Scotland

We got the early morning ferry from Northern Ireland and arrived into Scotland around lunch time. From there we knew exactly where we were heading: Galloway Forest Park. After a few hours drive we got there, and very quickly found a good spot for the night in a tiny carpark nestled into some trees. Finally! We spent the afternoon wandering around the forest and the lakes, glad to be feeling all alone in nature for the first time in a while, and settled in for one of the best nights of the trip cooking and drinking under the stars with no one around for miles. It was so perfect, that the next night we did the same.

Our next stop was a quick stop off in Edinburugh before heading to the Highlands. While in the city we met up with some friends from Korea and had a great time catching up and exploring the city (as fortunately the campsite was very close to the city, making it easily accessible). Our plans then changed somewhat, as a week in the highlands was then cut by a couple of days as we decided to take our friends up on their kind offer of staying with them for a couple of days and experiencing more of Edinburugh. So, with that in mind, we altered our plans slightly and ventured north for 4 days, finally getting our fix of free camping and staying wherever looked good and had enough space to park. The highlands were magical, and really reminded us of the vast expanses back home.

Once back in Edinburgh, we parked the car for 3 days and didn’t touch it once (which was rather nice!). We explored the city, enjoyed home cooked meals, and generally had a hint of living-in-a-home normality for the first time in many months. It was so nice, that we decided to call on other friends in England to try and do exactly the same thing.

When we left Scotland, we did so with a mixture of saddness and annoyance. We had to head into the north of England if we were going to experience that before getting the car back to London before the deadline. But we really only touched the tip of Scotland. Along with Italy and Vietnam, We definitely need to revisit Scotland at some stage in the future!