earned the scones with jam and cream or the half of larger. 

There are many kinds of holiday and I have had some great city breaks: Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Munich, New York. I will never forget my trip to Jordan and the experience of being in the desert - that same connection with the space but with heat and Eastern exoticism. Our holiday to New England in 2013 was also magical, particularly sailing out into Cape Cod to watch the whales.

But I know that Yorkshire will always feed my soul. And not only with its landscape but with its buildings, its history and its people. Gods own country indeed.