It was wonderful to be able to practice my Bengali, too. My parents spoke to us in the ­language at home in London, but I had never felt confident enough to speak it back to anyone – until now. In Bangladesh, some of my relatives couldn’t understand a word of English, so I had no option but to converse in their dialect. I learnt a lot of my spoken Bengali during this holiday – and although I am only at a conversational level, it still fills me with pride. 

But the highlight for me was seeing the places where my parents grew up, which shaped them as individuals – the houses they lived in, the university my father attended. I’m so grateful that they were able to show me these things before they passed away.

My mum’s family home had quite a bit of land surrounding it, and I felt like a total hellraiser when my cousin put me on the back of his motorbike and took me on a tour of the grounds – it was so totally different from my normal life back home. 

However, the biggest culture shock came when we visited the capital city, Dhaka, and its shanty town slums. It was so incredibly loud, colourful and vibrant, with noise and chaos everywhere.  

To this day, whenever I hear the 1980s hit Back to Life by Soul II Soul – which was released that year – it instantly transports me back to that time in my life. It became an anthem for my sisters and me when we came home – a perfect encapsulation of our epic trip, and how we felt returning to our mundane London lives.

As told to Julie Ann Trainor 

Konnie Huq is launching the Recycle Your Electricals Give-Back January campaign, designed to get people to donate or recycle their old electrical goods after Black Friday and Christmas. For more details visit recycleyourelectricals.org.uk