Tony Hawks, writer and comedian
What was your worst holiday?
My dad bought a VW camper van and we decided to go to France. While near Switzerland we ducked into Geneva. However, we went into an underground car park without realising the van was too high to get through at the bottom of a long ramp. There were 20 to 30 cars behind us and people were joining the line every five seconds. We caused Geneva to come to a standstill! So as an eight-year-old boy I came up with a solution – to lift the camper van over the ramp. Lots of people were trapped and so wanted to help and about 50 people lifted it over.
What was your best holiday?
I have a little house in France that I go to regularly. When you live in London you value peace and slowing down and I get that in the Pyrenees. I made the mistake of buying it on a whim when there skiing. I saw it in an estate agent’s window and thought it was a bargain. I bought it like you’d buy a jumper in the sale, but was lucky that I mostly made the right decision.
If budget or work were no restriction, what would be your dream holiday? I’d go around the world. It’s mainly a question of time as it’s not impossible to travel relatively inexpensively. So I’d like the luxury of taking my time and spending six months just getting a feel for each little part and a sense of distances. We are spoiled by air travel when you are suddenly inHong Kong, whereas it usedto take weeks to get there by boat.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?
Outside of my girlfriend, it would be nice to pick the Dalai Lama’s brains, but maybe we wouldn’t go to Tibet!
What’s your favourite place in Ireland?
I’d like to go back to west Cork and Cape Clear island again, it’s very beautiful. I also liked the rugged beauty of Donegal. My experiences are influenced by what happens and people you meet.
Your recommended holiday reading?
I've enjoyed David Nicholls' books Starter for Ten, The Understudyand One Dayon holiday as his style is not too dense. I usually also take a heavy book, such as The Spirit Levelby Richard Wilkinson, which argues for a more equal society.
Where will you go to next?
When making a film of my book, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, it was cheaper to buy the lights we needed in Poland than rent them from the Moldovan state film company. One of the lights would not fit in the van, so I still own an extensive light in Warsaw. My next plan is to go to Warsaw with a van and bring it back and turn it into a holiday! I'm also going to Dublin for a screening of the fridge film at Dundrum on October 24th as part of a fundraiser for the Musical Youth Foundation.
Tony Hawk's film Round Ireland with a Fridgeis available at roundirelandwithafridge.com
In conversation with GENEVIEVE CARBERY