It’s no secret that I’m in love with Scotland. It’s a love affair that’s developed over many years. Through adventure and friendships, through ‘character building’ challenges and mind-blowing moments in nature. I never knew it was possible to fall in love with a place like you do with a person. But that’s what’s happened to me. It feels like home, even though I don’t live there. The things I see, feel and experience when I’m there connect to the deepest part of me; my soul, my spirit, my aliveness. I tend to avoid the busier summer months; my favourite times to visit are Autumn and winter.
Over the years I have created memories and connections all over. Amongst my favourite memories are taking the Sleeper train from London to the Highlands, living in the Cairngorms for a winter, cycling the North Coast 500, exploring the Outer Hebrides and Shetland, sleeping in bothies, climbing mountains, swimming in crystal clear (cold) water, drinking whisky and feeling more inspired and alive here than any other place on the planet. I’ve used this inspiration to create; I wrote the first draft of my book tucked away in a little place called ‘The Den’, I brainstormed my youth empowerment initiative TrailBlazers whilst living in ‘The Hayloft’. Spot the theme here… I look out for unique places to stay in Scotland, I’ve also stayed in a hobbit house.
It feels quite wonderful to have the opportunity to get to know a place in a way I am doing with Scotland. I love knowing that it’s always there, a bit of a drive, but it’s always there when I need a dose of the wonder and wilderness Scotland provides.
Freedom
Currently in my life I have more freedom than I ever thought was possible. I am genuinely free in every way. I don’t have anything tying me to a place, or a reason to be anywhere or do anything specific. In 2013 when I quit my job and embarked on creating a new life, one of the things that drove me to that decision was feeling frustrated and restricted by the fact that I had to sit in a room to earn a living. When I was younger I had time but no money, but now in full time employment, I was earning money but had no time to spend it doing the things I love. I was Head of Business Development for MVF – the UK’s fastest growing tech startup at the time. I was managing a team of 15 people, having hired every one of them and built our team, our division and a huge part of the overall success of the company, from scratch. Our business was growing so fast that we outgrew our office, and our team was in a room with no natural light, in the arches under a railway in North London.
Discovering adventure beyond the 9-5
Outside of the walls of my office I had fallen in love with the mountains, with adventure and nature. These passions had inspired me to get fit, change my unhealthy habits and challenge myself. I loved my job, but I wanted more for my life. I thought that if I was prepared to take the risk of giving it a go, I might just be able to create a life where I can live and work in a way that feels true to me. My dream was to do good work, earn a good living, make an impact and lead a life I love. I was 27 and decided to take the plunge and go for it.
There’s a whole story between 2013 and the present day, I did manage to create my dream life and experience and achieve many things I had imagined and many more that were beyond what I originally perceived to be possible. It’s been a wild ride, but that’s not the purpose of this blog, so I’m going to jump to today…
Pandemic has it’s own plans
The pandemic was a very difficult time on both a professional and personal level for me, just as I’m sure it was for many of you. Despite the challenges, I maintained a positive outlook and used it as a time to plan and prepare for my future. I missed my life and my van, enormously, but held onto the idea that when we were able to live our lives freely again, I would be going back to a life I love, one I couldn’t wait to grab hold of again. Many moons ago driven by my ‘One Life, Live it!’ philosophy, I committed to myself to grab my life with both hands and not hold back. I couldn’t wait for restrictions to ease to have the freedom to do this again.
It’s probably no surprise that as soon as the lockdown restrictions were lifted I jumped in my van and headed up to Scotland. My friend, Katie, bought a van and came with me. Craving freedom, wilderness and the open road, we didn’t have a set plan, but a list of places we dreamed of visiting and adventures we were hoping to have.
Scotland Road Trip
First stop: Glen Coe! Sitting on the edge of Loch Leven, we cooked dinner as the light faded into darkness. The loch was so calm the stars were reflecting off the water, glistening away and just as we were mesmerized by this, a huge ball of fire blazed across the sky. I am not kidding! We looked at each other asking “WTF was that?!” Some kind of meteorite – I’ve never seen anything like it! We took it as a good omen for our trip.
Kindred Spirits
Katie and I hadn’t seen each other for three years! This was, in fact, quite a risk that we both decided to go on this trip together with our vans. We barely knew each other. Turns out, it was actually one of the best ideas! We are kindred spirits, both equally free-spirited, keen to explore and spontaneous as the other. We challenge and encourage each other in the best way and feel united stronger together in our quest to explore a life off the beaten track. The start of what we hope will be a lifelong friendship and many adventures!
Glen Coe
We hiked, swam and cycled our way around Glen Coe. Climbing the Pap of Glen Coe, a circular walk with incredible views and a fair bit of ascent; 700m in 7 miles. We swam at Glen Coe Lochan, over to an island in the middle of the loch, surrounded by forest and mountains. Unleashing our inner wild swimming in cold water! We cycled around Loch Leven and enjoyed slow mornings; sitting by the water’s edge, drinking tea, taking it all in. Enjoying the luxury of the time to just BE.
Isle of Skye
Next up we drove to the Isle of Skye. Connected by a bridge from the mainland, this is a magical part of the world that everyone seems to adore. We explored the Fairy Pools and jumped in freezing cold waterfalls. Anything to continue our quest for aliveness! We drove to the coast where it looked like the sun was shining and found Glen Brittle, one of the best campsites in the UK and a microclimate! The afternoon was spent basking in the sunshine, chatting, writing and making dinner. Feeling a million miles away from lockdown and the heaviness of the pain I’d been going through.
My van is solar powered which means I don’t need electric hookup when I stay in campsites, so I’m often able to park in the best places. I mean, does it get much better than waking up to this view?!
I love listening to podcasts when I drive and I’d written this in my journal after listening to Greg McKeowan:
“If you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack.” A great reminder of the value of a lack vs abundance mindset…
We donned our wetsuits, booties and gloves and swam across the bay – the hardest part was keeping my face in the water. So cold! We bid farewell to Glen Brittle and drove around the coastline to the North of Skye. The sun glistening on the sea, the environment becoming more and more remote. No shops, pubs, just white houses.
Ever since I read about ‘The Lookout Bothy’ in The Bothy Bible, I’ve wanted to come here and this seemed like the perfect time as I can share it with Katie. We found the red telephone box, parked up and hit the trail. At the Northernmost point of the island, is a simple but beautiful shelter with a room to look out over the sea and a pair of binoculars and another room with a basic sleeping platform. Immersed in the elements and in awe of the natural beauty all around us, we took it all in as the sun set. No-one but us.
Sunrise Mission
At 3am I heard Katie knock on my door and immediately shot out of bed. We were planning to climb the Quairaing at sunrise. It’s got a real mystical air about it, very Lord of the Rings and this morning what we lacked in a clear sunrise we gained in moody, mysterious clouds billowing over the ridges. We walked in silence, no-one else there but us and the sheep. It’s an amazing walk, and one of the most popular on Skye, quite rare to have it to ourselves, but I guess that’s what you get on a sunrise mission!
Down by 8am, we went looking for The Enchanted Loch that someone we met on the beach in Glen Brittle had told us about. After a few wrong turns we found the emerald green, crystal clear loch and of course we had to dive in! Absolutely freeeezing but incredible and not something I would want to miss out on immersing myself in. To really experience a place, I love to deeply feel it, get amongst it, be part of it. That’s partly of why I swim in cold water.
We found Pizza in the Skye and devoured the pizzas in the back of my van before heading off the island. Next stop – The Cairngorms and mountains!
The Cairngorms
We met our friend Scott and headed up through the Glen Feshie forest to climb Sgor Goithe. The view from the summit was absolutely breathtaking and we sat on the edge eating our sandwiches, admiring the jagged snowy peaks and the Cairngorms stretched our ahead of us. After this decent 12 mile day in the mountains and pubs being re-opened, a pint was called for! The Old Bridge Inn is one of the best pubs in Scotland – the food is exceptional.
The following day we walked in the rain in the forest, skinny dipped in my favourite loch, ran up to the outskirts of the Cairngorms past the Green Lochan (if you know, you know!) up to Ryvoan Bothy and back down for dinner with my friend Andy at the Old Bridge Inn. Andy is a mountain guide running all kinds of amazing trips in the mountains from Munro bagging, to winter walking and snow holing. Check out Scot Mountain Holidays. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and has become a good friend since we met a few years back. Due to the recent relaxation of lockdown rules, this was my first time eating dinner inside a pub or restaurant since October last year! Currently it’s May… what a treat.
Ben Nevis
To finish what’s been an incredible trip, we wanted to give Ben Nevis a go. A mountain I’ve climbed a handful of times, but I always enjoy sharing it with different people and different weather conditions. After a week of chasing sunshine and avoiding the rain, it seemed our weather luck had run out. Torrential rain was not the ideal way to start our climb, getting soaked from the get-go. Everyone who had started climbing before us was coming down the mountain having been turned back by the lack of visibility and strong winds. We both have a fair deal of mountain experience and felt confident in our ability to keep going.
For the final hour we climbed in a complete white out with wind so strong you could lean into it and not fall over. We made it to the top, gave each other high fives, took selfies and retreated to the summit shelter for tea and sandwiches.
Later that evening, we were parked up for our final dinner of the trip. Deeply tired - in the best way - from what felt like non-stop adventuring. Living our best lives, living outside. Challenging ourselves, falling in love with life again after the restrictions of a winter in lockdown, feeling free, rediscovering who we are and how good it feels to be alive.
I love you Scotland, thank you for all you have given me and all we are yet to experience together.