Travel broadens the mind

My bank account also provides me with travel insurance as part of its benefits and this has been fine up to now. I decided it might be wise to acquaint them of my heart attack and triple bypass procedure as a courtesy and in case anything went wrong.

They assured me that for all other events unconnected with my condition, such as cancellation, loss of luggage, etc, I was still fully covered. However, if I needed cover for my condition, presuming I had a recurrence while I was on holiday, I would have to undergo a three minute medical screening over the phone before I could be quoted an additional premium. Casually I asked what sort of ball park figure would we be discussing. The answer was £300 - £500! Now I intend getting in as many trips as possible during term time over the next couple of years (we are visiting some friends in France in June, we are camping in northern France in July and we are spending 10 days in Andalucia - travelling by train- in September) but I would have to go some in order to make £300 - £500 worthwhile. My research online did yield the finding that the cost of an air ambulance from Spain would cost £12000.

I decided to do some shopping around online. After a lot of research, visiting sites and filling in endless healthcheck applications (myocardial infarction, triple coronary heart bypass graft, angina) I came across a range of policies from £20 - £70. Normally when buying wine I go for mid range, not the cheapest nor the dearest (as I figure my undeveloped palate won't appreciate fully the more expensive wine). However yesterday I plumbed for the £20 policy to cover my condition and my bank account insurance to cover anything else untoward that happens. My three planned trips will therefore cost me £60 additional premium for the cover, which seems much more reasonable, and thanks to diet and exercise I am feeling fitter. My cholesterol level is 4.72 compared to my brother's 3.9. Everything else is fine except my weight has crept up to 17 stone 1.

Yesterday was also spent deciding on eight plays to be recommended for the Bench Supernova 4 festival of new one act plays. A panel of three judges, including myself, have spent several weeks reading them and met last night to draw up a list for recommendation from fifteen entries. Generally the standard of writing seems to me to have improved greatly from previous play writing competitions held by the Bench. I am not referring to the Supernova festivals as I have not previously been involved in the selection of plays. We were impressed by the quality on offer and as always the difficulty in separating the plays at the bottom of the list being recommended and the top of what would become the reject pile. I look forward to seeing the rest of the process through to final performances in September.