Author: laretour

travel blogger, book lover, weekend adventurer.
Hashtag Scotland project, Highlands, Scotland, social media

A postcard from… Lochaber, and some thoughts on slow travel

The first few days it rained almost solidly. Between cups of tea and chocolate-sunk biscuits, we turned pages of books as the raindrops tapped the caravan windows. Reading Kathleen Jamie’s Findings, I imagined myself in an alternative weather reality hoping that, in a few days, I’d be able to get outside and note all the intricacies of the summer season like she had in her novel. This … Continue reading A postcard from… Lochaber, and some thoughts on slow travel

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Hashtag Scotland project, Instagram, social media

An Instagram Q&A: Geotagging, exploring Scotland and the pursuit of likes

Two weeks ago, for the first time, I used the question sticker on Instagram Stories. I’d put off jumping on that social media bandwagon in the past because honestly, as a bit of an introvert, I appreciate having a curtain between my online and offline lives. Opening up in a Q&A seemed a bit too scary! But since starting my #HashtagScotland project, I thought it … Continue reading An Instagram Q&A: Geotagging, exploring Scotland and the pursuit of likes

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perthshire, Scotland

A long weekend in leafy Perthshire

There are some spots in Scotland that, to me at least, seem seasonal. The iced Fife hills, sprinkled with sheep, are my end of winter. The secret gardens of East Lothian, blooming in rainbows, are where I spent my spring weekends. The rockpooled coasts of the west, with their white sands and clear tides, are our Julys. And then there’s Perthshire, a region I would … Continue reading A long weekend in leafy Perthshire

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Hashtag Scotland project, Scotland, social media

A new project: Exploring the relationship between Scotland and social media

‘It’s remarkable how, in just a few hundred years, the way we see the Highlands can change entirely…’ ‘Today we walk through them, cycle over them, climb them, explore them — and photograph them, over and over again. This landscape no longer repels people with its harsh, unknowable obscurity. Instead it attracts them in their millions from all over the world’ — from Scotland From The … Continue reading A new project: Exploring the relationship between Scotland and social media

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Scotland

A postcard from… Inverness and the Black Isle

Exploring like the locals It’s been over a year since we were last in the Highland capital. My partner and I fell in love there, so the city and its surroundings are like a planet we orbit around, its emotional pull growing with each return visit. Last holiday weekend we were there to visit his family — and got extremely lucky with the weather! Here’s how we … Continue reading A postcard from… Inverness and the Black Isle

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aberdeen, Scotland

A postcard from… Aberdeen Jazz Festival

Advertisement | This post is sponsored by VisitAberdeenshire and Aberdeen Festivals. That day at work, I was talking to my colleagues about New Orleans. I’d recently watched a few films about Louisiana, and — in a very suburban twist, for me at least — had begun sinking into jazz playlists on Saturday mornings whilst I baked, so daydreaming about a trip to the southern state was … Continue reading A postcard from… Aberdeen Jazz Festival

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