SHE was a travel blogger who had been all over the world and visited fascinating places, but when she set foot in Scotland eight years ago she fell in love with the country and never left.
Kathi Kamleitner had been drawn to write about the beauty of Scotland through her blog Watch Me See and she will never forget the moment she knew this was the country which has stolen her heart.
“It was my first trip to Glencoe that I will never forget,” she said. “It simply took me away and I knew then this was a special place. Its rugged scenery and isolation all left an impression on me. I began to concentrate solely on Scotland and I have never looked back.
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"I had been living in Berlin and had been planning to spend a year in Scotland, but I am still here and have no plans to leave. I hadn't even been here before when I just had this inexplicable urge to mover here.”
With travel restrictions in place it doesn’t make it easy to earn a living as a travel blogger or itinerary planner, but Ms Kamleitner wanted to keep people connected to Scotland while they couldn’t travel here or travel within the country.
Travel blogger Kathi Kamleitner at the start of the Hebridean Way
She is now about to launch her debut podcast Wild for Scotland focusing on Scotland’s islands with the first episode featuring Iona, Staffa and Lunga.
“The show is very much inspired by the conversations I have had with my readers and followers via my Scotland blog Watch Me See ever since the pandemic started and travel restrictions came into place, “ said Ms Kamleitner. “Many people long for Scotland and dream of visiting, but of course, there is no way to do so.
“My podcast presents them with a solution. Each episode, I tell an immersive travel story about a different place in Scotland to give listeners the opportunity to travel there from the comfort of their home, and offer some distraction and escapism.”
The 32-year-old Austrian came to Glasgow to complete at Phd and had been writing for an online travel magazine when she began writing more and more about Scotland.
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“I had been travelling around Scotland and was writing about places I had been to when I had the idea for my own blog and now only write about Scotland,” added Ms Kamleitner. “The more I see the country the more places I want to visit and tell readers and listeners about. My list of places to see in Scotland just seems to be getting longer rather than shorter.
"The contrast between the mountains and coast and how close they are appeal to me. With long coastlines and rugged scenery every place is different."
Kathi Kamleitner at Dunnottar Castle
One of her personal travel highlights was a solo trek on the Hebridean Way and her journey from Vatersay to the Isle Lewis will feature on one of the episodes.
She takes her listeners on a journey with her and in her one of her island hoping adventures you can join her from the moment she steps off the ferry on the Isle of Barra.
Describing her arrival, she recalls in one episode: "Suddenly and out of nowhere a dark coastline appears. For the past five hours the ferry I am on has been gliding through a sea of fog hovering closely above the water's surface.
.....I make my way outside impatiently awaiting our arrival and the start of my adventure.I am exactly where I supposed to be. And then out of nowhere the island appears through the fog like the menacing arms of a monster."
While writing about some of Scotland's more challenging places names, it was a whole different experience trying to master some of the Gaelic place names for her podcast.
"Writing them down is one thing, but there were a few times when I really had to work on my pronunciations for the podcast, but I think I got there," she added.
"I hope people will find the time to listen to the podcasts and might even find a quite moment and sit with a dram while they listen to my travels. It will be one way they can experience travel through Scotland until such times they can return for themselves."
Travel restrictions saw Ms Kamleitner forced to postpone her wedding in Vienna in August, however her and husband to be Thomas Sutherland decided to go ahead with their nuptials last year and ended up getting married in October in her favourite place – Glencoe.
“It was disappointing when we realised we would have to change our plans for our wedding in Vienna where we would have been able to have my family friends,” she added. “However, I think we had the next best thing and had a wonderful day with the most stunning pictures at the foot of Glencoe. What more could you ask for.”
The podcast is available from March 2 at www.wildforscotland.com
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