Heather Fell, Olympic modern pentathlete silver medalist, writes about her life 'on and off' the track.

IT never ceases to amaze me how small this world can be, and when travelling this is often exaggerated.

Not being a city girl, one day in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok was enough for me so I headed south west to the Gulf islands. My first stop was the most developed island of the three, Koh Samui.

I arrived with no prior knowledge of this island, just a few recommendations I'd picked up on my long journey there.

As I mentioned the internet is impressively efficient so I logged on to share my location with friends; only an hour after arriving I had discovered that someone's brother lived on this island and was keen to show me the sights. You can never beat a bit of inside local knowledge! We were soon off to the eye opening food markets, the clearest beaches and the hippest bars.

As much as I was craving a relaxed beach holiday I also need an amount of adventure so I headed on to discover another two islands. After plenty of time to relax — even though I seem to have the ability to switch off automatically — it was time to make the most of what this part of the world can offer.

As you probably know by now I'm always looking for a new challenge so the sport of Muay Thai seemed an obvious choice. I've never attempted any martial arts - the closest comparison I have would be fencing - so it was a completely new concept and one that I thoroughly enjoyed despite the consequential bruises.

The other activity I enrolled on is more commonly associated with holidaying on a Thai island. I headed to the sea for the far more relaxing 'sport' of scuba diving and enjoyed the underwater wonders the Gulf has to offer.