When I was commuting into Edinburgh each weekday — how strange it feels saying that in past tense — I kept a small notebook in which I’d scribble ideas as the train rattled towards the city. It feels like a lifetime ago when I wrote the words, Where does Hashtag Scotland go next? You may remember this project, which made many appearances on this blog … Continue reading Hashtag Scotland: What’s next for our slow travel project
This is part of a new series called Distancing, short blogs mostly taken from journal entries. I hope you’re all staying safe. A few days ago we went on a ten-mile walk somewhere in Scotland. The last time we were here, it was a glorious January day and the thought of a global pandemic was very far from our minds. Back then, we passed just a … Continue reading Distancing #2: Indoors is the new outdoors
Today we drove a short distance along the coast, deciding to walk a tree-lined stretch of gravel track beside a golf course. Every weather app and news outlet had forecasted an incoming storm; the breeze was powerful, the air so fresh we gulped it into our stagnant office bodies, and the waves turned white in the Forth. It was a beautiful winter’s day. I had … Continue reading Short and sweet: The temptation to take photos
AD: This trip was sponsored by West Coast Waters, a campaign to celebrate Scotland’s diverse west coast ahead of VisitScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters (#YCW2020). Having grown up and spent almost all of my childhood holidays on the west coast, I’m excited to share more of this part of Scotland with you. After disembarking from the short ferry journey from Colintraive on the Cowal … Continue reading Five Ferries: 24 hours on the Isle of Bute
AD: This trip was sponsored by West Coast Waters, a campaign to celebrate Scotland’s diverse west coast ahead of VisitScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters (#YCW2020). Having grown up and spent almost all of my childhood holidays on the west coast, sharing my love for this part of Scotland was a blogging project dream-come-true. We first went to Kintyre over three years ago at the … Continue reading Five Ferries: Off the beaten track in Kintyre and Cowal
AD: I visited Mount Stuart as part of a sponsored trip with West Coast Waters. It’s a campaign to celebrate Scotland’s diverse west coast ahead of VisitScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters (#YCW2020). A postcard from the Kennels… I don’t usually write any stand-alone blogs on the accommodation we stay in during our weekend adventures around Scotland… Unless, of course, I get proper house envy. You can … Continue reading Five Ferries: A postcard from Mount Stuart cottages
AD: This trip was sponsored by West Coast Waters, a campaign to celebrate Scotland’s diverse west coast ahead of VisitScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters (#YCW2020). Having grown up and spent almost all of my childhood holidays on the west coast, sharing my lingering love for this area of Scotland was something I wasn’t about to pass up! It was a perfect September day. There … Continue reading Five Ferries: 24 hours on the Isle of Arran
This Hashtag Scotland project has grown proverbial arms and legs! Initially, when tour guide Nicolas and I started talking, we saw it as a blogging project. Perhaps we’d publish a few posts on our websites, or take a few photos. Instead, we took a road trip over a long weekend in May to document what’s behind the lens at some of Scotland’s most-liked locations, Nicolas … Continue reading Hashtag Scotland: Our road trip on film
The next blog in this series is finally here! Apologies for the delay — I got a bit distracted by summer weather and cycling the Fife Coastal Path. Anyway… In the introductory blog to the #HashtagScotland project, I mentioned that the writing I’d shared around social media and travel back in 2018 had led me to meet Nicolas Loisel, an eco-tour guide and fellow Scotland lover. We decided, … Continue reading Hashtag Scotland: Behind the lens at two of Scotland’s most popular places
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
