Lately I’ve been re-building lists. Lists of unfinished business I have to get to. Things to see and do, as soon as this other business is over. You might call it a bucket list, but for me I’ll stick with unfinished business. Take a blank map, color in where you’ve been and you quickly see…
It’s a cold and rainy Friday morning in New England, and my thoughts turn to Scotland. I spent a similarly wet day trying to be outdoors on Isle of Skye last November. The goal all along in Scotland was for a generous mix of outdoor activities. Plan B was to visit distilleries when Mother Nature…
This might go down as my favorite year of reading. I made it a goal to read more the last two years, and the momentum from 2018 definitely carried over into 2019. Reading inspired my travel to new places and offered side trips of meaning in places I’ve been many times before. It kicked me…
One of the fun things about travel is seeing new things. Or more specifically seeing old things that are new to you. Climbing tight spiral staircases to see the view from the top isn’t high on many people’s lists, but an adventurous few make the climb to see what’s up there. I had this experience…
“The sea isn’t a place but a fact, and a mystery”– Mary Oliver, The Waves It’s been less than two weeks since I’ve visited the ocean, and it feels like forever. We’re deep into the holidays now, and the end of the quarter, the end of the year and the end of…
How did I get on this track? Surely I’d have been better off looking for the best kale salad? But I’m in search of the best fried food. I know where it started. I blame Halifax. I’ve had exceptional fish & chips, and I keep chasing it in restaurants around the northern Atlantic Ocean trying…
You could spend a couple of weeks immersed in the distilleries of Scotland. I didn’t have a couple of weeks, but I did circle my last day in Scotland for a trip to the malt whiskey capital of the world (they say and I see no reason to dispute it), Dufftown. Two massive whiskey distilleries…
Scottish castles had a tendency of being blown up. If my time in Edinburgh, Stirling, Doune, Interlochy, Eilean Donan and Urquhart Castles has done anything, its reinforced this point. Some remain ruins to this day, others were rebuilt to support next generation clan objectives. All are tourist attractions today, but the day they were destroyed…
Hard rain and fog don’t lend to an optimal hiking experience. But that’s what greeted us as we drove up A855. This was to be the one day where the weather mattered most on the entire trip, and the weather wasn’t good. Disappointed, I scratched Quirang off the list. But I held out hope for…
Few places in film have captured my imagination like the beach in the movie Local Hero. The red telephone box does too, but it was built as a prop for that spot in Pennan. The beach, conceding that beaches change constantly, looks the same. And I made the pilgrimage on a rainy, quiet day when…