Baz Ashmawyin conversation with
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
What’s your earliest holiday memory?
Going to Ibiza with my mum. I’ve been there since, and the holidays couldn’t have been more different. My mum was just never into pina coladas and the DJ Carl Cox, and I traded in my armbands for a lilo. But both were great and very memorable holidays.What was your worst holiday? A week in Gran Canaria with my five best mates in a one-bedroom apartment with no space. It was awful. We all fought. Never again. It’s been my own room all the way since then.
What was your best holiday?
For a wicked escape and an out-of-the-normal experience it was a trip to Laos. I went to the Gibbon Experience; you live in the forest with the apes. There are zip lines where you can travel through the trees with them. I then went to Vang Vieng for chilling and tubing on the Mekong river. You’d stop to chill in the bars on the riverbank and hook in your tube for a while.
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?
I’ve never done much of South America, and I love backpacking. So I’d grab my rucksack and travel through Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?
Daithí Ó Sé, because he’s such a funny guy and a nice fella. We’d have a great laugh and get in lots of trouble.
What’s your favourite place in Ireland?
Kenmare, in Co Kerry, or anywhere in west Cork. Ireland tends to be a bit expensive, but it’s worth it.
Your recommended holiday reading?
If you are chilling in the sun in Thailand it should be The Beach,by Alex Garland. If you are in Cuba, read Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana. Any book about the area you're in adds atmosphere. It's like food: stick to local cuisine.
Where will you go to next?
I wanted to go to Mendoza, in Argentina, but I have a baby on the way, so my next holiday will be to Cairo or Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt, with our family. I love it there, and I have a lot of family there, too, so two birds, one big stone.
- Baz's Extreme Worldsbegins on Monday at 10.25pm on RTÉ2