‘We’ve done 10 series of Getaways and I still get excited about travel’

Fronting a travel programme must be the ultimate television job; getting to see beautiful places around the world, trying new food and immersing yourself in different cultures and experiences; indeed as a viewer it’s hard not to feel a twinge of envy for the lucky presenters - not only do we wish we were there, we wish we were them!

Joe Lindsay, a presenter on the BBC One Northern Ireland travel series Getaways, admits he loves his job, but says that behind the scenes, it isn’t all strawberry daiquiris and lolling on sun loungers.

‘‘For the first couple of years my friends would say ‘that’s some job you’ve got’.

‘‘Now they know they craic; they know how hard the job is and how long the days are, but I am a hard worker, I enjoy it and it is a really good job to have.’’

Made by Waddell Media, Getaways gives us the inside track on places to shop, eat and stay, unmissable little gems, in destinations near and far, that can be reached directly from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Like many of the places he visits, Joe, 48, has a sunny disposition, talkative and friendly he succeeds in transcending a role which some might have turned into that of a gaudy, unofficial public relations officer.

‘‘We try to be honest about a place and say whether we like things or not’’

‘‘What I hope that Getaways does, and I think it’s what we do judging by the feedback we get from people, is we strive to go to places that are a bit off the beaten track.

‘‘In recent years we went to Transylvania and afterwards people would stop me in the street and say ‘I booked to go to Transylvania because I saw it on Getaways’. And Montenegro, I recommend it to everyone and people will say ‘I booked it because of Getaways and it was brilliant, it was everything you said it was.’’

Joe brings a lovely sense of humour to the show, and, of course a rather resplendent bushy beard.

‘‘I just really like having a beard - I’ve had one on and off for quite a few years.’’

‘‘When you shave it off, it’s like you are being punched in the face by Barra Best - it’s like the weather is hitting you a wallop,’’ he laughs.

Joe’s co-presenters on Getaways, Vogue Williams, Tommy Bowe and Mairead Ronan, explore some great holiday destinations. In Monday’s episode we will see Joe, and guest presenter Sinead Kennedy, travel to Bulgaria for a winter ski holiday.

Other destinations visited during the new series include a beach holiday on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast, a city break in Porto and a journey to the Far East to explore Hong Kong, which for Joe was a childhood dream come true.

‘‘I was beside myself,’’ he admits, with the pure childish excitement of Charlie’s first glimpse of the Chocolate Factory

‘‘I could not wait to get to Hong Kong because I always wanted to go there, it was honestly because of the Shaw Brothers Cinema and the Chop Socky movies that I watched growing up.’’

He adds: ‘‘Hong Kong is one of the most unique places in the world, it is absolutely breathtaking and mind-blowing. And as much as I think we have made a really great show about it, we didn’t scratch the surface and it’s through no failing of ours, it’s simply because there is so much to it.’’

Joe Lindsay grew up in north Belfast; he has two older sisters.

‘I was the youngest and a boy, so you get picked on by your sisters and yer ma dotes on you,’’ he laughs.

‘‘We were a family that didn’t have a lot of money about us, but we never felt it. Our parents were very attentive to us in terms of affection and love. We are a very close family.’’

Joe’s father died just before he started secondary school.

‘‘It wasn’t the easiest of times,’’ he reflects, but there was a really strong sense of community where he lived and everyone rallied around to help each other.

‘‘We grew up on a street, and it sounds like a cliché, but it was true, where people didn’t lock their doors, you were in and out of each others’ houses and everyone looked after each other. There was an amazing sense of community. I think we have lost that, but I think it instilled a sense of ethics in me - that we are all brothers and sisters and we’ve got to take care of each other.’’

These days Joe lives in Belfast with his wife of 14 years, Mary, and their dog Lola, whom they both adore.

Joe’s love of travel stretches back to his childhood.

‘‘I used to watch a lot of travel programmes growing up because I was fascinated with the world, I think particularly when you grow up in Northern Ireland and in Belfast and, indeed, in north Belfast during the troubles, you want to be anywhere but here.

‘‘My fascination was always with America because it’s where all the films I love came from and where the music I love comes from and my favourite painters are American.’’

Joe is a firm believer that travel offers so much more than just an escape from our everyday lives, he believes it can also have a much deeper impact on our soul - changing our perceptions of life, awakening new emotions and shaping who we are.

‘‘I became fascinated with countries through the things I love; the more I learned about Picasso, I became more obsessed with Spain,’’ he says.

‘‘What you have to do as a human being is never lose the sense of curiosity, and travel gives you that. When you throw yourself into somewhere that is culturally and socially completely different than the place you’re from, that feeds your soul and and you keep that sense of wonder. I’ve done over 10 series of Getaways and I still get excited about travel and I think that’s the key to it, to have that enthusiasm and throw yourself into it.’’