TV presenter Sinéad Kennedy
What was your best holiday?Travelling around South America for six weeks, taking in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. The highlight was Rio as it's the most vibrant city I have ever been in.
The beach is in the middle of the city and jammed with locals, even on a Monday or Tuesday. You see people skateboarding down the road carrying surfboards – it is so outdoorsy. My boyfriend and I fell in love with it and stayed an extra week there. If only I spoke Portuguese and could move my family!
What was your worst holiday?I went to the Algarve in Portugal about seven years ago with a group. I said from the get-go that I did not like resort holidays, but I went because it was the first time my friends went away, with both the girls and guys. It was sickeningly hot there, 40 degrees with a warm breeze. The area was a strip with the same pubs and madness every night.
I ended up getting very sick. My friend and I were taking what I thought were the same prescription painkillers – but they were slightly different and when I took one of hers I was allergic. I ended up overnight in a clinic with a drip on my arm, wiped out with the heat. The whole thing was horrendous and I wouldn’t go back in a fit – although I did have a great time with my friends.
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?I'd take six months off and go everywhere. If I'd to pick one place it would be Antarctica, as I have a little obsession with it.
It is ridiculously expensive to do it properly, about €10,000 for a 10-day excursion. You live on a ship, and since my boyfriend is in the navy it’s not his idea of a holiday! More realistic is the trans-Siberian railway. I’ve been to Russia a few times but want to explore it more.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?Maybe my mum as I've never been away with just her. Otherwise, my boyfriend and I travel well together. We actually get on better when we're away – we want to go and see and do the same things, like rent a quad bike or visit a temple.
What's your favourite place in Ireland?I love west Cork, Galway and Kerry. But Galway has it all; the nightlife, the scenery in Connemara and a bit of surfing.
Your recommended holiday reading?I read an awful lot of true crime – even though it's not the lightest reading. The most amazing book I ever read was The Jigsaw Man by criminal psychologist Paul Britton. It is incredible and horrendous, but not for the faint-hearted.
Where will you go to next?I'm going to India for a month in September – it's been on my list for a while and I cannot wait. It was a toss-up between there and east Africa or South Africa. But it came down to finances as I can get there and around more affordably.
In conversation with
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
Presenter Sinéad Kennedy hosts RTÉ 1’s The Big Money Game on Saturdays at 8.10pm