Tag: Scotland Posts

This last weekend I finally got around to writing up my trip report for my hike along the West Highland Way in 2018. Now that that’s out of the way, I’m thankful I can finally get around to posting my thoughts on the Great Glen Way. The Great Glen Way for all intents and purposes can almost be looked at as the second half of the West Highland Way (WHW). While the WHW finishes in Fort William, the Great Glen Way literally starts where it leaves off. After I finished the WHW, my friend Tony and I took the train to Edinburgh to relax for a few days. Heading back to the Great Glen Way was essentially that train ride in reverse, partially along the same route as the WHW, so in many ways it felt a lot like coming back home. Now first up, let’s talk about COVID-19. I […]

While I’ve done my fair share of hiking in my life, as I’ve gotten older I’ve gravitated more towards multi-day hikes rather than single day hikes. I certainly enjoy an afternoon hike on a weekend, but there’s something magical (and inherently challenging) about hiking for days or weeks at a time. In 2017 I did my longest hike yet – the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I spent 28 days walking from St. Jean Pied de Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, a distance of roughly 800km. When it was over, as I hobbled around Santiago de Compostela letting my feet heal, I told myself that my days of doing multi-day hikes were over. But as the months went by I started to really miss the experiences I had on the Camino de Santiago, and the sheer simplicity of walking for days at a time in the outdoors. So […]

People keep asking me what my next travel plans are, so I thought I would give a little update. While I used to only come back to Canada for a month or two at a time, now that I have my own cottage in Canada I tend to spend longer periods here. Plus, while last year I dabbled in renting my cottage out while I was gone, it’s really only the summer months that seem to appeal to most renters; so it makes more sense for me to travel then so I can rent my cottage out and at least break-even while gone. So for my next adventure, I’ve chosen to walk The West Highland Way, an approximately 150km trail that runs from just outside Glasgow, Scotland, to Fort William. As the name implies, part of the trail takes a person through the beautiful Scottish highlands. Last April I walked […]

I’ve been going pretty much non-stop since last Wednesday. It’s hard for me to believe that less than a week ago I was sitting in the airport in Buenos Aires getting ready to leave. Since then I’ve flown for 15 hours, been molested in Houston airport, and spent five days bouncing around New York City with my friend. Leaving Buenos Aires Before leaving Canada I managed to pick up a prescription of Ativan to help with airplane anxiety. I actually have a mild-phobia of hurtling through the atmosphere in a huge pressurized cylinder. I don’t let my fear stop me, but I get extremely anxious during high bouts of turbulence, enough that I’ve come close to fainting on more than one occasion. Or normal flights you’d probably never know I was anxious, but whenever the plane starts bouncing around you’ll notice my white knuckles on the armrests from a mile […]

As many people know, I’ll be heading to Europe right after my trip to New York City. I officially arrive in Ireland on April 6th, and will be spending the next few weeks around the United Kingdom. Europe is expensive, there’s no doubt about it. Most hotels are around $150 a night for anything decent, and many hostels get bad reviews for what they charge. Since I’ve been living pretty cheaply in Argentina, I’m going to live it up a bit in April. Ireland was definitely on the schedule, as was London (briefly, as I’ve been there before) and Paris. But given that I had a full week to kill in the area prior to Dublin, I thought I would head north and visit Scotland. I’m flying from Shannon to Edinburgh at the start of the week and then from Edinburgh to Dublin at the end. Together those two flights […]

I’ve been busy making plans for April. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet on most of it, but I’ve done a preliminary timetable and the budget works. So this is what it’s looking like. March 31 – April 5 – New York City, USA April 6 – April 10 – Shannon & Limerick, Ireland April 11 – April 15 – Edinburgh, Scotland April 15 – April 17 – Dublin, Ireland April 17 – April 21 – London outskirts, England April 21 – April 26 – Paris, France There’s a bit of bouncing around there, but I’m coordinating meeting up with a few other people, and that’s how it has to happen to work. For example, I’m meeting up with my friend Tanya in Dublin, and my old roommate from university, Jerome, in Paris. I also am trying to stay put during the weekdays so I can get some work done, […]