Where do I start…

I sort of disappeared didn’t I? An avid reader actually thought something had happened to us. But I promise day 13, 14, and 15 of our trip ended quite simply and without too much to talk about. It was also our wedding anniversary on day 13 and with a few disappointments in our plans for the day it was easier to focus on us and enjoy the day for what it was than what it could have been. 

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be re-visiting our trip over on my instagram and facebook pages with all the photos I have that I think are worthy of sharing, there are over 2000, and I’ll be updating all the daily itineraries so you can benefit from our learnings. There will also be a mini Lake District blog coming soon and I’ll be discussing just how successful being ultra prepared was. 

So there is a lot in the pipeline and I honestly can’t believe it has been a week since I’ve written. In a way it’s been nice to have a break, as you can imagine writing while travelling did not leave me with a lot of time to relax. It was often the case that the spare hour or so that I had in the evenings, between accommodation arrival and bedtime was purely given over to recapping the day. At times, it felt like a slog, one evening in particular I was puking up my dinner (suspected sun stroke, haha yep, in Scotland) and then back to writing ten minutes later. But most of the time, it really did help me wind down and process the day in a really special way. 

Moving forward I’ll be able to pick apart the days further which will bring the memories flooding back. Which I am really looking forward to. Scotland really was a picture perfect experience. Every twist and turn of the roads gave new light and insight into the landscape and not once did we hesitate to turn round to peek at another roadside waterfall or river. It is safe to say we are addicted!

Down to restraints of weather, time and sometimes physical ability (hi sciatica, you utter tw*t) we actually only managed about 90% of our visits which isn’t something to sniff at but I am rather hard on myself for not achieving the desired 100%!

We also found that a lot of the businesses we were aiming to visit had changed their timings at the last minute or were closed due to unforeseen circumstances. As you can imagine, having missed some bits of this trip means I have already started building a ‘Scotland 2.0’ itinerary and it is already incorporating places we want to go to again. I’ll be discussing these in my ‘Highlights of Scotland’ blogs (also coming soon). So strap on those reading glasses, for it is going to be a whirlwind, much like the windy conditions we are experiencing in Essex today, for the Scotland information coming your way is going to be full on! All in all, I estimate there will be approximately 25 blogs to entice you to try this trip for yourself. 

This month is proving to be really quite busy for Mr W and I. We have a birthday party for a rather special lady to plan, a trip up north to negotiate, a few days out in London, work trips and friends to catch up with. November too, is getting rather full! In the coming weeks we will be setting our travel plans for 2023 (crazy!) and the logistics that they will present.  

Something I have realised in the last three weeks is just how special travel is to me. It is a given that I find travel special having started this blog and taking you through my history and present relationships with worldwide travel. And yet, this trip has ultimately taught me so much about myself and how my (and Mr W’s) tastes have changed. Scotland has opened my eyes to what travel can be moving forward and how you travel ultimately being such an important factor of the trip. So until I really get stuck in to the future blogs, I wanted to say a huge thankyou to Mr W for all the support on this trip, it was NOT easy, sciatica is no laughing matter and on day 2 I was extremely close to coming home, all the driving and all the hysterical laughs that he pulled out of me. It’s also prudent to point out how much trust he had in me in planning this trip. It was enormous in scale and I’m grateful we came out the otherside with more love than ever. Although I’m sure Mr W would gratefully have thrown me off a cliff at some points. 

And then, there are the thank you’s to you all. The people who continue to read about our lives and those who share and invite new people to read along. It’s given me a sense of purpose back and isn’t that just a wonderful thing!

Oh! And one final little preview, I will be reviewing all of our accommodation and giving you all some foodie tidbits. As always I will be completely honest and that means sharing the good and the bad. Once the blogs mentioned in this post have been written they will be linked down below and also on the original ‘NC500 Day XX’ Blogs too. I’ll incorporate all the pre-packed food and the packed essentials into these blogs so you can determine for yourself how worthwhile it all is.

Till then…