I feel lucky that I’ve never woken up and not wanted to go to work. One part of that is variety; I’ve had a dual career in teaching EFL and Geography, teaching teenagers and adults, and I’ve lived in four countries: England, Canada, Spain and Hungary. The work itself needs variability, so as a geographer I organise outdoor excursions whenever I can, and as an EFL teacher the student range has been wide, including company executives, specialised Roma and military groups, teachers on training courses and teenagers on summer residentials.

Another aspect to enjoying work for me is not to overdo it. Outside interests are vital, even if some are work-related, such as writing. I love to travel and make musical slide shows, and then throw a party serving relevant cocktails, such as mojitos and cuba libres for a trip to Cuba, and for a recent trip to Senegal, mint tea and G&T (it’s the quinine!). Music is important, and I play piano and guitar, and dance and sing badly but gladly, and occasionally write songs and poems, and these come into the classroom when appropriate. Language interests me and I get challenge and (occasionally) satisfaction speaking the language of where I am, either resident or visiting.

I also enjoy games and sports, particularly chess, climbing, cycling, canoeing and football, but I don’t have a TV, or a car, or internet at home, and I don’t carry a mobile phone with me, except on school trips. All these are ways of escape for me, which preserves sanity! And of course there’s no better escape than a good book, play or film.

As teachers we frequently reinvent wheels and jump through our own hoops, when it’s the students who should perform the circus acts necessary for learning. We make the mistake of trying to do the learning for them. My book The Minimax Teacher encourages teachers to stand back and let the learners get their hands dirty. I also go to school to learn – most of my IT skills have come from my students, and I am unlikely to reverse that process. It’s rewarding to see our youngsters inherit the world and reshape it according to their new agenda, and I wouldn’t take an excess of credit for that. But then I’d still want to get up the next day and go to work.