As a lover of travelling the world how could I not love an evening with Michael Palin? Although he came to it later in life than me and probably many other people, just hearing the highlights of what he’s packed in over the last 25 years leaves you inspired and with a million more places on your bucket list.
His recent tour Travelling to Work ended this week with the last but one date being at the beautiful old Palace Theatre in London where the 71 year old commanded the stage telling tales to a very appreciative packed house.
This tour was essentially to promote the third volume of his diaries, but I also saw him many years ago doing a show to support prisoners families, so even if he doesn’t do a full tour again it’s worth keeping an eye out for future Michael Palin dates.
The first half of the evening is all about his travels. And it’s not just the number of countries he’s visited that’s extraordinary but the the things he’s done there. Of course being a celebrity helps get you a meeting with the Dalai Lama, but travelling on top of a train across the desert instead of inside it could be replicated by anyone – if they’re brave enough!
In the second part the focus was more on comedy and Monty Python anecdotes, before answering questions from the audience that were submitted during the interval. Needless to say there were more questions than time to answer them, but still enough to leave you feeling more motivated than ever to see and experience as much of the world and its many wonders as possible.