Make it a win-win situation, or how I got to Jerusalem

Got a partner who’s not quite as obsessed with travel as you are? Me too.

Don’t get me wrong, the husband likes to travel. He just doesn’t have the constant urge that I have to be on the move. He enjoys weekends chilling at home. I get twitchy. Every so often he declares, ‘This is ridiculous. You need to cut down on these trips.’ It’s a problem.

How to persuade the reluctant other half to take that extra trip? You can beg. You can bribe. You can rave on about how fabulous it will be, ‘Just look at the pool, and there’s a bar / curry house next door’. At a pinch, you can just take someone else with you, although this option should be used sparingly if you value your relationship.

In my experience though, nothing works quite so well as building your trip around the thing they love most. For my other half, that’s cycling.

Anywhere there’s a bike race, I get to go, no questions asked. Devon when the Tour of Britain’s going through, no problem. Andalucia at Vuelta time, absolutely. Krakow, oh look, the Tour of Poland is starting there. ‘Book it kiddo.’

I don’t really even need an event, anything bike-themed will do. There’s a Bianchi cafe in Stockholm, go for it. Girona is where all the pros live, how soon can we get there? It’s a magic formula. Later this year I get to see Ghent, courtesy of the Ronde van Flanderen. Brill!

There are some places where the husband just doesn’t want to go. It’s a no, simple as that. Israel was one of them for years, damn it, I was desperate to see Jerusalem. And then one miraculous day, it was announced that the Giro d’Italia would kick off in the Holy Land. Yippee! I think I booked our trip the next day.

Once we got to Jerusalem, I think we were both actually a bit blown away. We’re not religious, but you can’t help but be awed by the weight of history hanging over the city. Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, he asked, ‘So what happened here then?’ ‘Jesus was crucified.’ I’ve never seen him disappear into a church at top speed before. For once I was bringing up the rear. I’m usually sprinting in front to buy tickets before he can object to the price. ‘I can see it fine from out here’ has been a regular assertion on our hols.

I wasn’t prepared for the food in Israel, probably because I don’t know anyone else who’s been. Now, I am very food orientated. On holidays, I particularly like a good breakfast, and it has to be savoury. Don’t give me cake! Asia never disappoints, from tofu in Tokyo to amazing lentil curry in Borneo. Israel is up there. Hummous for brekkie, it’s a winner! And if you haven’t tasted Shakshouka (baked eggs in spicy sauce), you have a treat in store, believe me.

A food highlight of Jerusalem is the Mahane Yehuda market. As well as food stalls, it has restaurants too. Oh joy. At Michmoret, you order the type of fish you fancy, and it comes with six different types of salad, yes, six. This is normal for Israel. You won’t need multiple courses, even if you’re greedy like me.

The Italian bike race just kept on giving – there was also a stage in Tel Aviv and of course we were going. The two cities aren’t far apart, but on Shabbat there’s no public transport, which meant a rather hair-raising minibus ride, all part of the fun. I avoid taking cabs whenever possible, it’s much more entertaining riding with the locals by bus, train, camel…

Tel Aviv feels quite big city, but right along the seafront there’s an amazing walking / running / cycling / whatever pathway that goes on for miles, from the marina to the ancient port of Jaffa. At the time I was reading The Templars by Dan Jones and I honestly felt like I was inside the pages as we walked along the coastal path to where the Knights disembarked all those years ago.

Inevitably, there’s quite a bit of bike-themed activity on these trips. Luckily, I’m a bit of a cycling fan myself. As a spectator that is. I used to ride too, but I just couldn’t get my head around the cleat thing – the bits that join your shoes to your pedals. They’re lethal! At traffic lights I didn’t manage to get my shoes detached in time, so I fell over. Many times. It was just embarrassing (and it hurt). So I’ll stick to running thanks.

The moral of the story is, by all means incorporate your partner’s hobby to get you where you want to go, but don’t feel obliged to take it up yourself.