Scotland is on the horizon!
After watching the fluctuations in airfare for the past few months and being repeatedly disappointed, I finally bought our tickets. Next month, Mrs. fall-line and I will be whisked away to London from Seattle where we will briefly explore before taking a fast train to Scotland.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting an opportunity to visit the land from which so much of my family history (and hair color) comes. This year we decided that enough is enough - we’re going!
Before buying the tickets this evening I was feeling kind of stressed out about the expense of airfare, hotel, car rental, train tickets, whisky and the like.. Now that the purchase has been made I can’t help but being somewhat overwhelmed with excitement.
Sure, it’s going to be expensive. After all, it’s been years since I’ve taken a trip overseas which was completely unsubsidized. Weather that subsidy came in the form of a fully expensed business trip or, as with our recent trip to Russia, we were provided with lodging, food and gifts by family members, it significantly reduced the out of pocket expense. This one will be entirely on our dime, but now that the ball is in motion, I’m totally OK with that. In fact, I wouldn’t want it any other way. While there, we will be completely on our own, free to do as we please.
As of now, we have very little idea what our itinerary will look like, outside of a basic skeleton. After visiting London, and the quick train ride to Edinburgh, we will rent hire a car and explore the Western Highlands. I’ll no doubt be spending a lot of time playing with the amazing google earth in the coming weeks plotting possible destinations. Distillery tours are a must, as are a few of the historical sites including those that I’ve got a family tie to. Other than that, we are just going to go with the opportunities that present themselves to us. Whatever we end up settling on, I’ll just be happy to be there.