When I was six or seven, I read about a wondrous land called Africa. I eventually got there when I was 19, and was desperate to get a perspective of the world from outside Europe. I scraped together enough money to fly from Portugal to what was then the Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau, one of the smallest states on the continent. Although the Portuguese, like all colonial powers, had done their best to make this West African state into a small corner of their own country, they had not succeeded.

I felt very much as if I was in the real Africa, and I also had a very strong and very strange sensation of having come home. Many years later, Africa did become home. For a while, I lived in Zambia, but I ended up in Mozambique by a quirk of flight schedules. I had been invited to the country by a group of people who wanted to set up a theatre, and flew there with Angola Airlines. When I tried to go back, my flight had been cancelled for no particular reason — quite a normal occurrence. I had to stay another week, during which I discovered an opportunity to work there. That was 20 years ago, and I keep thinking I should send Angola Airlines some flowers to thank them for their part in the direction my life has taken.

Life is too short to see the world. You can fly around and stay here and there for a bit, skimming the surface, but I have always wanted to get to know places more intimately. I decided fairly early on that Africa and Europe would be the continents that I would try to become better acquainted with. My life is now based in both.

When I am in Africa and have spare time, I tend to get out into the bush, which, as it borders Mozambique, often means heading for the Kruger National Park. I have been there many times, always on my own, so that I am really away from everything. I love the rhythm of life in the bush; rising early, sitting by a water hole for many hours, waiting for animals to arrive, and having space and time to think. In many ways, this mirrors life in many African villages, where the hours people put in are dictated by daylight, and the pace is more leisurely than anywhere in the West.

My hols: Michael Caine

The actor has been a bum in Paris, a callow youth in Cannes and a superstar in St Paul de Vence. Not a lot of people know that

My Hols: Anastacia

The American pop star Anastacia recently threw a lavish wedding party in Mexico - but didn’t break the bank

• Frequent flyer: Erin O'Connor

BACKGROUND

• My hols: Phil Daniels

• My hols: Roger Moore

• My hols: David Mitchell

• My hols: Tracey Emin

• My hols: Colin Firth

BACKGROUND

• My hols: Ricky Gervais

• My hols: Sam Robards

• My hols: Jimmy Carr

• My hols: Johnny Vegas

• My hols: Moby

Related Links

• My hols: Tommy Lee

• My hols: Emma Forbes

One of the most beautiful places in Africa is the Bijagos archipelago, a chain of islands off the coast of Guinea-Bissau. The islands are largely uninhabited, although there are a handful of fishing and farming communities, and they are completely breathtaking. The islands are volcanic in origin and therefore lush and green, with beautiful sandy beaches and completely clear waters where green turtles swim. This is the closest I have been to an earthly paradise.

I grew up in a cold, dark part of Sweden, Harjedalen province, where the winters were long. My mother left the family when I was born. All winter, my brother and sister and I would long for the summer. When it came, our father would take us to an island off the southern coast. It was so small that it had no name, but it formed part of an archipelago about 125 miles south of Stockholm. My father had bought the island cheaply and it had a house where we stayed for several weeks each summer. Many of the children we grew up with never even got to see the sea, so to spend our days roaming the island and in the water was just an unimaginable freedom.

When I was 15, I decided I wanted to see the world and began working as a stevedore on a ship that transported iron ore. During the first few months, the world I got to see was Middlesbrough. I went there about 25 times, which, without having anything against Middlesbrough, was a bit too much. Even­tually, I began travelling further afield, to more exotic locations such as Paris and Liberia. I have just come back from two weeks on a ship that travels up the coast of Norway to the border with Russia. It’s a transport vessel that takes post but also has passengers.

I hate the idea of going on cruise ships, because the whole concept involves doing very little in great luxury. This is not my way of doing things. I like to travel with people working, or getting to and from work, and seeing people go about their real lives.

Times recommends

• 52 brilliant weekend breaks for 2010
• Why are UK airports so child unfriendly?
• Ditch the spas - most detox talk is nonsense