Scotland
mist, memory, and the quiet magic of the Highlands
My first trip to Scotland was in 2001, when I stayed in Aberdeen during the height of summer. The days started around 3am and didn’t end until nearly 11pm. You could walk into a nightclub in daylight and leave hours later, still in daylight. It was surreal.
By day, I explored the countryside and the endless castles scattered across the region. By night, I sampled Aberdeen’s nightlife. One club stood out, Frankenstein’s. It was quirky, theatrical, and unforgettable. I hear it’s now in Edinburgh, but back then, finding it nearly sent me off the harbour wharf! That night was wild, and so was my first visit to a lap dance bar.
I also carved out time for family research. My father’s family came from Aberdeen, and walking those streets felt like tracing echoes of my own history.
The second trip, in 2009, was with Paul. We started in a boggy caravan park in Stirling, huddled over tealight candles and a gas stove, building a client’s website. It was cold, damp, and oddly romantic in a techy kind of way. We worked most of the holiday, because that’s what we do.
There was one memorable mishap: I dropped my Blackberry in the toilet while flushing. I washed it quickly and spent the next 24 hours drying it. After that, every time it rang, it sounded like it was underwater. A soggy symphony of regret.
We travelled through to Aberdeen, spent a couple of nights, then headed to Loch Ness. On my first trip, I’d driven around the Loch, exploring its mystery. This time, we stayed in a beautiful chalet nestled in a valley on the edge of the water.
It also happened to be where the air force did training runs through the valleys. Imagine my surprise, standing at the window of our chalet, only to come eye to eye with a fighter jet pilot. It scared the hell out of me! I fell over the coffee table in my fright. One of those moments you never forget.
We cruised the Loch with Jacobite Cruises and revisited all the places I’d fallen in love with before: Glengarry, Invermoriston, Drumnadrochit, Inverness, Urquhart Castle, Fort Augustus, Fort William, Glencoe, Oban. We wandered through the Highlands, then on to Loch Lomond, Glasgow, Lockerbie, Gretna, and finally crossed back into England.
Scotland is truly God’s country. The landscape is breathtaking every day of the year. Whether you’re chasing castles, coding in tents, or drying out your tech disasters, it’s a place that stays with you ... wild, warm & woven with memory.
