Hello! As you might have gathered, I’m a blonde lass from Scotland with a passion for adventure – and this is my blog. I was born and raised in East Lothian, and I studied Architectural Engineering at Heriot Watt University just outside of Edinburgh. My degree has taken me to Manchester where I now work as a Sustainability Engineer in the building sector. I have been hiking and adventuring pretty much since I could stand on two feet, as my parents always took my sister and I on adventuring holidays around the UK where we’d bike, hike, swim, kayak, the lot! I fell out of love with the outdoors as I grew into my teenage years, however, during the lockdown of 2020 I found the urge to get back out and explore the great outdoors. I think being stuck in the four walls of my childhood bedroom writing my dissertation during lockdown has a lot to answer for!
My journey back into the outdoors started with a hike up Ben Lomond in the summer of 2020 with a dear friend of mine. And to say that this is one of the most memorable days of my life would be an understatement. It was one of those blue sky, no cloud days. We seen frogs and butterflies and beetles. We laughed, we cried and we sweated (buckets!). We stopped for a nap in the sun. We thought about giving up. But we didn’t. We made it to the summit, touched the trig, got the photo, blah, blah, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. We stopped for lunch and began our descent. Continuing our laughs as we went. At the bottom we happened upon a table of cakes and refreshments on the side of a quiet lane. An oasis in the desert. A couple quid into the honesty box and a couple of happy hikers with two giant slabs of the best tiffin we’d ever had. Then a detour off of the designated route found us a rope swing on the bonnie banks of a glassy Loch Lomond. Sheer joy.
Cut to me lying in bed that night, realising that, for me, it wasn’t about making it to that summit or ‘ticking off’ that trig. It was the journey. And better than that it was the sharing of the journey with my dear pal. And that’s when I realised I’d never be a ‘tick them all off’ kind of person, or a solo adventure kind of person. Although I have a decent level of fitness and can tick off summits solo in good time, I much prefer to take my time, share the journey with friends, and take it all in.
After all, it really is about the journey, not the destination.
This blog is another journey, and one that I can aptly share with all of you. So come along as I continue my adventures around the UK in Bee, my yellow campervan. There will be swims, paddles, hikes, maybe even the occasional bike. The outdoors is for everyone and I hope to encourage and inspire people to get out there, by sharing some of my experiences, advice and guidance.
Just a wee scottish lass exploring the great outdoors