002. On Scotland

Inner Vibes 💌 

Journal entry of a girl trying to find flow in the universe 🌍️ 

When I first started my journey of self-healing, I realized that a big part of me had forgotten how to shine. So I made a list of things that brought me joy - which was weirdly harder than I thought it would be. I had never consciously asked myself that question before. Some examples that I came up with were:

• 🏞️ Being in nature

• 🏃‍♀️ Being active for the majority of the day

• 🧳 Travel and exploration

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Being a part of a community

• 🎨 Being creative (whatever the hell that means - I had shut that whole part off remember?)

• 🧘‍♀️ Mindfullness/spiritual practice

• 🤝 Helping others

The thing that kept coming up for me was 🧳 .To me, when I travel, it’s as if I’m putting together pieces of a puzzle by collecting different perspectives from the people and cultures I encounter. A friend of mine (thanks Linky) recently shared an amazing quote with me “we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us”. 

So we made plans to buy a camper tour the US national parks (which would help me cross a few things off my joy list: 🏞️ and 🏃‍♀️). For those of you who have known me for a long time, the fact that “being in nature” was on my joy list in the first place may have come as a bit of shock. I had become someone who enjoyed modern day comforts - a little too much - and had lost my connection to the Earth.

Eventually, with a little help from my friend San Pedro and encouragement from my husband, over the years, I developed a different relationship with nature. One of ultimate reciprocity and deep love. So we packed up our things, begrudgingly crammed both winter and summer seasons into one suitcase and prepared to leave on our adventure.

I need to caveat that I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to do this. I thank the heavens every day and recognize that not everyone has this privilege.  But this didn’t happen overnight, we spent a year saving every dollar, I curbed my shopping habit, and we didn’t have a wedding. All things I would happily give up again and again. 

In a funny twist of irony, a day before we were meant to buy a camper, the universe decided to teach me my first lesson. My husband received his green card, a year earlier than expected, which meant we could now finally travel international. I could almost hear the universe chuckling at me “Didn’t you set out with an intention to flow? Well, surprise, the plans you spent 8 months making, POOF, changed in less than a minute”. 

“Okay. Okay. I hear you”, I said. “Thank you for teaching me the lesson I had set out to learn in a beautiful and not a difficult way🙏🏽 “

We re-assessed and decided Scotland would be our first stop. A place my husband once called home and somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit. Sticking with our intention to flow, we agreed to only book one leg at a time. Leaving it up to the universe to decide where we should go beyond Scotland. 

Immediately after handing in our keys, I felt unstable. Not having somewhere to call home is a weird concept. Something I had once feared, was now something that I actively had to embrace. There were many tears, bouts of anger, and my inner roommate (more on this concept in a future newsletter) wouldn’t shut up with the constant second guessing “Why did you even do this? What are you thinking? Quitting your job?? After everything you’ve worked for?? You don’t even have a home! How are you going to make money? You have no skillsets.”.

Eventually, I leveraged the tools I had at my disposal (meditation, writing, and breathwork) to pull me out of the spiral in my head. One of the first things I started to feel was an utter sense of expansion, that the world was mine for the taking and the possibilities were endless. 

It was working…

Contemplations:

🧿 When was the last time you made a joy list?
🧿 What would the top 10 items be on your joy list?
🧿 How can you incorporate them into your day to day life?

Wanderlust Gems 🏞️

Inspiring humans, art, history, nature, adventures and new discoveries 🚀 

If I could describe Scotland in one word it would be magic. The moment I stepped off the plane and took my first breath of crisp air, I immediately knew I had entered a mystical realm. We spent the first few days in Loch Lomand and enjoyed some home cooked food and while exploring Glasgow.

🌍️ You can find my Glasgow Google Maps list HERE.

We were also lucky to spend a few days in Edinburgh. I couldn’t recommend it more. We ate some incredible food and were surrounded by history at every turn.

🤣 Fun Fact: In the 13th century, the city used to be called the “Auld Reakkie” due to the smell that was ever so present on a daily basis from the amount of shi*t in the streets.

🌍️ You can find my Edinburgh Google Maps list HERE.

Finally, we set out for the Isle of Skye. A land of giants, faeries, clans, and witches. The myths and legends were endless and I was getting lost in a world of imagination. Over the past 2 decades, “holiday makers” (what they call tourists here) have been flocking to Skye in droves to marvel at its picturesque landscape and immerse themselves in a place that looks like your computer screensaver. Shows like Outlander had put it on the map and I wanted to experience everything it had to offer.

My husband, having spent his first 21 years on the island, was excited to show up unannounced (they do that here) to all of his local friends houses. As we gathered around peat fires, sipping hot tea and being warmly greeted with joyous smiles of neighbors, each of whom seemed to carry the legacy of a famous clan in their surname, I began to hear a different side of the tourism story. The local one.

I began to understand that the island’s growing popularity had slowly pushed the locals out. These were the people whose children had grown up here, playing in the now-closed school and building forts in the forests. The ones who had been active in the community center consistently trying to make the island a better place to live, only to be overwhelmed by an influx of British, French, and other foreigners buying up property with hopes of profiting from the tourist boom. One of the island's two restaurants had been transformed into a $145 Michelin-starred, five-course tasting experience, and Airbnbs began popping up everywhere. As a result, the very people who had once made the island home could no longer afford the now exorbitantly priced houses or even a meal at the local restaurants—and were ultimately forced to leave.

With empty homes lining the streets as people fled at the first sign of harsh weather, the dwindling number of real locals—aging and weary—were the only ones remaining in the midst of cold November. My husband called it the new age highland clearances (a part of history that saw the eventual dissolution of the clan system in Scotland). It was deeply saddening to witness the total resignation to what their once beloved town had become.

This isn’t the story I expected to tell, but it’s one that deserves to be heard. In our age of globalization, with the ease of travel and TV shows making far-off places more known, we as tourists have a responsibility to understand the real story behind the destinations we visit. At the very least, we should be aware. While tourism can bring much-needed revenue to a community, some places simply aren’t equipped to handle it. When homes are converted into Airbnbs, what happens to the people who’ve always lived there? Their stories, their histories, are at risk of being lost forever—a piece of culture wiped from the map.

Spending time with my husband’s old neighbors was a joy. The sun came out as the days went on and I got to experience one of the most breathtaking landscapes I’ve ever seen.

Most importantly, it allowed me to learn a new perspective that was somewhat hard to hear when I know, that as a “holiday maker”, I was also part of the problem.

I don’t want this to deter anyone from visiting Skye. It’s truly a special place and my soul feels replenished in ways I can’t explain. When you do visit, let me know, and I'll be happy to send you some local recommendations to support those who’ve been working hard to preserve this place as their home.

High Resonance ✨ 

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