And then it was done….
5 days in Scotland, 4 nights in 4 different wild camping spots, and a 100km covered by canoe across The Great Glen.
And every single weather condition you can imagine…
It’s put life into perspective in a way I didn’t imagine.
Yesterday morning I used a public loo to have a baby wipe wash down, brushed my teeth with running water, and had a wee on porcelain – it literally filled me with joy, as every other morning had been a gargle by a tent, a strip show in a waterlogged tent and no mirror to confirm exactly how rough I looked. I’ll never look at a public loo with distaste again, I have been gifted with perspective…
(Please note.- I am also not making a habit of visiting public bathrooms for wipedown and teeth brushing – just highlighting what a god send they are when you are camping in the Scottish wilderness.)
Why canoe 100km across Scottish lochs?
Great question, Bear Mel and I signed up to this trip for no real reason and with no real idea of what we were signing up to; and I am so glad we did it.
Turns out it was a trip of a lifetime with 12 other incredible (and batty) people.
Perfect strangers 5 days ago, and now I can pretty much detail their bowel movements based on the passing of the trowel and the location of their ticks.
I appreciate, my words may not be selling the experience, but there is something blissful about having nothing but a tent, a canoe and a couple of guides to make the food, that makes you realise all the other stuff simply isn’t important.
Nature, fresh air, laughter in abundance and pushing out of the comfort zone are pretty much all one needs.
(And two guides to make the food….)
I’ll admit I wasn’t really prepared for most of the trip. Where the rest of the group wore walking shoes, and waterproof clothing. Mel and I rocked up in CrossFit trainers, the cheapest of waterproof jackets, a decent mascara and dry shampoo.
Consequently when the sky decided to hammer down angry tears on Monday afternoon for three solid hours, we were the pair who looked as we had tried to do a workout in a rainstorm in Antartica. Everyone else simply peeled off the layers to get to their next dry clothes. I could have wrung the water from my knickers to wash my hair under, we were literally soaked to the bone.
But on the same day that nature reminded me that failure to prepare means a guaranteed soaking, I also learnt that resilience beats motivation any day of the week, as I (and the rest of the squad) sluggishly continued to battle the elements, putting paddle to water again and again until we reached the shores of Loch Ness. When the prize for stopping paddling in the torrential rain was to then erect a tent in the same downpour…
(And that felt like winning at life.)
But my, how grateful we were for a hot meal under canvas, and a dry paddle the following day.
We paddled 100km, and I laughed for at least 82km of them.
We set sail with 12 strangers and came home with 12 friends.
We took our comfort zone, and walked away from it. I learnt very quickly how to get a tent up and down, how to move canoes from one canal to the next, I failed to learn the difference between an oar and a paddle.
Every night I climbed into my tent, grateful to be in it, ecstatic that it hadn’t fallen down, and eager for the next day,
Credit to Skyhookfor orgainising our adventure, you can check out their adventure offerings online.
One of the gorgeous other ladies (who was in her sixities) on the trip said, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”
(She also pooped religiously at 8.10am every morning)
Her words echoed in my soul – there are gifts all around us, we simply have to unwrap them to experience all the delights they have to offer. Money helps, but actually a tent and Scottish rain can bring a profound joy.
Put simply…
Spend as much time as possible: enjoying life…….