I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, is often overlooked by guidebooks and tourists, and there are good reasons for preferring Edinburgh and Glasgow to Aberdeen. However, now that I’ve lived here for a season and shown the area to countless friends, I would vouch for Aberdeen as a decent weekend getaway. Last month I went on …
Ten Days in the UK via Train Friends, I have been playing a lot this month with creating itineraries around the UK, partly because I am still trying to fit in a few last wanders through the Britain before our time is up and also because I often find myself making recommendations to others about where …
Someone in our family walks across this bridge every day. Also, I try to photograph all my friends on it.
I’ve taken a lot of trains during my time in Europe but this year for the first time I took the sleeper train from London to Scotland. I’ve been super curious about this experience for a while, so I was excited to see what it was like. I opted for a “single berth” instead of …
Bennachie is one of our favorite spots for a quick trip to the countryside from Aberdeen, Scotland. We love it in all seasons.
Winter came early to Scotland this year. This snowfall was back in November. I glimpsed the Highlands of Scotland all covered in snow from my train window. The sun was coming up, turning the snow to pink. I was on my way to Aviemore, to spend the weekend with my family and sweet friends …
November arrived in Aberdeen all golden and glowing, but today at its close, it is icy and crisp. I’ve stomped through lots of wet leaves this month, but today the leaves are frozen and crunching beneath my boots. I’ve driven down to Aberdeen Beach in all sorts of weather this month to wander along the North …
Hello Beautiful Scotland in Fall! The colors of the leaves right now are my consolation for 4:30 sunsets. They are AH-MAH-ZING. Every time I go outside, I take about fifty pictures of trees and leaves. So here are my twenty highlights from the last ten days or so. A spot discovered near Aviemore while visiting Cole …
An Epic Climb in Northwest Scotland: Suilvan Epic climb days always start early and end late. We started walking in low autumn light towards the hulking shadow rising in the distance. Our goal was before us. I love walking behind my boys. And their friends. We made this climb during October holidays with another …
Last week we drove further north in the country of Scotland than we ever have before. Past Ullapool and all the way up to Clashnessie Bay. The bay is a little further north than the sleepy village of Lochinver. We drove miles and miles on tiny roads without seeing any other cars. It was eerily …
Scotland in September started out in the sunshine. I had a visit from a very dear friend. Kelly and I have been friends since we were in elementary school and she has visited me everywhere I have ever lived. She is the sort of friend with whom you can pick up like you have never …
I will forever remember it as one of the loveliest walks of our entire time in Scotland. It was Taido’s birthday weekend and we talked Ben and Simon into getting out for a longer day so we drove a little further than usual (over an hour) and hiked a little further than usual (over 10 …
Chasing Daylight in August: Cruden Bay in the Rain Friday night, 11 pm The chance for rain had gone up to 90%. Taido had been checking the weather hourly all evening, watching the increase from a 10% chance to “almost certainly it’s going to rain.” Now he was feeling uncertain about our plans for a …
Our second week of walking new trails in Scotland was on the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland. My sister and her husband, Robert, and their three kiddos were in town in July for two weeks. The first week we spent in and around Aberdeen, and then we rented a second car and headed west. We stayed …
The spring and summer months are so full around our house that sometimes I move from one event to the next without fully processing the first one. That is a little bit how it was to go from the Speyside Way in the middle of May to the Camino at the beginning of June. But …
Excuse me, miss, can I help you? I knew I was in trouble by the tone of his voice, but I was buying time. Um, no, actually, I don’t think so. I answered meekly. He came back with, What are you doing, exactly? Me: Well, we’re just walking down this road. (stating the obvious) And, …
We had expected to be at the end of the day’s walk by 5pm. We got an early start on our fifteen mile day, heading out under blue skies that promised to turn rainy later in the afternoon. We reached our highest point before lunch. All downhill from here, I thought. Piece of cake. I …
Back in April, when the whether was delightful and my mama was in town, I fell in love with a new bit of Scotland’s east coast. The walk begins near Cruden Bay, where we found a wee boat with my mama’s name on it: Julie! Blue skies + rugged coastline + castle ruins = …
You might remember that my May challenge was a three day walk: The Speyside Way. The Speyside Way is actually a 5-8 day walk (depending on if you add a couple of spurs) through Speyside, an area of Scotland that is famous for single malt whisky production. This area is close enough to where we …
Walking in Scotland throughout the Month of March We spent the first weekend of March in London, but since then, we have gotten out for forest walks every Saturday in March. Additionally one Wednesday, I went with a couple of friends to do a local coastal walk. I think getting outside has gotten me through …