HOLIDAYS are for going abroad. That was my mantra for a long time. So, if you would have told me a few years ago that I would one day embrace staycations and do so happily, I would have probably rolled my eyes and scoffed at such a remark.
But last weekend, I had one of the best trips I’ve had in a while. Not far away – right here in Scotland.
My partner and I went away on an impromptu weekend trip into the Scottish countryside for his birthday. Less than an hour into our drive, we found ourselves driving the backroads of the Perthshire tourist route, on our way to the campsite near Kinloch Rannoch.
Tucked up in a sleeping bag that evening – doused in skin-so-soft to combat the midges, with a belly full of burgers we cooked on a camping cooker, and some red wine we were gifted, lying on what essentially was the forest floor, as we did not splurge on camping gear – I discovered how happy and relaxed I was.
It was a feeling that continued on our four-day venture along to Ballater, across the Cairngorms National Park, to Aberdeen, and along the Moray Coast to Inverness and then back to Glasgow.
It was a trip of learning. Did you know that what is now the Pass of Ballater was etched out by a glacier during the ice age? I do now, thanks to walking the Craigendarroch Circular Walk which includes fun facts such as this one along the way.
It was a trip of discovery; we sampled beers from a small brewery in Moulin in the pub right beside it and I am embarrassed to admit I only discovered now that Cullen Skink, which I always ate without much thought as to why it was called that, is from a pretty place called Cullen.
It was a trip of scenery, of isolated beaches I had not seen ever before in any book or my Instagram, and idyllic ex-fishing villages.
“We should do this more,” I found myself saying to my partner on our way back to Glasgow. It took me a while to realise, but Scotland, my home, is one of the places where I have had some of the best, most beautiful, culturally enriching trips.
This wasn’t my first Scottish holiday, but it was one of only a few – staycations are only a recent trend for me.
As a child, I did spend most of my summers in the same place with family in the West Highlands (a place I still think is one of the most beautiful places on earth). Yet, as soon as I got older, and once I had moved to Scotland permanently from Germany, I suddenly found myself barely leaving Glasgow apart from the occasional jaunt abroad for “dream” holidays.
I have always deeply loved travel; exploring new cities or places, learning about different cultures, eating my way through menus of items I’ve never tried before. These holidays preferably were always in a land far, far away – Morocco, Vietnam, Australia – or in cultural metropoles – Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like Scotland. I just lost sight of the fact that I could holiday and be happy without crossing a border. Like a horse with blinkers, the promise of going away for adventures somewhere new and shiny made me see and run solely towards these destinations, blinded to the many possibilities I had sitting right at my doorstep.
There was a sense of urgency. The world is big and there’s so much to explore in so little time. However, your doorstep is always there, waiting patiently. So, what I had in front of me was pushed down the to-do list.
As a result of the above, in what I would refer to as the capitalist dream, I was mostly working; working to save up money; working to save up my annual leave to use in one swift go to make foreign trips worth it.
There’s so much to be said as to why living this way may not have been good for me. For one, I was always tired for the first few days of my holiday. You hustle for a three-week getaway once a year and then you’re exhausted when you get there. That hustle is tiring, although I always deemed it worth it for what I was getting out of it.
Still, looking at it now, having more, smaller breaks in-between – long weekends in Scotland, for example – would have probably prevented this somewhat vicious cycle. Unfortunately, it took a pandemic for me to really break the cycle and realise that I had just as much to gain here.
Forced to consider home for our holiday trip, in 2020 we decided to explore the Kintyre Peninsula and Oban. A previous visit had already taught me about the Viking history of Tarbert. On this one, during a pitstop and long walk in Kilmartin, we explored the cairns and standing stones depicting other historical times. In Oban, I had some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had.
In 2021 we did the North Coast for two weeks – it was two of the most idyllic weeks of my life. By that point, I had been to so many parts of the world and I still remember the sense of awe I felt walking along the coastline and parts of the John o’Groats trail. We laughed a lot, walked for miles at times, and one day ate what felt like our own weight in seafood in Tarbet.
Both times, I felt the same sense of calm I usually get from being away, with the added bonus of feeling a stronger connection to the place I call home.
Since then, I have gone on some more short trips and long weekends, and I’m hoping to add many more to the list.
I would never advocate for travel to become purely insular. International travel teaches us so much. To never escape beyond the bounds of what we know, would only limit us. I will never stop loving seeing new places. I even have a holiday in Italy booked next month (which I am very much looking forward to!) Additionally, it has been said recently that holidays abroad may be cheaper than some staycations, so, economically, they may be something to always keep considering.
But what I have come to learn is that I might just try and strike a bit of a better balance in at least being open to including my home turf in the annual travel itinerary and my pre-holiday research.
Because holidaying in Scotland is truly magical – I wish I’d known that sooner – and from now I’m definitely planning to spend more time taking short breaks exploring its beauty.
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