Not quite knowing what to do with a 1st class degree in philosophy and half a Phd from Oxford, I went to work in advertising and awoke some time later to find that I'd become the global planning director of one of the world's top agency networks. Then I co-founded, helped to build and eventually sell Mustoe Merriman Levy - one of only a small handful of independent agencies to make it into the UK top 30.

Some time later, I sat on a terrace in Tuscany and started thinking about where to live...