Discovering a new culture is like finding a secret door. You don't know what lies behind it or what to expect. It could be the fear of the unknown that causes us to hesitate, but only by turning the key and venturing through will we unravel the mystery that lies within.

The trouble is that most of the people I know don't share the same desire to find out what the world has to offer. Satisfied with the familiarity of their surroundings, they do not crave the sounds of foreign accents, the smells of unfamiliar foods or the customs of a nation very different from their own.

I am amazed that they can enjoy looking through photographs of the Pyramids, Great Wall, Amazon Rainforest and more, without feeling the slightest inclination to be there in person. A camera cannot capture a 360-degree panorama or the emotion you feel from direct experience. It merely seizes the moment, to be taken home and remembered in years to come.

Travelling opens the mind. It educates, fascinates and gratifies curiosity. It offers the excitement of diverse conversation, learning a new language and making new friends. It's the exchanging of ideas and views that most interests me. Like the preconceived notions that everything in America is huge, including the people and that we in England drink from bone china cups and still live like characters from a Jane Austen novel.

Learning about wildlife in Africa, silk-weaving in China or mask-making in Borneo have all added to the stimulation and enjoyment of my own travels. If only I could package the smells of a spice market in Istanbul, the sounds of gypsy music from Prague or the sights of sampans bobbing over the waters of Hong Kong harbour, I would send them home. Home to the armchair travellers who seem happy to indulge in the exploits of others from the comfort of their own backyard, never knowing what their senses are missing. Back to my friends who cannot understand the meaning of "wanderlust" and all that it encompasses.

It's hard to tell them that I don't miss the parties at home or the soaps on TV. It's difficult to tell them about my amazing adventures, because they cannot see, hear, smell, touch or most important feel that surge of emotion that comes from within when you witness an African sunset, or experience a tropical storm.

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