An 8-day solo adventure in Scotland through beautiful landscapes, over perfect roads, and around more sheep than I ever thought possible.

“I went whenever I could, and always my eyes lifted to the hills. I was to find a spiritual and physical satisfaction in climbing mountains and a tranquil mind upon reaching their summits, as though I had escaped from the disappointments and unkindness of life and emerged above them into a new world, a better world.”
— Alfred Wainwright, “A Coast to Coast Walk”

Mr. Wainwright’s guides to long distance hikes in the United Kingdom are wonderfully quirky and beautifully written. As I was reading the book quoted above with aspirations for a visit, I realized going “whenever I could” had not happened nearly often enough for me lately. My deep love for the outdoors was instilled by a father whose job gave him a standard two week vacation that American companies think is more than enough, much to the astonishment of the rest of the civilized world. He would pack us into a VW campervan and take us to the Sierra to climb on rocks, swim in creeks, and build campfires when the sun dipped behind the pines. So while I learned that the natural world is the quickest way to reset the anxiety of daily life, I also developed a work ethic that seldom afforded the opportunity to enjoy it. …