fbpx

Scotland

Like God took a paintbrush and created the scenery with perfect brushstrokes.

Scotland Blog Posts

The scenery alone is spellbinding. You can hike hills and mountains or stare at the sea. Somehow cloudy, rainy days make the country more beauutiful anyplace you go. This is a country that will allow you to spend days and weeks mesmerized by its beauty. And if that doesn’t help you discover yourself, then the whisky and the Highland Cows definitely will!

Where I’ve Been

Scotland Placeholder
Scotland

Currency = Euro.

The wonderful scenes of Scotland…

Find Yourself Rating

Excellent. Get yourself up to the Highlands and spend weeks hiking and admiring the rolling hills and the lochs that go on forever. It’s lovely to be in a country where you can just walk outside to find nature, instead of having to go to a local park. The hiking is spectacular, and you really will need to sit down for some of the views. Maybe it’s the whisky, maybe it’s the sea air, maybe it’s the hills, but you’ll have some fascinating conversations with people you meet. There’s a lot of fun senses of humor and irony and accents that you sometimes cannot understand no matter how hard you try! (And it makes them laugh when you tell them what you think you heard them say.) Being out in wide open spaces that seem to roll out to heaven will deeply inspire your soul. And if that’s not enough, even if you aren’t particularly fond or not fond of cows, the Highland breed will capture your heart. And you can ponder how they see with the tuft of hair in front of their eyes!

Female Solo Travel Ranking

Excellent. Scotland is very safe. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend late nights in pubs and clubs. Mostly because the people that get drunk get really drunk, and you simply don’t want to end up in a fight or anything else. Apart from that, traveling solo was easy, eating alone was never an issue. (I even got invited to dine with 3 gentlemen just for saying I admired their style drinking a bottle of wine at that time of the afternoon.) People were helpful and very nice and would talk your ear off with information if you let them. 🙂

Touristy vs Authentic

Authentic. Scotland is as she is. Big cities, of course, are touristy, but there are so many places that offer you an escape from the crowds and even the possibility to be virtually alone. When you find the less touristy places you’ll be delighted. Isle of Skye was quite touristy, for example, but at the same time it was easy to find solace on a walk by the water, or a walk in the hills where I thought I was alone until a lone sheep would appear and look at me as if I were the interesting thing to see for the day. Tourist sites are what they are, so if you want a real authentic / find yourself experience the best places to go are more in the middle of nowhere, hours away from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Getting Around / Transportation

Anything goes. If you can handle driving on the left side of the road, you might want to rent a car. I found the best modes of transportation were the train to go long distances, and local buses to go from one town to a neighboring town. Scotrail is easy to use, except once in a while when it tells you that you can’t pick up your ticket at the train station nearest to you. For popular routes, it’s a good idea to book a seat well in advance. I took a 5-hour ride from Edinburgh up north and it was standing room only for those that missed out on the reservations. Other rides I was told Scotrail doesn’t have reservations! There’s an app for Scotrail that’s pretty handy. For city buses I often used Stagecoach, which also has an app and often times, especially in Kingussie and the Islands, I bought a day ticket so I could hop on and off buses and even use them as my method of seeing a place if time were short.

How to Save Money

Be a little creative. I was in Scotland during peak tourist season and booking last minute, not always so easy, and, at times, places I wanted to visit were just so expensive I couldn’t go. Instead, I used the Scotrail website to see what cities were closest to the one I wanted to visit, and then checked acommodation in those towns. That saved me tons of money! Food is pretty hearty so you can probably be ok with just one course instead of two, if you’re used to eating a lot. Fish-n-chips will always be one of your least expensive options, and when they are good, they are great! Taking buses is a lot cheaper than taxis which you should avoid if you’re trying to stick to a budget. You can drink the tap water, so no need for bottled water.

Negotiating Tips

Flirt. Scotland isn’t a place where you can bargain, so chatting up the barman or waiter, on occasion, will get you a free drink. However, surprisingly if you do get a glass of anything, they measure everything to the exact line, as required by law. No point being a regular if you were hoping for that extra great pour.

Tipping

Standard. If someone is of service to you be prepared to tip. It’s often already included in your check, but always look because if it’s not, then you’ll be expected to leave something. If someone was extra good, then of course you might give them a little extra.

WiFi Access

Excellent Every hotel and restaurant has WiFi and the connections were pretty good. Not always good enough for a video call that lasted a long time, but readily available.

Toilets

Great. I don’t think I encountered even one dirty, smelly toilet my entire time in Scotland. Bathrooms are mostly tidy, plenty of toilet paper, soap and a dryer for your hands.

Insects, Rodents and Reptiles

Minimum. The only animals I saw were the ones I wanted – cows and horses and sheep. There were no mosquitos to speak of.

Passport, Visa and Entry/Exit Rules

Straightforward.  It’s always a good idea to check the US government website (or your country’s local government if not the US) for in-depth information as well as the embassy website of each country. You don’t need a visa to enter the UK, but you can’t stay longer than 90 days within a 180 day period. That means if you wanted to explore Europe for a while, make a list of Schengen and non-Schengen countries. You can stay 90 days within 180 in Schengen countries and then another 90 within 180 in a non-Schengen country. Scotland/United Kingdom is not a Schengen country.

Health, Water, etc.

Excellent. You can drink the tap water safely, food is safe, and you don’t need any major vaccinations. But only you know your whisky limit, so drink responsibly!

Weather

Four Seasons. Scotland has typical four seasons every year. However they may vary from what you’re used to. In summer, for exaple, if you go hiking in the Cairngorms on a rainy/misty day, weather can be in the 50s/60s Fahrenheit.  In fact even during the day in summer, weather can be fairly cool. Winter temperatures drop to the 30s.

Essentials to Pack

Even summer is not too hot so make sure you remember some long-sleeved shirts and a sweater and a rain jacket. I had to buy a wool hat while there because it got so cold further north in the mountains. 

How to Make Friends

It was very easy to talk to people in some cafes and pubs. The hotel lobby/dining area was another great resource for meeting people. Hotel staff are also very friendly and can probably direct you to good places to meet other people.

What to Do and See

The Highlands are not to be missed. If you can get up close to a Highland Cow it’s a lovely experience. You’ll have to try at least one whisky distillery! And if you’re not a whisky fan, you may still love the whisky cream liqueur. I highly recommend getting out to some of the isles and staying on them if you can find a place. Take some of the ferries, and eat amazing seafood. In fact, Scottish salmon is the best I’ve ever tasted.

Where to Stay

Here are a few of the places I liked:

First, a great resource for finding hotels, especially on the isles, is Visit Scotland. They have tons of accommodations listed and, lesson learned, even if a place seems completely sold out, call some of them because someone is likely to find you a room somewhere. Did you also know that in Scotland you can camp ANYwhere? Literally any patch of land you see you can camp there. Another one, especially if you plan to see the Isles is Road to the Isles.

The Albion Hotel – located in Glasgow, the staff could not possibly be more helpful or friendly. The rooms are small, but safe, quiet and a lovely area that’s outside the center of the city and easily accessible by subway.

Pitlochry Backpackers – Great find! They had a nice single room and though the windows faced the street, it was relatively quiet. The staff were nice and if you eat any meals in the dining room you’re guaranteed to meet interesting people from around the world. Just 3 blocks walk to/from the rail station.

The Sonnhalde – in Kingussie. One of the best places I stayed! Cheaper to book direct than through an app. LOVELY owners, though they may be retiring soon. They cook an incredible breakfast every morning, the rooms are just LOVELY I don’t know what else to say, loved them. Great lounge room to enjoy a cup of tea with a view.

Askival – in Mallaig. A lovely Bed and breakfast. Further out from the center, but easy to walk to in about 10 minutes. Lovely owners, and a great breakfast!

The Townhouse Aberfeldy – one of the best places I stayed! When my brother came for a visit we enjoyed the hotel, dining there, and exploring the areas nearby.

Most of what's keeping you from what you want - full-time travel, a new business idea, a radical career shift - are your excuses. After one session with Heather, you'll understand which excuses are holding you back the most, how to get them out of the way, and you'll leave with an action plan that helps you set the foundation to pivot into the life you want.

You know you don't like your job, but you can't figure out how to survive without it. Designed for frustrated professionals the program focuses on teaching you the key steps to shifting your work and money mindsets, and giving you the money and work strategies to pursue, leaving you empowered to quit with confidence and see that it really is possible to live happily without a stable job.

Whether traveling full time was your dream before the pandemic, or after, this session will help you understand how to prepare, what you need to know, and how to get your finances in order to make it happen. It's the perfect accompaniment to the "How To Afford The Travel Life" eBook. You'll also get an understanding of both what's great about full-time travel and some of the challenges. You can also discuss planning help, and how to get the most out of your experience.

It's always been essential to understand your money, but if you've lost your job due to the pandemic, now it's even more important that you create financial empowerment. In this session, Heather will work with you to first understand your gaps in managing your money, then she'll help you with the framework on how to ensure you can afford the life you dream of. You'll get tips to save and budget, and also discuss ways to earn money that will shift you out of feeling like a victim of the times, to seeing the opportunities in front of you to begin making money in a different way.

You want to quit and travel full time, but when can you go? This eBook gives you all the formulas you need to calculate when you can quit and afford the travel lifestyle you want, in under and hour.

Thanks to the pandemic, we've all had a chance to ask the question, "what now?" If you've decided it's time to quit your 9-to-5 to travel full time (or take it with you while you live nomadically), this program will help you address the core mindset, money, and planning gaps you have. This is the program that will help you acknowledge and overcome your fears about what's next, figure out how to afford and sustain your travels, and feel confident about planning your adventure. Book your free session to see if you're a fit!

You're finally serious about traveling full time, but you cannot figure out how you'll afford it. Or, you're just curious whether it's really even possible to afford the lifestyle. Bootcamp is for you! We'll go dive deep into savings strategies before you go, how to save on the road, and how to sustain your travels, as well as look at lots of work opportunities if you want to work while you travel! Includes a 3-day build your budget challenge to get you thinking about how to replace dreams with real logical steps to make it happen.

You've dreamed about traveling full time for as long as you can remember, and now you've learned that it's a little more challenging than you thought. Get help getting through the initial shock and changes when you realize you're not on vacation. Learn how to manage those experiences where you meet parts of yourself long forgotten, and create a plan to help you have the best experience with your journey.

If you want to see every post I've written, starting with the most recent, this is the place to start!


If you need some tips on getting started, traveling safe, and saving money while traveling full time, go here! 

I've been traveling the globe solo, and many of my posts share thoughts and resources specifically for other solo travelers. If you're a fellow solo traveler, or you're thinking about solo travel, this is a collection you will find of interest.

If you're looking to read blog posts about specific destinations, click the country of your interest below to go to it's blog page and get country-specific reviews and thoughts.

Africa

Argentina

Australia

Brazil

Cambodia

Chile

Costa Rica

France

New Zealand

Peru

Portugal

Scotland

Singapore

Thailand

Uruguay

Vietnam

 

Sometimes I write posts where I give insider information on certain cities I've visited, which may be more along the lines of places to go, how to save money, etc. If that's your main interest, check out this compilation of posts.

In 2020, I was traveling in New Zealand as the coronavirus pandemic brewed, and, got stuck there. If you want to read about what this time was like and traveling during this time, check out this page.

At the heart of international travel is learning about the many different cultures and ways of being around the world. The posts compiled on this page speak, specifically, about the cultural observations I've had.

Many of my blog posts are about things I've discovered about myself or about being, while I've traveled. If you'd like to focus on posts that only have self-discovery themes, click the button below.