Many friends and family members have questioned my decision to spend so much time in a country where I have no ancestral or personal connection. They have questioned the sanity of a single woman traveling alone. And they have pondered why I couldn't just stay in the United States. After all, there is plenty to do here! I have decided that a person either understands my wanderlust or they don't. I was 14 years old when I saw an article featuring the countryside of the UK. It was in Seventeen magazine. Follow that with the PBS series, All Creatures Great and Small, about an English country veterinarian, and I was smitten. Since then, I have been drawn to the art, history, culture and beauty of a land I have never seen. And as I stated, you either get that....or you don't. And either one is fine with me.
The decision to make this trip was made in 2007. I was reading a copy of Smithsonian magazine and the cover story was about Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk in England. I was mesmerized by the thought of traveling across the countryside of England, staying at little inns along the way. I took the magazine home with me and placed a brightly colored sticky note on the front cover. Written on the note was the statement, "When I am 55!" I had eight years to make it happen and everything is right on schedule. I turned 55 in April of this year. And while my itinerary does not include the actual course that Wainwright recommended, it is full of hiking and trekking.
As with many dreams, life got in the way and my focus was directed to some big life changes. Five years ago, I found myself living on my own and for the first time in a very long time, I began to revisit my personal dreams and desires. At the top of the list was my UK trip! I made a list of things I needed to do and started checking them off one by one. The first item on the list was getting my passport...check!
I started researching more intently in 2013, and discovered a charming stone cottage on the Isle of Skye. I printed off the information and tucked it away among my other travel books and maps. In early 2015, as I began booking lodging and making more concrete plans, that little stone cottage kept jarring my memory. But I couldn't remember it's name or location. I dug through my large stack of papers and maps and finally found it. When I looked at the photos of the tiny cottage, it felt like the perfect place. So...the first concrete part of my UK trip was soon booked...Fossil Cottage. I will be there for a week in October. It is incredibly charming and has local wildlife to keep me entertained! It has a great location for exploring the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. You can learn more about Fossil Cottage on their website. http://fossil-cottage-skye.co.uk/
