Covid: World traveller swaps jet-setting for canal life

A man who spent 20 years living in destinations around the world has ditched jet-setting for life on a narrowboat.

Cameron Forbush, from Leicester, ran a scuba diving school in the Philippines before the Covid-19 pandemic.

But when the tourism industry ground to a halt, he and his wife decided to return to the UK and tour the canals.

Mr Forbush said there was "an awful lot to discover in the UK".

Mr Forbush, 50, spent years in Africa, the US, Jamaica, and most recently South East Asia.

He and his wife Camille had lived in the Philippines for seven years before relocating to the UK in April.

He said: "At the scuba diving schools, we went from our three busiest months ever to nothing overnight."

The couple decided to explore the UK on a narrowboat.

Mr Forbush said: "It's something we considered 12 years ago and never got round to doing."

Mrs Forbush, 45, said: "We came from a nice tropical country to a small narrowboat, and it was a dream come true. We are really happy, so contented.

"The boating community is so helpful, everyone is so polite, everyone's immersed in their own environment and nature."

Mr Forbush added they had taken to the lifestyle like ducks to water.

"I think it's going to be difficult getting us off. We knew we'd like it," he said.

"I can't believe I'm saying it.

"I spent most of my adult life trying to get away from the UK, but Covid [means I've found] an awful lot to discover here.

"I don't think we appreciated how much we'd adjust to it."

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