Although her current incarnation as a sinewy yoga-crazed, Givenchy-clad spirit is a far cry from the bouncing Material Girl some knew; there was a time when Madonna meant more than a despairing sigh or a duff paparazzi shot with Gywneth Paltrow. That time was the late 1980s and early 1990s, when she was still a pop-star with her finger on the pulse and an acute sense of how to shock and awe. In that period, Madonna’s pop heyday, she cornered the market in the kind of breezy, irresistible music which made you wish it was summer forever. Holiday, La Isla Bonita, Lucky Star: these tracks remain favourites, not least because they seemed to answer to the happy travelling of those enjoying an inflated disposable income, as well as the dreams of the still-oppressed working classes who had to scrape and struggle for rent, let alone a fortnight at a luxury resort. In today’s society there is no question that, whilst Madonna’s kudos has soured, the exuberant promise of a holiday in the sun remains, as an affordable trip to some and an aspired-to dream for others. But thanks to the increase in low-cost travel in recent years, it is more affordable now to enjoy ‘La Isla Bonita’ for real, as well as on record. With the glut of companies specialising in holidays abroad, you could find yourself on the Mediterranean in a week, or even Florida or Dubai. We know the environmental impact caused by low-cost airlines, so if you really are considering a trip away, make sure it is a special occasion, and that you can carbon offset your travel with an environmental agency. Such agencies and think tanks also recommend balancing your travel so that if you fly one year, make sure that you then spend two years travelling closer to home, using bus or train. There is plenty of temptation around, though. Fly Monarch has numerous deals on winter sun ideas, with cheap flights and holidays going to destinations as far afield as Mexico and Lanzarote; or chilly Christmas breaks in Lapland. If you are tempted, choose wisely and act ethically: the current economic instability asks us to be safe rather than sorry.