It was difficult to tell whether we were in Whitby for work or pleasure. It was also unclear how the beautiful beaches of Uig in the Outer Hebrides had relocated to the coast of north east England. However, what was obvious was that many guests at the hotel were interested in hearing more about my research. If this had started out as a holiday, it was fast turning into a mini conference, where I was organiser, chair, keynote speaker, and breakout facilitator rolled into one. The first topic for the seminar discussion was online identity: to what extent is this different from “real” identity; how would it be possible for a single individual to handle multiple identities across several online platforms?

Meanwhile some of the female “delegates” were interested in testing their fitness prowess. My cousin N lifted them into position for a press-up competition. Whoever reached 40 first would be the winner. I was meant to film this, but couldn’t work out how to use the camera. Instead I went for a walk around town and was appalled by mountains of litter piled up in the public parks.

Later I caught up with TPR to drive down to the sea. He took this literally, racing at top speed across the sands in our Fiat Stilo. His intention was to stop at the water’s edge, but he lost control of the car and we ended up 200 yards from the shore in a vehicle that was sinking fast. By some miracle we escaped the wreckage and swam to safety. Happily the dog was also saved.