Scotland. The highlands. Loch Ness monster. Ben Nevis. Whisky. Haggis.
As you can probably tell our most recent trip was to a beautiful area in the Scottish highlands. The internet is filled with blogs about the beauty of Scotland and how everyone should visit, both those points are totally valid but not what I will focus on.
Over the last couple of years we have been pretty full on with our travels (and the fact we have full time office based jobs), especially in 2015 when we didn’t really have any downtime for the whole year bar one weekend camping.
It was time for a rest! With our big trip planned for late May, March seemed like an ideal time and we decided Scotland was in order. Off season – yes. Cold – yes. Worth it – totally!
I am not the most laidback of people (non backpacker number 2 balances us out by being super laid back) so I still couldn’t visit somewhere new without a quick look at the top sites and things to do in the area. I quickly came up with an itinerary ranging from a Loch Ness cruise to a driving tour to Glencoe. The key point this time round was to relax, to take it easy and to spend some time outside.
We live very much in a world of social media, technology and ferrying between home and work without ever spending much time outside. Don’t get me wrong I love technology, I love social media and I love my car BUT it does me no good. I don’t think it really does anyone any good. We are meant to spend time outside, it’s good for our bodies and our minds.
The sunlight, the fresh air, the freedom….the lack of signal….and Wifi. Scotland was all of these things and more. We got outside, we felt the wind and the sun and breathed fresh air. It was wonderful.
A getaway from the modern world, even the cottage we stayed in had a significant lack of signal and no Wifi (although this wasn’t actually intentional), what it did have was a cosy lounge and a fireplace. So, we learnt to make a fire and keep it alive (fairly successfully), we chatted, we read books and magazines and we drank beer.
Nature can be awe inspiring and humbling. People can be awe inspiring and humbling – my husband more than most, combining the two meant I returned relaxed and calm.
It’s good to switch off from the world every now and then, to spend quality time with a loved one, experience something new and create memories. The world can be full on non stop and overwhelming at times, with 24 hour news reporting, smartphones and our addiction to the internet it is refreshing to step away from that for a while.
Now, we didn’t totally switch off and did rely on the web every now and then but it was much less than normal giving us more time to spend together. It might all sound a bit mushy but I think if we boiled it all down that’s what anyone would want.
We feel in love with the area and can see us spending more and more time over the coming years taking a time out and exploring more of the highlands.
