WE HAVE just returned from a couple of weeks in the Mediterranean. Well, it’s the only way to face the winter, isn’t it?

Mr F and I really enjoy not being tied to school holidays. I was a teacher when we married and later, of course, we were restricted by our daughter’s term times.

We didn’t mind too much, as those bucket and spade holidays provided many happy memories – even those spent huddled together in plastic macs on windy beaches.

According to a recent survey by a travel insurance company, many grown-up children have started to holiday again with their middle aged or elderly parents.

The average age of people doing this is 30 while 19 per cent are in their forties.

This seems to be mainly for economic reasons, but I’d like to think that maybe some just enjoy it.

I suppose these adult children have long passed the awkward stage when parents become a disappointment to them on holiday.

Fisher Junior gave up on us on when we were on a break in Malta and refused to do karaoke.

We wanted nothing more than to sit outside a bar in the evening with a glass or two of wine and a spot of people watching. Not exciting enough for a teenager.

Now we love sharing holidays with her and Son-In-Law – yes, even the rainy Hay Festival which I described in May (you may remember the portable toilet incident.)

We have been to York and Stratford-on-Avon with them, and have now made plans to ‘do’ Norway together next year, their first time on a cruise ship.

I hope they enjoy it. I know they’ll like ‘going out’ for a drink, meals, shows and the cinema, without having to decide who’s going to drive back. The lectures are good too.

We have heard some fascinating speakers on ships, from the lawyer who represented the Milly Dowler family in the phone hacking case to a retired police officer who was involved in some high profile cases, including that of the Kray gangsters.

FJ and S-I-L will represent us at the gym while we happily walk the decks, read or look out for icebergs from our balcony.

Well, you never know…