SH: What inspires you to travel?
CM: The need for a change of scenery, to bring out the parts of me that can't flourish wherever I'm working.

SH: What are some of your favourite destinations?
CM: Now that I'm an actor, I usually work in cities, so my favourite places to visit are where Mother Nature is in charge. I grew up in England, so I like hot places! Kenya and Thailand are heaven, and for work Hong Kong is perfect because you can stay on a quiet rainforest beach like Silvermine Bay and commute to Central Hong Kong.

SH: Most valued travel tips?
CM: Noise-cancelling headphones. I've only been flying long-haul for the past five years or so, and I'm so impressed by the movie selections on Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. And with these headphones, flying is my favorite thing. I never sleep on planes anymore!

SH: What do you miss about Shanghai while you are away?
CM: The smiles of old people. There's a couple in their 70s in the lane I live in who have an apartment that is the size of their bed, with a kettle on a stool by the door. They collect and sell the recycleable waste for the lane. They're the happiest couple I ever saw.

SH: What aspect of traveling do you find the most difficult to do?
CM: Being judged by one's nationality in Immigration and customs. The US border protection people don't seem to like ANYONE! I was told off for hugging in the queue!

SH: How do you maintain health and fitness when you are away?
CM: Living in China and eating the full range of available food means one has a pretty strong constitution, so eating local food isn't a problem abroad either. I thought street seafood in Thailand would be a problem, but it wasn’t at all. I like practising yoga on the beach early in the morning. You see the locals getting up and going about their business. It's a beautiful time. The trick is to find a hard, dry bit of sand, or you end up yoga-ing in a wet hole!

SH: What can’t you leave home without?
CM: Something to write in. Something to record my inner monologue so I can remember how places feel, not just how they look.

SH: What is your most treasured possession you have picked up while traveling?
CM: My army medals. But I wouldn't want to go back to any of those places. Some of the most beautiful places around the world have been warzones. Nothing ruins the mood of paradise like landmines.

SH: What has been your most memorable holiday?
CM: On my own, driving a hire car into the USA from Canada for four days. Solitude is pacifying. It helps you let off steam.

SH: What is the best restaurant, café, bar that you have visited while traveling?
CM: The Watergate Bay Café in Cornwall. I stayed there in a tent for a week, washing in the sea with my dog, taking long walks on the beach and writing all day in the café with a bottle of wine. The best way to mend a broken heart!

SH: What are the top holiday destinations that you are yet to visit?
CM: The Caribbean, India and Brazil. One for chill, one for adventure, and one for madness. My honeymoon is coming up in six months. I wonder which it will be...

SH: Who is your favourite traveling companion?
CM: My fiancée. She’s tough but beautiful, organised and relaxed. Never stressed, always sexy. The opposite of me! I'm in safe hands.

SH: What is your ideal holiday?
CM: Lying on the sofa in our lovely old apartment in Shanghai for a week, watching DVDs. I've never done it, and probably never will; actors don't retire.