I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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 …
Happy December Y’all! Already this week, we have put up our tree and covered it with new silver-spray painted salt dough ornaments. They are the easiest + happiest Christmas craft ever. Do it this weekend and you’ll have big smiles, I promise. Last night, I introduced 30 sweet gals to the joys (and the mess) of …
I shared a whole bunch of autumn photos earlier this week, but maybe my favorite is this one of Simon being so super happy to see his big brother. We skipped school last week to pop over and see Cole at camp. It was the highlight of Simon’s week for sures. October was a busy month …
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 …
Recently, a fellow writer suggested that I try to dig at the root of what has made me a traveler. Where did I get my love of the outdoors? How did I become a wanderer? As I have explored these questions through scribbles in notebooks and looked for answers to why I mark the calendar months by …
Friends! Are you asking yourself how it could possibly already be August? Yes, me too! I quickly chronicled our July wanderings for my last two posts, because I knew that I was holding onto quiet days in August for opening up the treasure box that is my memories of The Camino de Santiago in June. …
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 …
Friends! The end of the summer is upon us! I lament the end of this season every single year, and it’s gotten worse since we moved to Scotland because of the horrible dread of the shorter days around the corner. So instead of nursing my melancholy that the best of 2015 is behind me, I’m …
My Mama Polly Stone-cold sober, she was more free in spirit than most people are three sheets to the wind. I won’t be able to be at her memorial service today, but as my family has gathered photos and stories back home, I have been thinking about all my grandmother has given to me over …
The cruel irony in this story is that I have become almost smug in the fact that I am an experienced train traveler.
My mom was here for three weeks in April and May and I really wanted her to have at least a little taste of seeing somewhere besides Aberdeen. I love train travel, so I spent a little time trying to find places that we could get to relatively easily via train and towns that could …
Every time I read a historical novel set during the Second World War or see a film that takes place during the Holocaust, I find myself hoping that the events will take a different turn. I know the way the stories go. I know what happened when the Nazis occupied a country or a town. …
Some of my favorite stills to snap photos of in our expat life involve tea. Cups of tea. Teapots. Sometimes flowers. And lots of times, books. We have adopted tea time in Scotland, and it does make the cold climate more bearable to keep a hot drink in your hand as often as possible. Here’s …
Hello friends, What have you been up to this month? This weekend we are saying goodbye to February with an ice skating outing. And on Monday, I’ll be saying Hello to March with a trip to Malta with First Choice Holidays. Please let there be sunshine. I went on a walk for February’s #ChasingDaylight challenge, …
Well, now that I’m back from a few days of poolside cocktails and sandy toes, Cape Verde seems like a dream. But I’m excited to be bundling up for the weekend back here in Aberdeen. The kids have a few days off of school, so we’re heading into the woods tomorrow for Valentine’s Day. And …
Hello friends, This week has been quiet. Taido’s been tied up with a conference at the university so the kids and I have been huddled on the couch drinking tea and cocoa. Watching “telly” and reading books. I started reading The Fiddler’s Gun aloud to Simon and every one else is listening while pretending that …
Well hello there friends. Happy New Year to you! We got back from Arkansas this week and strangely enough it has been warmer in Scotland than in Little Rock. Go figure. We had the most wonderful visit home, which was collectively documented thoroughly on the Facebook. I did not look at a computer even once, …
Upon Arrival: Coast to Coast Lodgings Discovering our particular establishments among the small hotels and B&Bs in the villages along the Coast to Coast was like a treasure hunt waiting for us at the end of each day’s walk. When we arrived at our new place to sleep each night, we were usually greeted like …
Coast to Coast: Beginnings Rising to the Occasion A year ago I had never before heard the name of Alfred Wainwright, but I had recently met one of many great hillwalkers who have walked in his footsteps. Hillwalker was a term with which I was just beginning to become familiar, having previously only used the …
Happy Weekend friends! I’m getting settled back in from my epic walk across England. I plan to start sharing stories next week, one per week for the next eight weeks or so. One of the most fun things Diane and I did every day was make silly YouTube video updates. I put together a remix …