Tag: travel blog

Highlight 10 of the NC500 – The Quiraing

The plague of high internet speed is how far we’ve come to travel the world while on the comfort of our own sofas. We find the top 10 places to see when we travel to a city somewhere on this planet and end up down a wormhole filled with pictures and reviews. Unknowingly we see everything about the place we are visiting before we even set foot there. 

Occasionally it means that when our very real foot sets foot in the very real site we are visiting we are underwhelmed or just confirming what the picture has already shown us. It is definitely great for those with anxiety that need to know every step of their day and google maps is great for that. But it can take away those awesome moments of discovery. 

This was not one of those times, this was a time on an itinerary where we were travelling from place A to B and we found ourselves saying ‘why not’ to a stop off in between. It wasn’t high on our list of places to see on the Isle of Skye and that may come down to the descriptions online not doing it justice. We had never heard of it either. We are under no illusion that just because we haven’t heard of somewhere doesn’t mean it’s not worth visiting. If anything this little beauty has taught us that it pays to visit the unheard of sites.

To try and do this highlight is tricky. The facts are: the Quiraing is a space on the Isle of Skye where there are a series of landslips. The Quiraing section is the one which still moves yearly. Awesome? I’m just not sure. 

In person, it is a network of sloping grass kissed mountains with the odd jagged statue of rock reaching into the sky. The wind literally whips around your body, slaps you in the face and laughs at your thermal wear. There are views across to the mainland of Scotland and on occasion the sun will glint on the Lochs of Hasco and Fada. 

This place quite frankly is indescribable. And that’s okay. For the first time, I’m imploring you to witness it for yourself to understand. Maybe you’ll do a better job of speaking the words that this place inspires in us. 

And maybe just maybe, you’ll see a fighter plane on a training flight whip past you too. 

NC500 Day 10 – Itinerary
NC500 Day 10 – Fairy Glen, Quiraing and Mealt Falls

Scotland, where do I start…

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… 

Imposter, post 101

Imposter syndrome used to confuse me. 

Not that I didn’t understand it. I had just never heard of it before. 

It affects people who have a clear ability to do something and yet doubt it at every step and find it hard to accept accomplishments and accolades. 

I used to think it was a confidence issue or an inability to accept compliments. But recently, I started to see it as both. When it used to come to my writing, I would do it for me. Something to put my thoughts down and out of my head. It was mostly gibberish that could not be wholly understood by others reading it. A spew of consciousness flooding the page before you like a spilled glass of water. 

Today, there is still the occasional spew, but more often than not I talk about my life. I talk about living with PCOS, home life and a majority of the time travel. How can it be hard when you talk about something that is such a large part of your very being? 

I suppose in a way, talking to you about PCOS is a form of therapy, it is definitely cheaper. I also like to think that in a way it is spreading awareness and in turn that awareness will make society more accepting of women like me. I hope in time that someone who looks like me and has fertility struggles won’t feel so alone. I hope that those who read my PCOS blogs who live with the condition themselves will find a friend and those learning about it for the first time will be able to understand the woman in the corner of the room who shies away from prying eyes. 

Then there are the days when I give you the ultimate treat of discussing our lives and the very interesting things that happen to us. Including but obviously not limited to a deflating pool, buying tinned food and the very real saga of why owning a house has its pitfalls! Intriguing, no?

And then, there are the travelling bits. The reason my stomach flips and what makes me so very happy. I’ve been compiling itineraries for over 16 years, over half of my life, fucking hell, lets speed past that little fact… And it brings me joy like nothing else. I worked in my ideal job for over 2.5 years doing just that and I think I have a knack for it. And I am constantly told, you should do this for a living. Welcome to the stage the Imposter Syndrome. He’s here to point out why you can’t do it. HE’s here to drag your accomplishments through the dirt. He’s here to muffle all the voices of the people who have said they love your writing and how much they love tucking themselves into bed at 10pm just to settle down with your blog. 

Yesterday, I posted my 100th blog. Look at me! I’ve had 3238 views and 1987 visitors to my site. On July 18th I reached a new high of 170 views in a single day. I often find myself refreshing the statistics page of my blog app because it doesn’t feel real. Sometimes I wonder if it is the need for validation to shut up the Imposter guy but lately he doesn’t sound as loud. In the beginning, I kept my writing all very hush hush and other than sitting at a table in front of some family members when the time to write is upon me, it is very much a behind closed doors activity. Although, lately it has been a very late night, laptop on the bed with the lamp on, annoying Mr W to no end kind of activity, but let us forget about that for a minute. I don’t like the idea of sitting in front of people and typing away, it feels like those writers you see in Starbucks writing the next great American novel. Too flashy for me. I also find I don’t like discussing my blog. If I don’t discuss it I don’t have to hear negative comments or the ‘what if you said it in this way’. It’s like I feel the need to change my voice. And in all honesty it’s taken me a few years to recognise the voice I have and realise that I don’t want to change it. 

Recently, I’ve had the most wonderful comments about how I should write a book. How my travel pieces are transporting people from their sofas to a Piazza in Italy or a hiking trail in Northumberland. I sit their mouth tightly closed because I simply do not know what to say. There will be a little nervous laugh, some kind of look to Mr W and a response like ‘oh no I could never do that’. And the truth is, I don’t know if I could do it. Not from a writing perspective, my writing comes from my brain like a stream. I hardly stop to think. If I think about what to write too much it becomes so involved and pompous I’ll CTRL-A and delete that crap despite the time spent on it. I just can’t do it. It doesn’t feel like me talking. I’m very aware right now that the CTRL-A may be lost on some of you, but I am also aware that’s how I wanted to explain it and I’m the only one to please. Selfish? No. Staying me, only slightly, yes. 

Maybe I will write a book one day, it’s not the writing that scares me. It’s the idea I need to have to write it. Everything I write about here is real. It has happened. In real life, past, present or near future. I’ll discuss plans and ideas. Who wants to read that in a book? I sometimes think that’s the point, write something that shouldn’t work and just maybe it will. 

I sit here, smiling, how on earth did I get to 100 blogs? When I started Mr W said it would be great. And I didn’t listen, I was just stubborn enough to aim to write every day for a year. To set myself the challenge. Maybe now, the tack on to the challenge is to start believing that the imposter guy is wrong. That when someone shares one of my blog posts it’s because it resonated. I didn’t know they had done it, I don’t  know this person from Adam, but they did it and it was the best feeling. Something I wrote spoke to them. They owed me nothing. They don’t even know who I am. That’s often the thought that conflicts with the voice in my head. That when people bring up my writing they are doing it to be kind. Lately I’ve come to realise that mentioning it at all means something, surely if they didn’t like it, if it didn’t mean anything to them, they would keep quiet?

That’s the voice who needs to win this battle against the Imposter guy. 

I suppose it’s determined by who can shout louder on any given day.

For now, here is to blog 101. In all it’s determined glory!

Photo by Dave Watson

Please check out his work on https://www.instagram.com/davewatson_uk/ or at https://davewatson1980.picfair.com