MANY people take risks when on holiday. For some it’s enough to drink more than 21 units a week, while others need something a little livelier.

Part of the joy of going on holiday is leaving a part of yourself behind.

Among those parts are the everyday cares and worries which form the backdrop of normal life.

Once when in rural Turkey, we were being driven in a local family’s car.

Myself and my partner were squeezed in the back and our two-year- old daughter was in the front, sat on the wife’s knee, admiring the view.

As this is happening, I was thinking ‘I really should make them put a seatbelt on’ but something makes you adjust to a new reality and quickly forget about it. And the fact that the car might not even have a seatbelt.

Incidental risk-taking aside, there are more conventional ways to live life close to the edge while on holiday.

Some go bungee-jumping some go para-gliding to give a white-knuckled edge to their vacation.

In a fit of daring I went scuba diving off the coast of Corsica some years ago.

Granted, this doesn’t offer the full throttle rush of adrenalin jumping off a bridge with an elastic band strapped to your leg can give, but it was one of the most exhilarating and mildly terrifying hours I’d ever spent.

From the the nagging doubts as I squeezed into my impossibly tight wetsuit, through the terror of the plunge to the wonder of floating free among wondrous looking creatures – it was a stunning experience which left me buzzing for days afterwards.

So for those few hours and the days after, those workaday cares seem further away than ever – and that is what a holiday is supposed to do.

Perhaps the bigger the risk, the further away from your 50-week persona you move.

Just remember to check your insurance policy before you go.