h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I love to be in my livingroom when it's cool enough to have the doors and windows open and the late afternoon light bounces off my deep yellow wall and makes all the colors brilliant.

The beach a mile from my place is fantastic early in the mornings when there's no wind and the water and sand are silky and there are no people around. It's also great as the sun sets because the colors in the clouds and water become luminous and are constantly changing.

Sometimes I like to go camping in the Everglades in the fall. It's lovely to build a fire and have a campsite but be able to wander off at night and be quiet and watch the animals go about their business.

I think my favorite place ever was a little reef I found in Puerto Rico that I could swim to but nobody else seemed to know about. There were wonderful coral formations and all sorts of fish and critters out there, but it was really small. I felt like a part of the habitat when I went there.

Sitting with my husband in a taverna on the beach in Kalives (Western Crete) having breakfast and looking at the sea.

Walking along Brighton promenade in winter watching the sea crashing on the shore and tasting the spray.

Being tucked up indoors, snug and cosy, at home with my daughter and my husband, watching an old Cary Grant movie with the wind and rain battering down outside.

Tinkler's Hill, St Martins, Isles of Scilly - looking out over the other islands - especially at sunset.

The Roman Forum - utterly spectacular, as are the Acropolis, and Delos.

All the little backstreets and canals of Venice.

Sossuvlei, the Namib Desert

Any of the hills overlooking Bratca, Romania.

By the sea almost anywhere...especially:

Crosby/Waterloo Beach nr liverpool, about 3 minutes walk from home and a lovely place to be on your own.

Osmington Mills, Dorset, the place where I spent many a rainy/windy day waiting for the conditions to change so that I could do the fieldwork for my dissertation, still a lovely place (with a lovely pub) and there is a nice walk to ringstead bay (where its possible to paraglide from the NT carpark) or weymouth.

Ilfracombe/Combe Martin in north devon...especially my families secret bay (down 300+ steps) and chambercombe manor on the outskirts of ilfracombe, and my aunty bin's old house

Boscastle, nr Tintagel in North Cornwall

The road between wimborne and blandford forum, beautiful tree lined driveway...nearly got a job in blandford and could have started every day with this drive

The albert dock/pier head/ferry cross the mersey...esecially when I feeling homesick (likewise the train between waterloo (in l'pool) and central...I can see almost all of my favourite places from being small from this train)

My house, because it is mine

The common in Southampton, so many trees

Almost anywhere in London...but only walking...and it doesn't feel quite right unless I'm hunched over pushing a wheelchair, usually feeling very self satisfied at not tipping hubby onto the street and hoiking the thing up and down kerbs and along pavements at a 45 degree angle (we have to cross over every now and then so that each wrist gets equal pressure)..fantasic, even better at night.

The iron age forts on the Isle of Arran in Ireland

The hill that I found on the day that I finished my GCSEs has always been special to me. It's just a local hill next to a water works, but it has a lot of flowers in it during the summer and a brilliant view of the area.

Ottakas (typo?) Bookshop's coffee shop in Milton Keynes. It looks over the new part of their shopping centre.