NO Irish holidaymaker can have failed to notice the current vogue for ever further flung destinations Mexico and the Maldives are two favourites with the punters at the moment. But there are a surprising number of unfashionable types who have no interest in what's hot and what's not. Places strange and new mean nothing to them, for they have found their own special patch of the world and try as the travel trade might it cannot coax them away.
They are holiday homing birds who believe there's no place like the place you know. It might sound boring to some but those who tiptoe back to the same place time and time again have security on their side. Not for them the worry of wondering whether their hotel will be a Fawlty Towerssur-Med whether the brochure's idea of a sea view means standing tiptoe on one leg and hanging out the window whether the food will be edible.
They know just what details to conjure up to get them through the winter, and just what to expect when it comes to going back again. The soaring stress associated with holidays is not an issue when you've already been there, bought the T shirt and feel like going back for more.
. Clare McKeon, broadcaster
About five years ago I discovered my dream destination and I have been back three times since. It's in Maine, US. I try to go in early June when the weather is at its best, before the fourth of July when the Americans arrive. I completely different to the perceptions that most people have of the US. It's up market, it's uncommercial, and to me it's simply the most wonderful holiday destination in the world.
I lived in the US for a couple of years, and when I wanted to go back there for holidays I gave some of my friends over there the task of finding me a place in Maine. I told them what I wanted, and this is what they came up with.
It really is a dream place, beside a bird sanctuary, a quiet, getaway from it all destination where the scenery is simply stunning and you can get the best plate of lobster in the world for $3.50. It's like Connemara with guaranteed sunshine, if you can imagine that.
You'll notice I'm not saying where it is I would hate if other people found it out. The most I'll say is that it is near Kenny Bunk Port, where George Bush grew up. He has his summer home at Walker's Point, which is about three miles from where I go.
The house is a typical American wooden construction where you can sit on your porch and watch the sun go down. And yes, I will be heading back again as soon as I can.
. Ann Le Marquand-Hartigan, poet and dramatist
I have two places to which I return time and time again. One is in Jersey where my father had a home, a place called La Corbiere. What I love most about it is the drama of the landscape. There's a lighthouse and savage rocks and a 40 foot high tide rushes in. It's almost too much.
There are Martello towers similar to those we have here but there's also a huge wall built by the Germans which is like a big concrete wave. It is a very powerful and frightening place and I feel deeply drawn to it, so much so that I have written two plays about it, one of which, Jersey Lilies is due to be staged in Dublin in September.
The other place that I return to is in the Burren the stretch of coast between Kinvara and Ballyvaughan I'll always remember my first visit there. It was 25 years ago. I was driving with my husband and we came upon it quite by accident. We had no idea of its existence nobody went there then, there wasn't even one B&B in the whole place.
It was a shock. We were in the middle of a heat wave and everything was misty and shimmering and white and I just couldn't believe the landscape. I kept shouting "we're on the moon, we're on the moon". Since then I've grown to love it and gone back again and again.
. Mike Hogan, publisher
About four times a year I escape to a place called Nerja, just north of Malaga in southern Spain. Most Irish tourists go to Malaga and turn right to get to Nerja you turn left instead.
Why do I keep going back?
Mainly because you can be away from it all but still stay in touch. With the Astra Satellite I can wake up to Morning Ireland and Eircell were too. You're only shouting distance from Dublin, but you've got almost guaranteed sunshine. Also with a four month old baby in tow a long haul holiday is out of the question.
When you're younger you're into madness and excitement and leppin' around from PI to place, but at 36 I'm not in the adventure business any more. When you get older it's more important to know that the restaurant is good. Pizzas no longer qualify as a staple food and kebabs are out the window, no matter how drunk you are.
What I value now is consistency. I don't enjoy travelling alone and I hate feeling disconnected. I like people recognising me because I've been there before, and saying "Hello". So this summer, it's Nerja here we come, again.
