At the time of my Fellowship in 2006, I was employed by Aberystwyth University, training and working with organic farmers throughout Wales. My Fellowship title was Developing Tourism on Organic Farms, and as I was living on a smallholding and also providing tourist facilities, it seemed a very relevant topic. For my research, I chose Estonia, Slovenia and Poland and spent a month in each country, partly because they were new arrivals to the EU, and also because I was interested in how they were coping with the new regulations.

I travelled on my own which was an interesting and challenging experience, especially if you don't speak the language – luckily my German is not too bad, which got me through as Welsh isn't well known in mainland Europe.

The experience was wonderful, and people were so very kind and generous with their time. On my return and the publication of my report there was some publicity – three consecutive articles in the Western Mail. Whilst I was in these countries I also visited different 'sites of war' and I was grateful to be reminded of our freedom and democracy, which we take so much for granted.

It's a memory which I value and which stays with me.