RISING TO ANY CHALLENGE

The warm air hit my skin as I stepped off the plane, excited for the trip of a lifetime. It was February 2016 and I was going around the world in 80 days, starting in India, travelling through Asia, Australia and the USA. No, I wasn't taking a gap year or a career break - in fact, I was 70 and on an adventure with my granddaughter, Emily-Anne, then 20.

- MISHAAL KHAN

After my husband Allan died from prostate cancer, aged 69, in 2008, I missed him terribly. We'd been married 42 years and spent our lives working in the wellness industry, running a Champneys health spa, before setting up a spa consultancy.

FACING HER FEAR

In 2010, when The Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, where Allan spent his final days, asked me to do a fundraising event, I was keen to help. Only, when they explained it was at Go Ape, teetering along tightropes up in the treetops, I balked.

'I'm not particularly outdoorsy and I don't like heights,' I said. In truth, I couldn't think of anything worse, but Allan's death had taught me that life was for living, and I wanted to give my support to the hospice, so, after a moment, I decided to challenge myself.