Couple of days ago my friend Skip commented that tourists see more than locals. That is certainly true in my case. I have lived in Brighton and Hove for 50 years, yet I have only been round our fabulous (I use the word deliberately) Royal Pavilion on, I think, two occasions. Both times it was to escort visitors. And there are plenty of places within 30 miles that I have never visited. In many cases I keep promising myself that I will go there one day, but somehow that day never comes. There is Michelham Priory, the Roman villa at Bignor, Sheffield Park. A little farther away are places such as Hever Castle (of Anne Boleyn fame) and Chartwell (Churchill's house). There is the Mary Rose at Portsmouth and the D Day museum at Southsea. All of them, I am sure, worth a visit - but none of them, to my shame, visited.

But I'm not entirely sure that when I am a tourist I really do see more than the locals. I certainly tend to 'cherry pick' what so-called tourist attractions I bother with. Actually, the thing that frustrates me most about being a tourist is that I don't really see life as the locals live it. When touring, or on holiday in one spot, one tends to stay in hotels or rented cottages which tell one nothing about the real life of the area. I have been privileged on occasion to have been welcomed by overseas friends into their homes and have been able to catch glimpses of their different lifestyles. Yes, it is good to see "the sights", be they the leaning tower of Pisa or colours of a New England fall, but there is a lot to be gained by simply having a glimpse how other people live. That is what we most miss out on as tourists.