Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Scotland - Travel to Islands, Highlands, and Local Secrets with Lynne
Today we are joined by Lynne Neiman, host of the Wander Your Way podcast and experienced travel planner. Lynne takes us on a captivating journey through Scotland's diverse landscapes, from the rugged Highlands to its 94 inhabited islands with pristine beaches. She shares insights from her multiple extended stays in Scotland, revealing why this northern country has completely stolen her heart.
Scotland offers extraordinary diversity in a relatively compact country. Lynn's exploration of the Scottish islands – from the popular Isle of Skye to the less-visited Lewis and Harris, and the enchanting Isle of Mull – showcases their distinct personalities and jaw-dropping natural beauty. Her description of single-track roads winding through Mull's dramatic terrain perfectly captures the adventurous spirit required to truly experience Scotland's remote corners.
Beyond the landscapes, Lynn illuminates the soul of Scotland through its people, traditions, and unexpected pleasures. The surprisingly excellent food scene (fresh salmon, venison, and spectacular berries), the warmth of locals who strike up conversations on hiking trails, and cultural celebrations like Hogmanay all create what Lynn describes as moments that "give you all the feels."
For those planning their own Scottish adventure, Lynn offers practical insights on accommodations (book early, especially in remote areas), transportation (rent a car for maximum flexibility), and ideal regions to explore based on your interests. Her small-group tours through Wonder Your Way Adventures, including a Scotland itinerary planned for 2026, promise the authentic, immersive experiences that have made her fall deeply in love with this extraordinary country.
Whether you're drawn to misty mountains, windswept islands, historic castles, or simply the promise of connecting with one of the world's friendliest cultures, this episode will have you dreaming of Scotland long after the conversation ends.
You can also find Lynne at her website Wander Your Way.
Her podcast is Wander Your Way.
You can also find her on Instagram @wanderyourway.
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Hosts
Carol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.life
Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/team_wake/
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Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with Kristen and Carol.
Speaker 2:I am Kristen and I am Carol.
Speaker 1:And we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure.
Speaker 2:Each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next. So today we have Lynn Neiman. She is the host of Wander your Way podcast and we're going to talk about what your podcast is, what other things you talk about, but we're going to focus specifically on Scotland today. Since you were there, you've spent a lot of time there and we love talking about slow travel and spending time in places for maybe more than a couple of weeks and so six months. But yeah, so we're excited to hear about your story.
Speaker 3:So my business is Wonder your Way and I have a podcast, a blog. I started with the blog.
Speaker 2:Oh, you did Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I have a blog first, but I also am a travel planner, so I'm a full service travel agent. But I specialize in Europe and I like to have people I named the business Wonder your Way because I want people to travel their way. So I kind of ditch the cookie cutter. I like to get to know my clients, I like to know what their interests are, because I believe that no two people are alike, so no two trips should be alike. So I really try to get to know my clients and so I can really customize a trip tailored to their needs. They only have a week and they really want to go, go, go.
Speaker 3:Other people who maybe want to slow down and maybe they have a few weeks to travel or maybe they're able to travel longer, and so I can kind of recommend the proper countries, the cities, the regions, the small towns, the outdoor things, whatever it is that they want to do, whether they're into more, you know, cultural, like museums, or if they're more into hiking. So I tend to be less of a city person and more of a hiking person, but you know, I do appreciate the cities and have a few cities that I really like. So after the blog, I decided to start a podcast, you know, in the midst of the pandemic which I think a lot of people did.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:So so, yeah, so I started that, and that's you know. I put out a podcast episode every other week. I'm having fun with it. In fact, we might even go to weekly. So yeah, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1:Now do you full time as a career. You're a travel agent.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's mostly. I have a like a very part time remote job where I do some community management and I do like email, newsletters and stuff. You know it's maybe like 30 hours a month at the most. But yeah, I will say it's a little slow this year starting off. But we are going in the right direction and the new thing that I have, if I can just kind of put a plug out for this is I am starting small group tours and I call them Wonder your Way Adventures.
Speaker 3:So I have a few of those for 2025. A couple going to the Dolomites of Italy, there's one still for Ireland that's open and we are looking at Scotland for 2026. So I'm happy about Scotland today. So I was unable to. The company that I wanted to work with was not available for 2025. So they told me 2026 and I said let's do it so, so yeah 2026 is when you're going to Italy.
Speaker 3:The Dolomites, no 2025. That's this year, in fact, there's one in June and there's one in September. So if you would go to Wonder your Way Adventures that's W-A-N-D-E-R, wonder your Way Adventures you would see the trips there. Small group tours, keeping it small, personally curated by me, so that we are going to the places that I've been to and want to want to spend time and want to share with you. Know people that are interested.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I have to ask a question, because we all love travel here, but Chris and I have, you know, normal. I'm not saying normal just like very corporate, you know, independent corporate job, so like we're, you know, grinding and like a travel career, sounds really cool. Does does any of it fade when it becomes like your primary job, or is it still like? Oh, my God, I can't believe I'm doing this. This is so fun.
Speaker 3:That's a good question. There are days where it can get a little. It can get a little I don't want to say tedious, but it can get a little challenging, get a little challenging and sometimes I think it's just sometimes, I think, finding the accommodation like for like, depending on when like, how much lead time we've got, how big, how many people are going. When I get people like I think I remember last year it's like I had a family and then they had like three kids, but they were all older. So it was like you know, in Europe they don't do like. You know, we have our hotel rooms here where you've got like maybe two queen size beds in a room or whatever. So you can kind of put a family of four in there if you want to. They don't do that so much in Europe.
Speaker 3:So it's harder to find hotel rooms to fit families so that you know, unless they have like one younger child like I've got some people actually going to Scotland and there's a husband and wife and they're traveling with their six-year-old daughter. That's a little easier because she's smaller. We can kind of put her wherever they can roll in an extra little like cot, something small, that she can still fit in. Then I've got another trip, actually for my niece and her husband and their 15-year-old daughter. That's a little bit more challenging because she's a full grown young lady and she needs a whole, she needs a regular size bed, so that becomes a little bit more challenging. So that's when, that's when I feel like it gets hard, because when it when, when I'm trying to find that diamond in the rough, so to speak, or that needle in a haystack, it gets a little, it can get difficult. Wow, that is so. That's the challenge.
Speaker 2:People need you yes people do need me.
Speaker 3:And how often do you travel in a year? It kind of depends when I kind of first started my business, obviously like I didn't feel like I had the you know the means to be able to travel for too long but I would be gone for a couple of months, and so I kind of did that. And then a lot of personal things, because I started my business at the end of 2013. And so I kind of did that. And then a lot of personal things, because I started my business at the end of 2013. My mom passed away in early 2015. I didn't travel again until 2017.
Speaker 3:I think I traveled in 17, 18, 19. I did a week in Paris right before the pandemic in 2020. Then the pandemic hit. Then I was able to, as things started to open up in Europe. At the end of 2021, I traveled for, I think, four months. Two of those months were in Scotland, came back. My dad was diagnosed then with cancer and he passed then in 2023. So 2022, I wasn't able to go away. But then, 2023, both my parents, who I was, you know, helping to take care of well, I lived with them, so I was taking care of them were gone, and so I was able then to kind of go and do a little bit more of a digital nomad lifestyle in 2023. So then I was gone for, like I don't know, seven, eight months in 2023, and then six months in 2024.
Speaker 3:This year I'm going to scale back a little bit just because, like I said, business it's a little slow. I feel like people are a little reluctant to travel right now. They're kind of watching their money and just things being uncertain. People are feeling a little reluctant and that's fine, I understand. I'm still getting some people and I do hope that people still will travel because Europe will welcome you with open arms. So I do try to be gone for, you know, at least a few months. I mean, it's always kind of my goal to be gone for at least maybe like three months, if not more. Nice, that's like perfect yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, cool. Work your other job anywhere. Sounds like that remote.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, that remote job, it's like it's, yeah, it's, I can do that wherever.
Speaker 1:And where are you right now?
Speaker 3:I'm in Cincinnati Ohio. I'm just kind of in the suburbs, so in the Midwest. That's where I grew up. Because I'm not around a whole lot, I'm just renting a room from my sister and her husband, who are retired. So I'm kind of the girl that they let up from down in the basement. Every now and again I come up and I'm like hi, because I have kind of my own space down here, except for the kitchen.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it works out well. Yeah, Okay. So what do you like about Scotland?
Speaker 3:Oh gosh, you know I feel like Scotland is one of those countries that kind of has a little bit. It's got something for everyone. You know you've got a couple of really great cities in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I have not been to Glasgow yet. I have a friend who's a Glaswegian. He keeps saying you need to get over here. But you have these two amazing cities and then you have all these wonderful small towns. You have beautiful outdoor. I mean you can do everything, from time along the water and the sea to the locks or the lakes, mountains.
Speaker 1:They call them locks instead of lakes Locks.
Speaker 3:Lock you have to say it.
Speaker 1:Oh, hence the Loch Ness Monster, yeah, l-o-c-h.
Speaker 3:Is that what I found?
Speaker 1:Yeah, L-O-C-H.
Speaker 3:L-O-C-H. Yeah, loch Ness is one of the. I think it's the largest lake as far as, like, it's the deepest, it's not the prettiest, and they will call them the inland lakes, will be lochs and then on the west coast you will see loch as a sea loch, which means it's more like we would think of it more like a bay. Oh, okay, so they do. On the west coast They'll still call them lochs. There. I have a good Scottish friend who's actually also a guide there, so I get a lot of, a lot of information from her. So I feel like that it has everything you know.
Speaker 3:There's all this great history with with Scotland. You know it's very interesting, intriguing, very tumultuous because of their push and pull with England. And are they independent? Are they not over all the centuries? Are they independent? Are they not Over all the centuries? So there's a lot of you know. There's a lot of historical sites for people that enjoy that, and cultural sites. The food is actually surprisingly good, especially if you are into like, maybe good beef or venison, seafood, mild white fish, very good. They have a very strong kind of farm-to-table, seed-to-table movement, I think there too, yeah, so the food is surprisingly good. You've got whiskey, of course. They make really good gin. Their beers are pretty good. Obviously they don't make wine if you're into your alcoholic beverages, but if you're not, you know they have good water. Yeah, it's not like there's probably a lot of water. Huh, yeah, yeah, there is. There's a lot of coastline, and the other thing is there are a lot of islands. I mean, there's like Really.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, there's what is the. I've got it here. I got my map my Google map. There are.
Speaker 2:Oh, I see the Kirkawale.
Speaker 3:Lerwick there are technically 790 islands. 94 out of 790 are inhabited. So if you want to do island time, it's kind of a great thing to do in Scotland. And what I would say is you don't think about places like Scotland having beautiful beaches, but there are some really spectacular beaches.
Speaker 2:You have to go in the summer, though You're not going to be in your bikini.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask that.
Speaker 3:You're going to be cold but, yeah, the weather there is never. You're never going to have very, very warm weather. I mean, if you get like 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, which is low 20s in Celsius, you know you're lucky.
Speaker 2:you know, in the summer, Like San Francisco, weather all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it will get cold. I mean there will be, I mean they can get snow. I've been there in the winter because of the mountains. You will definitely get some snow at some of the higher elevations in the winter and sometimes even a little lower. Yeah, it's just, it's a beautiful country and it just like the people. I would say that's probably your number one reason to go is the people are some of the nicest on the planet, can't?
Speaker 3:always understand them. Some of them have a very strong accent, but but yeah, they are there, they are just super nice. They will stop and talk to you about anything. I mean, I can't even tell you how many times I've just been out on a trail and somebody starts up a conversation with you, and especially with Americans. I think that they're always intrigued to hear about our lives. They will talk about our politics as well.
Speaker 1:Some of them will Some of them won't, some of them, will some of them? Won't?
Speaker 3:some of them will, so but yeah, it's, it's great fun, it's, it's such a, it's just such a beautiful country and I just think it has a little something for everyone.
Speaker 1:So when were you there and how long were you there for, did you say?
Speaker 3:So I've been there a few times. So my first visit there I was there for probably just a few weeks and I actually walked a long distance trail called the West Highland Way. It's pretty popular, and so it took me a week. I walked 96 miles.
Speaker 3:I had a company actually a very small company kind of set it all up for me so, like she did, she kind of booked my B&Bs that I stayed in so that I didn't have to take all of my stuff with me because I was traveling for a couple months, like I had been over in Ireland and I was going to be going down to England. So I had my big bag they transfer your big bag to each of your kind of, you know, stops and I just had my day pack with me. So I was hiking, you know, just with my stuff that I need for the day food and water, extra clothing, and that was my introduction to Scotland. I landed in Glasgow and I went to this little kind of northern suburb, started the hike and took a week and walked it and ended up actually having a wonderful time, made a friend who I'm still in contact with. We met along the trail. Yeah, I had beautiful weather, which was surprising.
Speaker 2:What time of year?
Speaker 3:did you go? That was May, May of 2017. And that's a good time to go. It really is.
Speaker 1:Question also like stay for women travelers when you're on the trail doing that did you? You stayed and B&B'd.
Speaker 3:Yeah, more like a bed and breakfast or like hotels. It kind of just depended on which town you were, which which, which town you were in and what kind of tourist amenities they had.
Speaker 1:And what was that called? Again the trail. That's 96 miles.
Speaker 3:That sounds really fun West Highland Way, yeah, and I can send a lot of links to you guys, so you guys have them, thank you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So then I didn't go back until during the pandemic in 2021. I had met a woman at the time, so I spent a couple of days in Edinburgh and I went up to St Andrews because I really my dad was still alive, my dad was a big golfer and I went up to St Andrews to go and do a tour of the old course there and my guide happened to be this woman by the name of Bo Frazier the old course there and my guide happened to be this woman by the name of Bo Frazier, and she and I became friends. She's a Blue Badge guide and we have kind of stayed connected. So when I went back to Scotland in 2021, I went and stayed with her and her husband for a few days and then I went over to a town called Fort William over on the West Coast because St Andrews is on the East Coast and had an Airbnb booked for like two months over there and I was just so. I was there November, december. So I was there when the days were getting very short, when the weather was getting cold. I saw snow, I saw sideways, rain, I had beautiful sunshiny days, a little bit of everything, but I just kind of just hunkered down and stayed there for a while and it was great Fort Williams.
Speaker 3:Fort Williams not like the cutest of little towns Most of your cute villages and kind of charming villages are going to be further south compared to in the Highlands, just because that's just kind of how things sort of developed in Scotland. But it's a great base for doing outdoor things because it's the end of the West Highland Way. But it's a great base for doing outdoor things because it's the end of the West Highland Way. So that's where you end. And then Ben Nevis, which is the highest peak in all of Great Britain and all of the United Kingdom, is right there. So a lot of people stay there and they'll. They'll do the summit of Ben Nevis.
Speaker 1:What was that?
Speaker 2:What was that town that when that not so great, but a good base for William Fort William badge by a guide.
Speaker 1:You said a blue badge, guide.
Speaker 3:So they have to go through a specific type of training. In fact, it's almost like a year and half to two years. And it's pretty, it's pretty rigorous, and so they have to go through and they really have to have the knowledge. So, and usually like, like, so she's a blue badge guide for like, uh, for like all of scotland okay, wow so yeah does she like?
Speaker 1:is it like a travel agent or she's a?
Speaker 3:guide, so she's a driver guide I meant, that's what I meant.
Speaker 1:Sorry so, but you would hire her to like take you all over Scotland.
Speaker 3:You can, you can, yeah, somebody like her Like if you wanted to, if you wanted to hire somebody. She's not cheap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and who comes to her? I was just curious who comes to her. Is it companies, corporations?
Speaker 3:Yeah, Sometimes it is and then sometimes sometimes she gets individuals. It kind of depends.
Speaker 2:So if you're booking a trip, would you then hire her?
Speaker 3:or you're, I, I I. A lot of times, if I have people that want to do something like that, I always reach out to her first, and then she. Usually, if she's busy, then she hands me off to somebody else that she knows.
Speaker 1:And so when you say expensive, like what does that look like?
Speaker 3:Oh, you know what? I'm not a hundred percent sure what her, what her fees are, but yeah, but yeah sure what her, what her fees are, but yeah, but yeah, it's like a per day because I know like yeah, it'll be and it'll depend on what you're doing.
Speaker 1:So that's all I can say. I was in bali and I um someone that I know set me there and she was like I have a driver, and so I just paid him like 35 bucks a day and he took me yeah, she's a lot more than that yeah, absolutely, um, yeah, but yeah, so all the little I had to worry about it.
Speaker 3:I have kids. We went all over the place, but yeah, that would be different. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so all the little islands, there's a lot, and there's even ones that, and it says Hebrides, hebrides.
Speaker 3:So, there's the Inner Hebrides and the Outer Hebrides. The Inner Hebrides are just closer to the mainland and the Outer Hebrides are a little bit further. So, like a couple of the islands I've been, the Isle of Skye is the most popular. It's the most popular because it is breathtaking. I went there on my first visit and it's beautiful. I had a car, which is how I would recommend to get around, because it's a little difficult. You can get to some places via train and you can use buses, but a car gives you a little difficult. You can get to some places via train and you can use buses, but a car gives you a little bit more freedom and will get you into the nooks and crannies and will to probably allow you to also get, if you wanted to go to the islands, to be able to really transport yourself around the islands a little bit easier.
Speaker 2:But the islands Do they drive on the?
Speaker 3:left side.
Speaker 1:They drive on.
Speaker 3:yes, yeah, so the opposite. Yeah, because they're they're part of the part of the united kingdom, so so you know, so they uh drive on the left side.
Speaker 3:So, like the isle of sky would be kind of one that you know, I would say, yeah, go there, but it's very, it's gotten a little bit over touristed and as such, because it's know, I think one of the things that I would just kind of say to your listeners is that don't assume that you're going to be able to find accommodation super easy. A lot of these towns they're villages or settlements. There's not a lot to them once you kind of get away from Edinburgh and Glasgow as such, there's not a lot of accommodation choices there. And it's the same when you get out onto the Isle of Skye. There's only so much there and if you have all this influx of people then you're not going. It's going to be harder for you to find places to stay. So that's where, like, it's essential to book in advance for your trip because of the fact that these places, you know they're small. You got these little B&Bs. They maybe only have like four rooms.
Speaker 3:It's very easy to fill up four rooms.
Speaker 1:So you know, if there's only 10 places that have four rooms.
Speaker 3:You know you can do the math very easily and you can find out that there's just, you know, maybe not a whole lot there, so it's very, very essential to do that. But the Isle of Skye is definitely one place I am a big fan of the Isle of Lewis at Harris, which is, even though it's two names, it's really one island. It's a little bit further north from Skye. I went there in 2023 and stayed on the Harris part, which is a southern part, which I would say is the more interesting part. There's a beautiful beach there called Luskentire. It's kind of one of the most, kind of one of the more famous beaches in Scotland. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous stretch of sand, never really warm.
Speaker 3:I just think I was able to wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt at one point in early September. Just a beautiful place. Lots of natural beauty, the Calanish Standing Stones, which are pretty popular on the Lewis part, which is the northern part of the island. That part of the island's a little flatter, but just a beautiful place. And then this last year, in 2024, I went to the Isle of Mull, which is a little further south off the coast. You'll see, it's by Oban. Oban is where you catch the ferry. It's only maybe about 45, 50 minutes to get over by ferry. But wow, what a beautiful island. I totally fell in love with it. But boy I tell you what, driving it's almost a whole single track. There's probably a stretch of 10 miles that you that's. You've got two lanes.
Speaker 3:All the rest is single track and I loved it oh, my gosh island of isle of mole, m-u-l-l and there's all these m-u-l-l is that when I'm seeing these little um houses lines the water's edge with oh that's tober, so tobermory is the main town and that's yeah, that would be like you know. You would probably be able to find places to stay. I stayed at nearby Dervig, which is just maybe seven or eight miles away, but it took me probably maybe 20 minutes to drive because of the single track road and it was all kind of windy. Yeah, it's absolutely beautiful. Again, you'll find like there's like the mountainous interior, there's some beautiful beaches around, it's just, it's a stunning, stunning place. And that's how I feel about a lot of Scotland.
Speaker 3:Like a lot of people don't make it maybe all the way up to like the far kind of Northwest. There's a driving route. They call it the North Coast 500. It's gotten a little bit busy but it's way up in that Northwest corner You'll see like this piece of land, if you look at a map, kind of sticking up there into the North Sea and that driving route is about 500 miles. But that driving route is not, you know, you're talking about two lane roads. I'm trying to think if there's any single track along there. There might be.
Speaker 2:I've never done the whole thing, so you're saying like way up north, near, like Ullapool and Dingwall.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh yeah, ullipol is where you would get the ferry, like over to um to lewis and harris, so, but up there, like gerlach olipol, um on up to um elfin. I don't have the map in front of me so I'm kind of trying to remember that's yeah so, but that that area is just beautiful, it's stunning.
Speaker 3:It's very rugged and remote. Again, again, you know there's not necessarily going to be tons of places to stay. It's about the landscape up there. You know there's not going to be necessarily a ton of like sites per se. You'll see some. There's some lighthouses out on places, but it's just spectacular.
Speaker 2:Okay, wow, I this. I had a stereotype of like dingy, cold stone houses and people drinking at the pub, like that's what I think. Oh my gosh, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 3:And like in the center part, it's like, you know, you get sort of your boggy, sort of your peaty boggy land which you know you would see that like in parts of Ireland, like in Connemara Ireland or places like that, but you'll see some of that as well and it's just, you know it's a very different ecosystem and you know just totally different landscape and it's really beautiful, you know. And then you kind of get down into like along the East Coast kind of like if you go like north of Edinburgh, between like Edinburgh and like around Aberdeen, that area that's Aberdeenshire there's, you know, you'll see a lot of castles around there. Of course, you know Balmoral is out there, which is the royal residence, the royal Scottish residence.
Speaker 1:So all these beautiful castles?
Speaker 3:Balmoral yeah, b-a-l-m-o-r-a-l. It would be near Ballater, braymar, some of the little towns it's like in Cairngorms National Park, which I remember mentioning that my friend was looking at the map.
Speaker 3:She goes that big green glob in the middle of the country oh yeah that's karen gorms, so that's all like national park within there and you've got kind of a more of a main road, the a9 that goes up the um, the sort of the western side. But that eastern side is is a little quieter and there's just a small road, just a great drive that goes from ballater up to granton and spay. Part of it's a track and then part of it's not. It's a gorgeous drive.
Speaker 1:Wow, I looked at Balmoral and it looks like a fairy tale castle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's only open at certain times because of it being kind of the summer Scottish residence of the royal family of the King.
Speaker 1:Looking at it, I feel like I'm looking at Shrek.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, but there are other castles. So there's a, there's a river called the River Dee out there that supposedly I know a couple of people there that live there that are that fish and that's a big fishing river. But that that river along there there are some other castles along there too, so they call it Royal Deeside. Like I said, there are some other castles along there too, so they call it Royal Deeside. Like I said, there's just something for everyone. And then you go down like around St Andrews. That region is called the region of Fife and if you kind of go around the coast they've kind of got all the sort of like the Fife kind of coastal little towns that are just they're charming little fishing villages.
Speaker 2:So when you went the second time for a couple months, did you just like bounce around, because obviously you saw a lot.
Speaker 3:No, I just stayed in Fort Williams. So when I went back then in 2020, I've been four times. So when I went in 2023, I spent I have to think about this, because I was just about at the end of my staying my UK visa, because you can for six months and I spent about a month in six months. I spent about a month in England. So I must have been in Scotland for about four, four and a half months maybe. So I spent a couple of months and I actually did a road trip.
Speaker 3:So I literally like started out kind of in that Royal Decide area and I went up to the north, went all around, I went out to Lewis and Harris, I came down, I went all the way and I went all the way down into Dumfries and Galloway, which is south of Glasgow. So that's that region. So it goes down and it's kind of the border. It's that western border with England and then I went over to the borders, which is the eastern border with England, and I literally like pretty much went around the country in two months of a road trip so that's when I got to really see like everything.
Speaker 3:And then in 2024, I was just there and I was kind of hopscotching a little bit all around because I got to really see like everything. And then in 2024, I was just there and I was kind of hopscotching a little bit all around because I went to the Open Championship, the golf. I went to Royal, which was in Royal Troon, so I kind of had to make my trip a little bit around that because I had tickets.
Speaker 2:So yeah, Okay, and so say Fort Williams, to like the top, the north, where you want to go tour around Like how long is it a day drive, a half a day, two days.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, I mean oh no, I mean you can. You can get up there in a few hours.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It depends exactly where you're going to go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Exactly where you're going to go up there. But yeah, you can go up. I wouldn't do it like as a day trip, like going up and back. If you were basing yourself in Fort William, I you would want to go up and, you know, spend the night or two up there and spend a couple of nights up there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. Did you rent a?
Speaker 3:house, then when you're in Fort. William so um, yeah so I I had an Airbnb, so I rented an apartment. Okay, For those two months. And then you know. So then I've had other times where I've maybe rented, like I know, in 2024, I rented, you know, an apartment, a flat, for like two weeks in a little town called Blair Athol which is right near pit lockery.
Speaker 2:Yes. So if like for a month, to say I want to go for a month like what's, what's the range? Two grand a month three grand a month.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say it's going to depend on exactly where you are, because those places that are stronger holiday places, where the Scots are also going to go or the English are going to come up, are probably going to be a little bit more. If you kind of find some of those towns that are maybe not as much of a holiday place or a vacation spot, um, they're going to be a little cheaper. So, you know, I would say, and again, if it's, you know, is it a studio? Is it a one bedroom, a two bedroom?
Speaker 3:yeah, just say like a one bedroom you know.
Speaker 3:So one bedroom place yeah yeah, um, you know you might be talking about a, um, you know, a couple, a couple thousand, but you might be able to find something cheaper than that and again, it's going to depend on the season, because obviously you know, during the summer seasons, you know, or if you go, like they tend to have their, their schools get what they call a half term, and usually they have something in May and then they have something in October and they're all staggered, you know.
Speaker 3:So it's like these kids are out of school and then the next week these kids are out of school. So you kind of have to watch that too. But was it hard to find something for a whole month or just.
Speaker 2:Airbnb.
Speaker 3:You know, airbnb maybe isn't always the best. Sometimes I kind of find that if you kind of Google your specific area that you're staying in, sometimes like you can find long-term rentals that way and they they tend to call them like um, holiday homes or holiday apartments, self-catering places. So you know, those would kind of be some of the terms that I would use, um, as you Google it, um, and you would be able to find some places that, yeah, we used to do we used to do like craigslist for that back in the day.
Speaker 2:I don't know if people still use craigslist or facebook groups.
Speaker 3:I hear like you find like expat facebook groups or something yeah, you might be able to find something there, you know again, you know, airbnb sometimes is a good place to start. I mean sometimes even going on bookingcom, sometimes, people you know because you can find, you can find places there that are more apartments. But then again, like I think, also just kind of diving in, because some of them don't put stuff out there as much like on Airbnb. They don't want to, and I think that they've kind of had some weird kind of laws and rules, I think around that that the governments are kind of putting in and it's just, I think, so that they're watching like who's actually renting out. So some people may not actually putting it out onto Airbnb. So like house swapping too.
Speaker 1:I know I've heard people do that, where you just kind of swap houses. Very interesting. So just curious, weather-wise, what's the whole year look like in terms of when's their winter? What does that look like weather-wise? You said the summer, may, june. I don't know if it's the same as ours. I know Australia has flipped around.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it's pretty much the same. It's the same as ours. What I would say, though, is that, again, I would not think about things being too warm in the summer. Always be prepared for rain. Just because it's you know it's going to rain on you. It's a rare thing for it not to. So, you know, pack your waterproof shoes and your good raincoat, and you know you can still go in the winter.
Speaker 3:I think one of the things that's maybe that we don't think about is the light, because it's so much further north. You know, the days definitely get shorter. You know, when I was there in November, december, january when you're having those shortest days and I was when I was in, especially when I was in Fort William because I was a little bit further north the days are really short. You're talking 9.30 to 3.30. So you got to get out and do your stuff. If you're going to go out for a hike or something like that, the reverse, of course, is that you get these very long days in late May, in June, into July. That's kind of nice, because then you have these very long days to be able to take advantage of, to be in the outdoors so what's the food like?
Speaker 3:well, as I said, the food is surprisingly good. I think that people don't. You know you think about like fish and chips and you know haggis is this thing that I'm not even 100% sure what? What it is? It's like grains and stuff and they stuff it into something. I don't eat meat. I'm gluten sensitive, but I still find it very easy to actually eat there. I do eat fish, so I eat the fish and the seafood Very fresh. From what I understand, things like their beef is very good because they have lots of places where they can graze cows. There's also a large deer population, so I think the venison is actually you can get very good venison there if that's your thing. So I think the food is better than what you think it's going to be.
Speaker 1:And haggis. I just looked up and a traditional haggis recipe includes sheep's heart, liver and lung. Lung was suet, oatmeal and spices.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah what people say, that it's really good, and they actually do make ground beef yeah, they, it's like a sausage kind of yeah but they do make a vegetarian version of it, but because it has the grains in it, I can't, you know, it's like I can't really eat it, so, but people do say that it's actually very good.
Speaker 1:It's. It says ingredients are traditionally encased in a sheep's stomach and boiled.
Speaker 2:Very interesting.
Speaker 1:Although I guess you know when you're there and on an island, you gotta eat.
Speaker 3:It's like you use it all yeah.
Speaker 1:What was something that you? What was your favorite meal there?
Speaker 3:Oh gosh, probably. You know they do really good. They do a lot of good salmon because you get the North Atlantic salmon, so it probably a salmon dish because it's really good and they do really nice smoked salmons as well. So it's like that's something I pick up in the grocery store like all the time because you can pick it up pretty easily in the grocery store and it's usually because you can pick it up pretty easily in the grocery store and it's usually, you know it's, it's Scottish, you know. The one thing that's kind of really surprising is you will find really good berries. So they their berry season. They grow a lot of berries, especially like kind of closer to Edinburgh, like like the Fife region is kind of one of those regions where they'll grow a lot. So you get like I've had some some of the best raspberries there, oh, oh, all that water right.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, I mean, and I just think that they they've kind of figured out ways to to grow some of this. You'll see those polyurethane kind of tunnels as well, so that they can kind of get a little bit longer growing season because it doesn't get as cold in some places. So those milder temperatures I think can help them out. But you're going to find like a really lot of really good fresh food there, surprisingly.
Speaker 1:And what are some of the main holidays and how do they celebrate? Like I was curious, like their birthdays or Christmas or like? Well, you know.
Speaker 3:I think they celebrate their birthdays pretty much like we do. I would say Christmas is a big deal, but their bigger deal is because they there was a time, if you look back at the history, they actually and it has so much to do with their, with their tumultuous history with England is that they weren't allowed to celebrate Christmas for a while. So their bigger holiday then became New Year's, like New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. So they called Hogmanay and that's definitely a big celebration There'll be.
Speaker 3:You know there's usually in Edinburgh particularly you will see a big celebration for New Year's Eve with fireworks and everything, and then New Year's Day, like I was in the town of Pitlochry on New Year's Day of 2024. In the town of Pitt Lockery on New Year's Day of 2024. And there was, like this big street fair and you know, traditional music and they had a Kaley, which is like a dance kind of thing. It looks like it's spelled something really weird it's a Gaelic word but it's pronounced Kaley and everybody's out there dancing and it was just so much fun to be there and you know, with with locals and tourists alike. So so, yeah, so they tend to they tend to make that a bigger deal. Christmas is still still a big deal.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, it would have been something that, that that they would have done like you know, way back in history. You know they would all meet at a local. You know there would be a local hall or whatever meeting place and that's where everybody would get together. The community and that's kind of one of the things about Scotland that I think is so great is just like they still have those communities. They still have those traditions. You know people, young people, are taking up the traditional music. You know the bagpipes and the drums. In fact there was a pipe and drum band at this street fair and I got teary eyed at the end, like I was there with my camera and I'm like trying to take video and everything.
Speaker 3:And there was a woman I don't know if she was like with her husband or son I couldn't, I didn't get a good look at him but she sort of she was you know I'm short, so she's like pushing me up to the front so I can get that and I was like, oh, thanks, you know. And when they were done, I'm like I had tears in my eyes and I turned around and I'm like, oh, my God, I'm like that. I said it's tears in my eyes. She goes, yeah, she goes. It gives you all the feels, doesn't it? And I just, you know, it was just like all the All the feels, all the feels. That's what she said and that's kind of how I feel.
Speaker 3:I mean, I will be honest with you this last time. So when I had been in, I think I had been in. Where was I? I think I was in. I'm trying to remember where I was this last time. I was visiting a friend in Switzerland and I flew back up to Scotland and I got teary-eyed when we're flying in, and I got teary-eyed when I, when you know like we're flying in, and then, when I left, come back here to the States.
Speaker 1:I start.
Speaker 3:I told myself, lynn, you are not going to cry. And I started to cry. I felt like I was leaving home. Wow. You are a redhead. It looks like you are I. You know I, I. I have a little little like my hair is. I think it's the light in here.
Speaker 1:I'm actually a brunette, but, oh God, it looked like you look like from with the headset on, but you look like you're Irish. You could be Irish as well, yeah.
Speaker 3:Irish at all? Do you have any? There's a little bit of Irish and I think there's probably just a little bit of Scottish. There's some stuff from up in, up in those up in the British Isles. I have yeah, I have more. I think I probably have more German in me. I love Ireland. I've been to Ireland like six or seven times, but Scotland is just, I have to admit lately. It's just, it's, it's been my, my place.
Speaker 1:It's really stolen my heart and that's great. What would you say are the top three places that you said? Like if you had to pick three, if someone was coming check these out, and that can be like a few different places.
Speaker 3:It kind of depends. It could be somewhere more remote, like Braemar. You could stay somewhere like like by Aviemore. You could even stay down by Pit Lockery, because you can very easily get into the park. That way, I would probably say, I'd probably say in some ways to go up to that far Northwest. I've stayed up around a town called Gerlach, but you don't have to stay there. There's a lot up there for people that want to do the outdoors. You just need to have a car. And then I would probably say, yeah, stay somewhere around like Fort William or Glencoe. I didn't even mention Glencoe. There's tons of hiking around there. There's some beautiful drives. There's a lot that you can do in that area as well. And that was really hard for me to do. I'm like thinking about 10 more places in my head.
Speaker 1:Are there pubs on every corner? Is it very yeah. You know in my head Are there pubs on every corner, is it very yeah you know there are a lot of pubs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, there's definitely. You know, kind of like Ireland, you can kind of find a pub most anywhere and they are fun places to go to. Like I said, they make out on the Isle of Lewis and Harris Harris actually has a distillery out there and it's called the Isle of Harris Distillery. They make really good gin and they've just released their whiskey, I think maybe about in the last year or so, so that's Scottish whiskey we call Scotch. So yeah, I mean that's the other thing. It's like you know there's so many people that it would be into something like that. And again, there's so many trails to get out onto locks, to go onto beaches, to walk on mountains, to climb oh wow, that's amazing Castles to explore stone circles, burial tombs I didn't even mention Kilmartin Glen, which is another place. It's like off the beaten path that most Americans don't know about. It's got all these burial tombs and and stuff.
Speaker 2:What was that one called?
Speaker 3:Kill Martin Glenn.
Speaker 2:Kill Martin Glenn Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, we are coming up to our end of our hour here and I have our rapid fire questions, unless you have any final burning questions.
Speaker 1:No, just looking at. Martin Glenn. That's a really yeah. That's got lots of um yeah. Lots to look at with this. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Burial yeah, you can actually get into some of the burial chambers. It's pretty, pretty interesting. Wow, really.
Speaker 1:Wow yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, there's a lot to do, exactly.
Speaker 2:It's really really cool looking All right. So what's a typical breakfast that?
Speaker 3:you would have there what's your favorite breakfast? I would say either what they call porridge, which would be oatmeal as long as it's gluten free 100% gluten free, or like scrambled eggs. You know, farm fresh eggs.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:With smoked salmon.
Speaker 2:Oh, that sounds like my perfect breakfast, it's good, and then do you have a favorite dessert you talked about berries.
Speaker 3:But are there any unique desserts that they have there? Gosh, I can't think of a dessert they have. They do really nice scones, but that's more like what you would have like with some tea or coffee. Yeah, cakes or puddings, they, yeah, you know, um no, but they have this thing called tablet. That's like condensed milk and sugar and it's like you'll see it, like they sell it everywhere. It's like a little square and it's just like pure sugar, pure sugar.
Speaker 2:It's a square solid.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh okay, and it's called tablet.
Speaker 1:It's like, oh, I need this it's like it's like and it's like nothing but pure sugar uh, it looks like well from kind of it looks like it's like small little like fudge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah like fudge, like only it's.
Speaker 1:It's like small, almost bite-sized, correct yeah, although they have it here in different bite-sides. Yeah, like a sugar cube. It looks like brown sugar.
Speaker 3:They have really nice ice creams too, because all the cows there's good milk. There are some specialty ice creams that you know from certain companies and dairies that are pretty, pretty popular.
Speaker 2:All right, okay, and what's the popular religion up there?
Speaker 3:I don't know. I think most people are probably I think it's probably a mix A lot of Presbyterians, maybe all yeah, mostly Christians. Oh, okay, got it.
Speaker 2:All right, and then what's the money situation there? Because they're not in the European Union anymore, but do they use the euro or something else?
Speaker 3:No, they would always be using the same thing because they're part of the United Kingdom, so it's the British sterling pound, which they always would have been. Oh, okay, got it.
Speaker 2:And then generally, do you travel like, use everything on credit card or is this cash?
Speaker 3:I tell you what you can use your credit card. A lot in Scotland that it's one place that I would say they, they are definitely. You can use your credit card or your debit card and tap, tap, tap, there you go, Okay.
Speaker 2:Very good and there may be a few.
Speaker 3:There may be a few places, but I tell you what, since COVID it's a lot of use of card. Very easy to use your card there.
Speaker 1:Is there a lot of fees? I know when I was traveling in Bali and I tapped, tapped you have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you have to. That's one thing I always tell my travel clients is be sure that you have a credit card that does not have a foreign transaction fees, correct. Yeah, I got stuck, but I learned it will add up it should All right Great.
Speaker 2:And then the music. We already talked about a little bit bagpipes. That's pretty common yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, bagpipesipes. And then there's another kind of they. They have it like. It's more like under the arm, it's kind of a smaller, it's not as big um and and the drums kind of thing you'll.
Speaker 3:You'll kind of you know the the, the music would be. You know some of the traditional music would be kind of similar to, to what you would hear in Ireland. I mean it's, you know, it's all it's, it's Celtic, so it's, it's going to be similar. So you would get, you know, you would get sort of a fiddle and maybe an accordion and that guitars, so you know, a pipe maybe. So you'll get a little bit of everything. But but yeah, I mean anything you know, like the bagpipe, it's just, it's just kind of one of those sounds that you're like that's very Scottish.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and do a lot of places. When you go out to eat, do they have live music or just no, not really, you know.
Speaker 3:I kind of feel like the music is a little bit harder to come by, like I feel like in Ireland, like the pubs it's a little bit more popular, like it's easier to come by. You will still be able to find it in Scotland, but you'd probably just have to make sure and seek, seek it out a little bit more and just kind of see there's definitely I mean they definitely have like there are music festivals and things like that and there would be, there would definitely be pubs where they would have music and you know the music still going to run the gamut they'll still have. Like I remember being out and you know you'll hear something that'll be a little bit more, you know, maybe modern like acoustic, like you know kind of indie, folk kind of stuff, maybe as well too, a little bit of everything.
Speaker 2:But yeah, All right. And then a final question the closest place to surf?
Speaker 3:I would imagine they're surfing with like like really thick wetsuits, but yeah, very thick wet wetsuits. You know, I'm not 100% sure where the where the surfing is the best there. I've seen a little bit around St Andrews, but probably I'm kind of like wondering. I'm kind of thinking the west coast probably is a little bit better over that way, and I would imagine that I'm kind of also wondering if up like on that like there's a little town called Nairn Although I think when I was up there I saw somebody on a stand up paddleboard it wasn't surfy enough. I've definitely seen some people doing a little bit of surfing at West Sands and St Andrews when the surf's kind of been up a little bit, you know, when there's more wind.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:All right, and where can our listeners find you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, w-a-n-d-e-r. So Wanderyourwaycom, and that's where you can find me on Facebook, instagram, pinterest and, of course, if you are interested in those small group tours, you can go to Wanderyourwayadvent Adventures. So just add adventures on therecom and you can find those as well.
Speaker 1:And of course podcasts.
Speaker 1:I was looking at the Dolomites. I do this kind of like a HIIT workout H-I-I-T. The gym on the bikes and I bike through the Dolomites, and so that actually is very intriguing. It looks a lot of fun and I love how you very intriguing, it looks a lot of fun and I love how you have it. You have a lot of detail in there, which is great, and I love how you have it, where you can click on each day and then it shows you pictures and what you're going to do each day, and it's really well. There's a map. You have it very well documented, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Yeah, that's a new endeavor for me, so fingers crossed that that continues to grow, because that's something I've always wanted to do is just be able to share some of these of my favorite places with you know just a small handful of like minded travelers and and have people hopefully connect as well over the love of you know, wherever we are.
Speaker 1:Absolutely and just as a glance. Most of them are they when you're hiking and outdoors are they to visit like art galleries or like points of interest? Is that?
Speaker 3:a combination of things. No, the hiking is most especially in the Dolomites. You're just enjoying the beautiful mountains and the Dolomites are special, so absolutely 100% kind of in there. Now there are some. You know you have some cultural elements kind of built into it. You know there are. You know there'll be a couple towns where you'll be able to go in and see the beautiful churches of the area, because it's a very unique area and I know the September tour we're going to an Abbey. And then there's also some wine growing regions kind of nearby that we'll also visit, visit those as well and kind of learn a little bit about the wines of the area and the traditions and stuff.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Nice Sounds fun, I'm sure. Yeah, we'll love that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Great to meet you, Lynn.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I love talking to people that are so passionate about a place. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:I learned so much I really do want to go. It sounds like a lot of fun, scotland's amazing 2026.
Speaker 3:I'm ready to go back. I'm ready to go back. In fact, I probably need to book a ticket. Yeah, perfect. Wonderful Thanks so much have.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much. Have a great weekend, all right. Thanks you, ladies too. Have a great weekend. Thank you Bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the podcast, can you please take a second and do a quick follow of the show and rate us in your podcast app and if you have a minute, we would really appreciate a review. Following and rating is the best way to support us. If you're on Instagram, let's connect. We're at where next podcast. Thanks again.
