At the age of eight, Abigail Flanagan narrowly escaped an untimely end after being dragged up Vesuvius in the middle of a thunderstorm by her “daft parents”, as lightning struck mere inches from their feet. Now a mum herself, she at last appreciates how a little rash stupidity/adventure can transform an average family holiday into an indelible memory… and just hopes that her nine-year-old son, Joe, will eventually  reminisce fondly about the times they got stuck up a cliff in Lefkas and lost in the Omani desert.

A journalist for some 20 years, Abigail started her career on women’s magazines before swapping print for TV. Ending up at the BBC, she survived a long haul as a producer and director on ‘Watchdog’ with Anne Robinson, and a stint on ‘Animal Hospital’, both without being bitten.

Now back freelancing, she focuses on travel, parenting and consumer issues for a variety of publications, including ‘The Times’, ‘The  Telegraph’ and ‘The Guardian’, to which she is a regular contributor.