People and Places

 

 

Good Sunday evening. 

I have a singular purpose today, and that is to collect photos and thoughts pertaining to my recent trip to Scotland in one place so that I might revisit it all when the whim strikes. 

Before I dive in, I have so many people to thank. Thank you to my college friend and fellow English major Karla for encouraging me to read Outlander. She was so convinced I'd love it she purchased a digital copy for me, and I can report that I did read it, and I did like it quite a bit. 

My sister also read Outlander, and for Christmas in 2019 we gifted our mother with the eight books in the series that had been published at that time. All of you Outlander fans reading know that a ninth book has since been published, and we all include Diana Gabaldon in our daily prayers as she labors to complete what she says will be the tenth and final tome in the series that began with the publication of Outlander in 1991 when George Herbert Walker Bush was the American President and Sam Heughan was eleven years old. 

In the middle of our family Outlander frenzy, my sister noticed a Facebook post advertising the fact that our alma mater was taking a group to Scotland in May of 2020 and needed a few more people to sign up for the trip. She tagged me in the post, we made a few jokes about traveling overseas and leaving our young children with their fathers while we crossed the Atlantic, and then we of course talked our mother into signing up with us. The three of us were actually going to go to Scotland. It is difficult to read or watch Outlander (and you should do both, absolutely both) without dreaming of seeing Scotland. 

I obtained a passport. We exchanged Scottish-themed gifts for Christmas. All was merriment.  

I will not delve into many details about why we didn't travel to Scotland in May of 2020 or why the trip was again cancelled in May of 2021. Everything was cancelled in 2020, and that certainly included trips to Scotland. The only things that flourished in 2020 were despair and government. 

This brings us to 2022. When it became clear the trip we'd twice postponed was simply never going to happen, at least not through the tour company with whom the school was working, we took our refund and set it aside to determine which Outlander tour we'd take because I was determined I was going to Scotland; admittedly I'd been researching tours for quite some time and was leaning heavily toward Clans and Castles. Many things drew me to this outfit, but one specific thing I appreciate(d) is that they've been running Outlander tours for years, long before the show aired. This means these individuals read and appreciated the books prior to the show, and book readers are my people. They also run a variety of tours that speak to their love of and appreciation for Scotland, and I wanted a tour (and a tour guide) that celebrated Outlander and Scotland equally. Reader, I hope what follows does the experience justice; words and even the many pictures I took seem inadequate to explain or describe the experience I had in Scotland. 

I began by telling you I've many people to thank, and in addition to my friend who encouraged me to read Outlander I should thank my parents, my husband, and my in-laws. My dad, Trey, and my in-laws juggled the care of my two children in my extended absence. Travel is a dicey thing when one of your children is a diabetic. If one parent is out of town, the other parent is the sole on-duty parent making sure all runs as smoothly as it can for a diabetic. When talk of a trip to Scotland began in 2019, Trey encouraged me to go, and he handled my absence with aplomb. 

My mother threw herself into Outlander at my recommendation, and that culminated in a trip across the Atlantic and a week plus of an invigorating but demanding tour schedule that usually resulted in 10,000+ steps a day, many of those over rocky inclines. She handled it all extraordinarily well; I remind you she has twice healed from a broken leg and has a metal rod in one leg as a result of one of those breaks. She is a good and strong woman who doesn't rest as often as she should so she can care for her father, her grandkids, and her daughters who occasionally ask her to take an Outlander tour. 

Here are a few of the three of us.

In Monroe before our journey began. Unless you consider it actually began in 2019. 

This was taken the morning we met Miles, our guide, and climbed in the van for the first time. I was lacking sleep but not enthusiasm.

Somewhere in Scotland.

There are a handful of others I need to thank, people I didn't know until I crossed the Atlantic to immerse myself in Scotland and Outlander and unexpectedly found four new friends. While I had faith in the tour company with which we opted to go, I knew we were signed up for a six-person tour, and that meant we'd be spending a lot of time with four people about whom we were completely ignorant prior to heading to Scotland. I'll have more to say after I load all these pictures, but suffice it to say our three tour mates, Bonnie, Lisa, and Nancy, and our tour guide, Miles, are so dear to me, and it was with considerable sadness and a grateful heart I said goodbye to them last week. 

Here is a group shot taken on our first day together at our first stop, the church used for Jamie and Claire's wedding in season one. I don't think any of us knew what we were in for at this point, not even Miles who, while he knew all about the places we'd visit over the course of the week, was likely unaware he'd just picked up six inquisitive ladies who came to Scotland to celebrate Outlander and happily interrogate their tour guide about Scottish history, Outlander, and, well, him. 

Now that I've written a novel, I am going to sort photos day by day, hotel by hotel. I'll link to hotel websites and other websites where I can and share what I can about where we ate. I didn't go to Scotland for the food, but it was all delicious. I admittedly fell in love with Clotted Cream. I am a bit depressed to return to this infernal Louisiana heat where I am expected to drive myself places rather than being escorted by a kilted man in a van and eat at restaurants devoid of scones and Clotted Cream. 

Our first night away was technically spent on an airplane. 

8 July 2023

Departing Monroe

9 July 2023 

Edinburgh, No. 11 

Our first night in Scotland was a groggy but happy one given we lost six hours of time and spent the prior evening on an airplane; alas, we were happy having finally made it to Scotland. On the journey over we had an unfortunate experience at Heathrow in London that involved running and sweating and me making a new friend at security. When you enter another country, you go through security all over again despite having just stepped off an airplane you were only allowed to board after clearing security. Our plane from Dallas to London was a little behind, and our window to catch our flight from London to Edinburgh was already small, so it was with significant agitation I dickered with an airport employee over the contents of my allotted bag of liquid items and which ones he could throw away. And you know what? I could not even muster much anger because his accent was so lovely. I miss the accents. Sigh. 

We did make our scheduled flight to Edinburgh, and after dropping our bags at the hotel we stumbled on an Italian restaurant nearby. 

 

10 July 2023

Edinburgh, No. 11

My first breakfast in Scotland was fantastic. 

We were on our own to explore Edinburgh since the tour guide wasn't scheduled to whisk us away in his van until the morning of July 11. Over breakfast we met two of our three fellow tour mates, Bonnie and Lisa, and the five of us walked to Edinburgh Castle together. 

The following are both fireplaces in Edinburgh Castle. The Scots do many things well; one of their strengths is building fireplaces.

Edinburgh Castle:

We made our way slowly down the Royal Mile, stopping more than once for coffee and searching until we found Bakehouse Close, our first official Outlander photo-op of the trip. 

Bakehouse Close was used for exterior scenes in season three when Claire returns to Jamie after their twenty-year separation. If you're walking from Edinburgh Castle to Holyroodhouse, this is on your right just off the Royal Mile. I do recommend touring the castle first, meandering down the Royal Mile, and then concluding with Holyroodhouse as this will mean as you meander you will be walking downhill.

The Royal Mile is bookended by Edinburgh Castle and Holyroodhouse. The Palace at Holyoodhouse is impressive and steeped in history. Prior to the Stuart line, when James VI of Scotland became James I of England after Elizabeth I left no heirs, Scotland had their own monarchy, and Holyroodhouse is a testament to that rich history. In fact, James VI was born in Holyroodhouse. They don't allow photography, so we honored that and thus have few pictures inside the place. Their website, linked above, has a lot of wonderful photos. 

11 July 2023 

Nairn, The Invernairne 

On the morning of July 11 we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast at No. 11 in Edinburgh and met Miles, our tour guide, shortly thereafter. We all introduced ourselves, Miles no doubt had a few thoughts about the week ahead with six women, and we loaded the van and headed away from Edinburgh.

Our first stop as a group was a great one. We went to the Glencorse Old Kirk (you need to know now and for the duration of this post that kirk is Scottish for church). This is where Jamie and Claire's wedding was filmed. This is privately owned and is usually one of the last stops on the tour, but the owner was going to be out of town later in the week and Miles arranged for us to see it on Day 1. 

Our second stop was Tibbermore Kirk, the church used to shoot Claire's witch trial in season one.

Our third stop was Falkland. Falkland was used as the town of Inverness. 

The third stop of the day was the Highland Folk Museum. This is a museum built to honor and educate people about the way Highlanders once lived, and, that being the case, it was used as a filming location for Outlander, specifically in scenes in the season one episode "Rent." 

Having done none of the driving myself, I cannot offer you exact locations for many things, but I can say at some point on our first day in the van together we stopped to see Ruthven Barracks, one of the barracks erected in the Highlands specifically for the purpose of housing the dreaded Redcoats so they could keep an eye on the Highlanders. 

After an eventful first day together we arrived in Nairn at our home for two nights, The Invernairne. I loved the town of Nairn and this bed and breakfast where we spent two nights. I could happily sit in the bar and read and gaze at the North Sea for a month without moving.

You can exit through the bar into the garden in the hotel's rear, beyond which is a path that runs along the North Sea toward town, including the restaurant The Bandstand where we ate dinner that first evening.

12 July 2023

Narin, The Invernairne 

Our second day together was another incredible day. We first visited Clava Cairns. Clava Cairns is located near Inverness. It is a wonderful place to visit for any student of history, Outlander fan or not. Outlander did not film here, but Claire is visiting Inverness when she steps through the stones at the fictional Craigh na Dun, and Clava Cairns and other existing standing stones no doubt inspired Ms. Gabaldon when she wrote. The actual filming location is located on a private farm, and there are no standing stones there; those stones were fake and created solely for the show's purposes. 

We did take the obligatory pictures of ourselves attempting to fall through time by throwing ourselves at one of the standing stones, but truth be told I did not want to leave the moment in which I found myself.

After Clava Cairns we headed nearby to Culloden. If you're at all familiar with the Outlander story, you know of the significance of Culloden, but any student of history is also familiar with the bloody battle fought on this moor and the treatment of the remaining Highlanders after Culloden. As is always the case, it is one thing to read, to possess intellectual knowledge, and then another thing entirely to then stand on the ground where men bled and died. 

The Highland town of Beauly was next on the itinerary. I loved Beauly. It, like Culloden, is central to Outlander but also steeped in rich history. You may recognize the Beauly Priory from Outlander. 

Beauly and some of the surrounding land are areas that have traditionally been Fraser land. My mom and I had lunch at a hotel in Beauly; their carpet boasts Clan Fraser’s motto. There are many Frasers buried or interred at the priory as well as in a nearby graveyard and mausoleum we visited. Inside the mausoleum is Clan Fraser's motto, Je Suis Prest (I am ready). It was yet another moment I realized exactly how much research Ms. Gabaldon did while writing her books. 

If you're ever in the Scottish Highlands, Nairn and Beauly are places you must visit.

We returned to our little bed and breakfast in Nairn and were treated to a weapons demonstration by a Highlander who dressed the part and explained to us what combat was like for a Highlander in the eighteenth century. And yes, he looks a little bit like Ernest Hemingway. All my worlds were colliding. 

We sat outside for this demonstration, the North Sea as a backdrop, and I was cold. I was cold, and I walked back inside the hotel after the demonstration to a fire in the fireplace in the bar, and in that moment I decided I need to figure out how to spend every July in Nairn. 

13 July 2023 

Portree on the Isle of Skye, The Royal Hotel 

On the morning of July 13 we left Nairn and headed toward the Isle of Skye. On the way to the ferry to Skye we stopped at Eilean Donan Castle and a few brochs. 

Eilean Donan has no Outlander connections of which I am aware, but it is yet another stunning castle in Scotland, and so we stopped to take pictures. 

Me living my best life somewhere near Eilean Donan Castle:

Our lunch on this day was perhaps the most memorable lunch of the trip. We had a picnic atop the ruins of a broch. I will share photos of some of the brochs we saw (what is left of them) and then offer a brief explanation of these odd, ancient structures and their Outlander connection. 

Brochs are cylindrical stone structures whose ruins dot the Highlands. They are thought to have originated in the Iron Age. They housed perhaps an extended family, each cylinder containing many floors within its walls. The brochs haven’t been restored, so the stones you see today are the original stones. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Diana Gabaldon, ever the researcher, placed Jamie’s family home on the site of an old broch. The broch is old in Jamie’s time, the 1700s, and mentions of it and its deterioration pepper the Outlander novels.

The name of the broch at the site of the Fraser home is Tuarach; Broch Tuarach is Gaelic meaning north-facing tower. Thus the name of Jamie’s family home becomes Broch Tuarach, named for the ancient broch on the land, and is often shortened to Lallybroch, which means lazy tower in Gaelic.

I have so many reasons to say Thank You to Miles. I am thankful he took a chance and asked six women to sit on the ground and have a picnic atop a broch. I can be a fussy person. I don't usually like to eat outdoors. I get cranky when I am hungry. I don't like to climb before I sit down to eat. I could go on, but suffice it to say despite my misgivings the picnic lunch was wonderful; the views were incredible, as was the company. It is something I will always remember. 

These were our views as we ate. 

After our picnic lunch the final highlight of the day was crossing the ferry to the Isle of Skye. 

Even waiting for the ferry was magical as we sipped our recently acquired coffee and watched seals frolic in the water. 

Seals:

Over the sea to Skye.

We stayed at the Royal Hotel in Portree on the Isle of Skye. This was the view from the room I shared with Jessica.

14 July 2023

Portree on the Isle of Skye, The Royal Hotel 

On the morning of July 14 we awoke on the Isle of Skye. I enjoyed some amazing porridge served with honey at the hotel, and then we set out to visit some of the wonders on Skye. We climbed a lot every day on this trip and particularly on this day as we saw the Quiraing and the Fairy Glen.

The Quiraing has no particular Outlander connection but has been used for various other films including, I am told, The Lord of the Rings films. Quiraing means "round fold," and this area is a geological formation situated at the summit of Trotternish on the Isle of Skye. It is formed by a series of landslips, some of which are still moving. If you're curious, Trotternish (Tròndairnis, Scottish Gaelic), in addition to being a fun term, is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye.

The Quiraing is indescribably beautiful. You simply do not believe what you are seeing with your eyes even as you stand there. 

The Fairy Glen is another geological wonder on Skye. This is an area on Skye known for the striated hills that are covered with beautiful ferns. The striated-look of the hills is due to some geological process I certainly cannot relay to you, but as you might guess from the name, Fairy Glen, local legends tell a different story regarding the formation of this stunning place.

The Old Man of Storr is another landmark worth seeing on Skye. We did not get this close to it, but Miles, no doubt needing a few moments of contemplative silence after a day in the van, did some evening climbing. 

Next we visited Dunvegan Castle. Dunvegan has been home of the Macleod Clan for many years. We had a good lunch at the cafe on the castle grounds and then toured the inside where I fell in love with the office/library.

 

In the late afternoon we were treated to about an hour with a local storyteller. He is a fascinating gentleman who has perfected the art of oral storytelling. The hour we spent with him in front of a crackling fire was pure bliss.

The final stop was at Skye Weavers. 

My mom bought me and Jessica matching scarves from Skye Weavers. It's a beautiful blue scarf. I am sure there will be two, maybe three days in Louisiana that are suitable for wearing it this upcoming winter. I love it so much for many reasons. This, below, is me in the van holding the scarf. This is an accurate representation of my mood all week. I was particularly near a coma on this day after listening to the storyteller and then watching the weavers at work and walking away with one of their lovely scarves. 

They do have a website (Skye Weavers), and it seems likely I will purchase additional items from them in the future having seen inside their little workshop atop a hill in the Highlands. And yes, there are some blankets used in season two of Outlander that were purchased from Skye Weavers by Outlander Productions at a time when the owners of Skye Weavers had never heard of Outlander Productions. 

15 July 2023

Comrie at The Royal Hotel 

The morning of the fifteenth was our earliest morning, but we met the challenge. We had to be up in time to meet the ferry. After leaving the Isle of Skye we headed toward Comrie, our destination for the evening. Along the way we stopped at Glenfinnan and Glencoe. 

A few photos of departing the Isle of Skye:

The day we left the Isle of Skye we did a lot of driving, but we made two incredible stops, the first at Glenfinnan. In 1745 Charles Edward Stuart sailed from France and landed in Scotland at Glenfinnan determined to lead Jacobite supporters against the Redcoats and take the crown of England he felt was wrongfully taken from his grandfather, the Catholic King James II who was ousted by Parliament and his protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband William. 

The following year the Jacobites would fight for the final time on 16 April 1746 at Culloden. They would be defeated (as Claire tries so earnestly to convince the Highlanders she meets in Outlander) ending forever the Stuart's attempts to regain the throne and ushering in years of oppressive regulations aimed at eradicating the Highland culture. There is a monument to Prince Charles Edward Stuart at Glenfinnan. It is a stunning place and a beautiful monument. 

As you might expect, also in Glenfinnan is the Glenfinnan Viaduct recognizable from the Harry Potter films. The viaduct and the monument to Charles Stuart are within walking distance of each other. 

Our second stop was at Glencoe. There are no monuments here, but it offers perhaps the most stunning views in all of Scotland. Outlander shot promotional photos here and also filmed the panoramic shots of Jamie and Claire riding a horse here that appear in the show's opening credits. 

Merriment and a photo op somewhere near Glencoe:

The Royal Hotel in Comrie is lovely, as is the town of Comrie. We had a wonderful dinner that evening. Dinner lasted three hours. We had good food, coffee, and dessert, and we began to figure out how we'd share our photos and stay in touch once the tour ended. Facebook and social media in general have their cons, but my goodness are you thankful for the technology when you want to stay in touch with people.

16 July 2023

Carberry Tower

We packed up again the morning of the sixteenth and headed first to Doune Castle. Doune is Castle Leoch in Outlander. Claire and Frank visit the "ruins" of Leoch in season one, and Claire returns to Leoch with Jamie and the other Highlanders who've found her when she falls through time and lands in 1743. Since returning home from Scotland I've watched some of season one of Outlander again, and it is interesting to note the CGI job of aging Doune (Leoch) for the post-WWII scenes with Claire and Frank made it look far worse than the castle actually appears now in the year 2023. 

We left Doune and headed to Drummond Castle. The road leading to Drummond is itself a tree-lined work of art. The gardens at Drummond were used for several outdoor scenes in season two of Outlander; the setting served as Versailles during the months Jamie and Claire are in France.

Perhaps my favorite stop of the day was Culross. The nicely preserved buildings in Culross have been used extensively for Outlander filming, both interior and exterior scenes. 

Culross is wonderful. A short walk takes you to the old kirk that was also used for Outlander season one scenes.

The old kirks in Scotland, certainly including this one, are remarkable. They're remarkable architecturally, and they're remarkable places to see, to just be there and experience the silence and the antiquity, the visible, tangible reminders that men have been toiling on earth, falling in love and raising a family and dying on earth and trying to create beautiful things and beautiful ways to honor the deceased for many, many years.

That evening we stayed at Carberry Tower outside Edinburgh. 

17 July 2023

Edinburgh, No. 11 

We had breakfast together at Carberry Tower before once again loading in the van. 

Our first stop on our final day together was Blackness Castle. Blackness Castle was used as Fort William in Outlander as little remains of the actual Fort William. It is a physically impressive and intimidating structure. Notable scenes filmed here include Jamie’s flogging and the scene when Jamie and Claire jump from a window after he rescues her from Jack Randall. This place was built as a defensive fortress; the thickness of the walls is unbelievable. It is both primitive and simultaneously impressive, a structure that has stood as a sentry for hundreds of years.

The second stop of the day was at Midhope, which of course Outlander uses for Lallybroch, Jamie's family home. I say uses, present tense, as it continues to be featured on the show that is now in its seventh season. 

Miles walked us through the woods surrounding Midhope and showed us various outdoor spots used for filming. This was used as the entrance to Jamie's cave in the years he spent in hiding after Culloden. 

Our final tour stop was Hopetoun House. Hopetoun House has been used extensively for Outlander filming, and we were told it will appear in season seven episodes that haven’t aired yet. Both the exterior and certain interior rooms were used as the Duke of Sandringham’s house. Many of the season three scenes depicting Jamie’s time at Helwater were shot at Hopetoun House.

We ate lunch at the cafe at Hopetoun House. I took this picture of the Clotted Cream that came with my scone because I love the Clotted Cream they serve so much.

Miles left us where he met us, at No. 11 in Edinburgh, and I think it is accurate to say we were all a little melancholy. I remain so as I write this. I miss Scotland; I miss my friends. I miss the accents, the Clotted Cream, the weather, the expanse of the Atlantic between me and the sad saga of the American political scene. I even miss the van. 

We spent our remaining time in Scotland visiting a wonderful bookstore and having one last dinner with the tour group, sans Miles, on our last night in Scotland. Below is a picture I took inside Topping and Company, the bookstore. It is a good, good bookstore. I bought Trey a few books including a beautiful copy of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island; Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850.

When I sat to write this I found I was as eager to discuss the people with whom I shared my time in Scotland as I was to share photos of the beautiful places I visited; that is quite the tribute to my travel companions considering the remarkable places we visited together. But it was the together that made the trip. My one thought prior to meeting Bonnie, Lisa, and Nancy was that I hoped our tour companions were book readers and not fans only of the show. In retrospect, I should've raised my expectations as these ladies met and exceeded them. Bonnie, for example, is not only a book reader; she is the book reader. Bonnie has read the Outlander books multiple times, and she is a member of several book clubs, some with guidelines Jessica and I cannot wait to share with our book club. 

So great was my (three-year) anticipation about seeing Scotland and the various Outlander-related sites we visited that I hadn't given much thought to the logistics of the week, the logistics of spending time in a van and at various hotels with three strangers plus a tour guide. I could not have hand selected four lovelier people. Bonnie and Lisa are friends who read the books years ago when Diana Gabaldon first began writing and publishing them. I love their friendship and feel fortunate to have shared the experience of this tour with them; they too had been planning a Scotland trip since 2020. My mother, sister, and I signed up for the July 2023 tour first, and soon thereafter Bonnie and Lisa filled two additional slots. I knew the final tour member to complete our group of six was someone who bravely signed up alone desiring to experience the tour despite not knowing one person with whom she'd be traveling. That individual is Nancy, and she is exactly the fun-loving, adventurous lady I expected to meet. She has still not returned to the states as she took a train to Liverpool the day the rest of us flew home. I'd say I hope to have her energy when I am her age, but I don't have her energy now at age forty two. 

I don't know what I expected of a tour guide prior to meeting Miles. Having never been on a week-long guided tour, I suppose I had few expectations aside from someone who knows how to drive in Scotland, which could be an Olympic sport, and someone with a decent amount of knowledge about both Scotland and Outlander. Reader, it is not hyperbole to tell you that I could spend six months in Scotland and not manage to see half of what Miles showed us. He gifted us all with a small sheep to remember our trip and the Highlands we all love so much. It's a cute little sheep and truly the perfect gift as we'd all have fallen off a cliff, quite literally, without Miles. The roads in the Highlands are wild. They are one-lane in places, and there is some Scottish secret code you need to know in order to understand who yields to whom; there are random sheep in places; there are many steep hills. He is a skilled driver, and he loves Scotland so much, and he is a patient, patient man. We asked him about the makeup of other Outlander tours he's given, and to our surprise we were one of the only all-female groups he has chauffeured. Apparently women have encouraged their husbands to take this tour with them and, so far as I know, these couples are still married. There was some initial tentativeness among the group as would be expected, but a few days in we were grilling Miles about Scotland as well as his entire life while he openly questioned how often we wanted to eat. 

When I returned to Louisiana, it was nearing midnight local time; in Louisiana in July not even the absence of the sun eliminates the stifling heat and humidity. I thought a lot about Louisiana on the long flight from London to Dallas. Why do people live where they live? The answer to that is usually not simple, but in many cases it has more to do with the people there than anything else. That is certainly the case for me. My husband and I are in Louisiana primarily because our parents are; they raised their respective families in Louisiana because their parents did the same. You'd be hard pressed to find many people who are living in Louisiana because they love the weather. Even the people who whine about the cold (the five days a year it's cold) don't have a lot to say right now as we face day after day of heat indexes that make grown men weep. 

Returning to Louisiana in July after spending over a week in Scotland is a hard pill to swallow. What makes it go down are the people here whom I love. They are the draw, because let me tell you, when I was gazing at the North Sea in fifty degree weather, a fire crackling just beyond me in the bar area of the Invernairne, that sure felt like home. 

I have thought about leaving Louisiana in the past. When Governor Edwards locked our state down during COVID I looked at houses in South Dakota both because they currently have a better Governor and because their summers feel less like the surface of the sun. I love cold weather so much I wrote a book in part so I could send a fictional young woman to Colorado and dress her in winter clothing constantly. Not one hotel on our tour has air conditioning, and yes, most if not all were built prior to the invention of air conditioning, but there are just not many days a year they need it. A functioning air conditioner is your everything in Louisiana in July. Your home quickly becomes unbearable without one. Your life is dominated by fixing the air conditioner until it is fixed. Your Facebook feed is dominated by people sharing the weather forecast. I've said before heat makes me crazy, but it actually does get inside you and impact more than your body temperature. Let me tell you what might make me crazier: Returning from Scotland to Louisiana in July. It is a difficult adjustment mentally and physically. 

Travel simultaneously makes the world seem both larger and smaller. You see the places to which you travel as well as the place to which you return with clearer eyes. You see the ways people are different, their various accents and food preferences and habits of dress, and you see the ways they are similar. You see how weather and geography and a shared history shape people, shape their language, shape their dress, their customs, the very fabric of who they are. 

If you are fortunate, you leave people you love and travel to places so beautiful and meet people so wonderful you can accurately say your heart is in two places. It is blessing upon blessing. Even when you recognize what you dislike about home you are simultaneously confronted with why it is home and why you return again and again. 

I am a homebody. I love my family and my small lapdog and my bed. I love my solitude. It is a testament to Scotland and especially to my favorite Van Brigade that I could happily have spent more time with them. People have asked me what I recommend. Well, I recommend not attempting to see much of the Highlands without a tour guide, honestly. I loved Nairn. The hotel there was my favorite. There is something soothing about the North Sea. The Isle of Skye is stunning, but the driving there seemed quite tricky from where I was sitting in the back of the van. Were I attempting to see Scotland sans a guide, I might could handle Edinburgh, Glasgow, and a drive up to Nairn. There are a handful of castles and Outlander-related things you can certainly see without a guide. Without Miles, we'd not have seen the church where Jamie and Claire married. That was arranged with the private landowner. You can visit Midhope (Lallybroch), but without Miles we'd not have taken a stroll through the woods surrounding Lallybroch and been shown several outdoor filming locations. 

What I have realized since returning home is the beauty of the guide is, among some of the other benefits I've listed, being relieved of making decisions. It was wonderful. I didn't have to drive, decide what time we were leaving in the morning, decide where to eat, when to do what, etc. It was the vacation of all vacations. After about an hour I trusted him. I knew he meant us no harm, loves Scotland so much, is a good driver, and I relaxed in a way I have not relaxed in years. This is why even being in the van was a joy for me. I just watched Scotland unfold out the window (or dozed as needed).

Obviously I would love to return one day. I do not know when that will be. Perhaps I can persuade my employer of the need to take some of my British Literature students on a field trip. I'd like to go to London and see the British Museum, see where Jane Austen lived and wrote, where Shakespeare was born, see the Lake District and Westminster Abbey where William of Normandy was coronated in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings changed, well, everything. Then I'd like to take a train to Edinburgh or Glasgow, spend a few days seeing those cities, and go north. There is a bookstore in Inverness I want to visit (Leakey's). Maybe go see Culloden again. Then go back to Nairn and stare at the North Sea for a few days while I shiver and listen to the locals who have the loveliest accent I miss hearing so much. I am not a short woman, and many of the doors in the ancient structures in Scotland are not high. All week I heard people admonish me to, "Wotch your heid," and every time I heard it it brought me so much joy whether I hit my head on the doorframe or not. 

My advice regarding traveling to Scotland is to do it and plan to spend more time in the Highlands than you do in the touristy cities in the Lowlands. I bought some waterproof Hokas and a waterproof Columbia raincoat, and both served me well. You need good shoes, and you need a waterproof (not water resistant) raincoat. We actually enjoyed what I would label ideal weather. We saw rain, but it was usually the sort of lazy drizzle you'd associate with Scotland, and it was fifty to sixty degrees outside, and you were in Scotland. I cannot recall being bothered by the weather even once. If you do not take a week-long guided tour, consider some day tours, but regardless research what you want to see and where it is. Scotland is not a large country, but there is so much there worth seeing.

I suppose I will close with a thank you to Diana Gabaldon who, in the early nineties, decided to see if she could write a book. Thank you to the Catholic King James II whose devoutness cost him the throne causing much consternation among his descendants who for years attempted to restore a Catholic Stuart to the British throne. Thank you to the Literary Guild of which Bonnie was a member years ago; thank you to them for sending her three novels titled Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager. Thank you to Bonnie for encouraging Lisa to read these books; thank you to Bonnie's husband, Mark, for the gift of this trip to mark the occasion of her sixtieth birthday. Thank you to Lisa for being a wonderful travel companion and making me laugh. Thank you to Nancy for sharing your enthusiasm for James Fraser with us; thank you for sharing yourself with us. Thank you to Diana of Clans and Castles for hiring Miles, the kindest, most extraordinary guide. Thank you to Miles for sharing your love of your beloved Scotland with six chatty, eager American ladies. Thank you to my mother and sister for steadfastly believing we would make it to Scotland and for making the trip all that I hoped it would be and more. Thank you to my dad and my husband for watching women you love get on a plane taking us to another continent and holding down the fort while we were gone. Thank you to God who made Scotland and the people with whom I discovered her with my own eyes.  

In the days since my return stateside I have typed all this up and organized these photos mainly for myself, so I can revisit it all when the mood strikes. I'll end with my favorite shots of the group, one of the six of us Miles took and one of all seven of us taken on our first day together before we realized what a gem of a week was ahead of us. We saw many stunning places, so many sights that boast of the glory of their Creator, but these are probably my favorite photos from the trip because they are made even lovelier by the people in them. It was the trip of a lifetime, and, like Claire when she finds herself in the Scottish Highlands in 1743, I continually have to remind myself it was real.

AZ