Life is full of funny little coincidences, and recently - through Instagram and a shared love of the Isle of Arran - I've been back in touch with someone I worked with about twenty years ago in my first part-time job in Aberdeen. Tony has just set up a new business called eGuide Scotland and he offered to take me out on a guided e-bike trip around Deeside, Aberdeenshire. To be clear this was a gifted experience.

​Those of you who've read my posts before, on here or Instagram, will know that I dabble in cycling - mainly on my hybrid bike on the Deeside Way. I've still never mastered the gears and can find even the gentlest incline a little bit of a slog... so I jumped at the offer and was keen to see what the difference would be.

My last post, which was longer ago than I intended, featured the trip I made to Fort William back in February for the Mountain Festival. The beauty of knowing people who live there now is that I found myself back there a few weeks later, after following my curiosity and responding to a tweet which intrigued me.  

That tweet was from the Centre for Recreation and Tourism Research (CRTR), a research centre at the University of the Highlands and Island's School of Adventure Studies, based in Fort William. I'd been following the account for a while as the centre is involved in a number of projects I'm really interested in, including Sustainable Heritage, Adventure Tourism and Slow Adventure. They were looking for people to get involved in module testing as part of a project called ADVENT (Adventure tourism vocational education and training) focussing on Guiding and Interpretation. I'm always excited at opportunities to learn and was so pleased to get offered a place on the course, especially as I knew that other participants would be coming from Iceland and Finland - countries that are partners in the project.

I’ve been spending more time in Fort William recently, having not visited it since I was a little girl.  Each time I arrive I'm just in awe at the dramatic surroundings and the changing light, and of course the imposing Ben Nevis which commands the landscape.

The last weekend in February was the mountain festival there, albeit with unseasonably warm weather and a lack of snow on the hills. My main festival activities were going to talks and film screenings, but there were practical workshops running over the weekend too.  My top three highlights included:

• Jenny Graham giving a talk on the Saturday evening.  Jenny is a Scottish endurance cyclist who in 2018 became the fastest woman to cycle round the world unsupported - such an amazing achievement!
• Sandy Bennet-Haber, a writer and contributor to the book Waymaking was talking at the Highland Bookshop on the Sunday afternoon.  I absolutely love that bookshop - its one of the most welcoming and well stocked with adventure/travel memoir books I've been in, and I would highly recommend if you’re in the area. 
• Watching the Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour on the Sunday evening, especially the film by Lee Craigie and Rickie Cotter called Divided documenting their race of The Tour Divide in 2017.

The start of this year has been a busy one. I began 2019 in Dumfries and Galloway, and have since been to Fort William, the Peak District (the picture above was taken at Stanage Edge) and the Linlithgow, Queensferry and Falkirk areas.  I've also spent some time in Inverness, Dundee and had my first bothy experience
… and its only mid-February.​

A museum without walls.  No roof – just the sky above it.​

I love the concept of an ‘Ecomuseum’ and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to learn more about Skye’s Ecomuseum sites around Staffin in the North East of the island earlier in October. 

Not to sound too much like I’m writing an essay, but I wasn’t entirely clear on what an Ecomuseum was before the trip, so here is a definition (by Oxford dictionary):
“A type of interdisciplinary museum presenting the history and heritage of a particular community or region in the context of its society, culture, and natural environment.”
 
Some of you may know I did a masters course a few years ago in Heritage and Interpretation.  Although the course was run through a school of Museum Studies, I always preferred the idea of experiencing heritage in its natural environment.  With the Ecomuseum, all the exhibits are located in the environment, with various types of interpretation telling their stories.

You can probably tell from this picture already why I fell in love with the island of Fair Isle after being lucky enough to spend two whole weeks there in August 2017.  Ever since then, all I've wanted to do is go back. I tried to write a post about last year's trip several times, but could never quite find the words to describe the experience I had (and I'm not sure I still can) but I finally made it back there a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to share some of my love for Fair Isle with you. 

​It is a truly magical place.  Only 3 miles long by one and a half miles wide, it's located between Orkney and the Shetland mainland, and is home to around 60 people. Since 1954 it has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and it was through the organisation's working holidays that I ended up on the island in 2017.  I'll do a separate post about them, and the fact I have been going on these holidays for the past decade, as there is so much to say.  

A couple of weekends ago my Saturday featured two things it wouldn't have this time last year - coffee and cycling.  Having owned a bike (ashamedly) for around 3 years, I only started going out on it a few months ago.  I started seeing cycling everywhere, including posts from the lovely Iona on Instagram who was cycling on her commute to work, and looking happy about it! My mum had also been out on her bike with my nieces and nephews and was encouraging me to go too.  Feeling bad for Etienne (the name already given to my bike) sitting gathering dust in my garage, it was time to get out and go for a spin... is that what you even say about cycling?!

After a few outings on my local trail called the Deeside Way, which is mainly an old railway line between Aberdeen and Ballater in Aberdeenshire, I ventured a bit further afield to another old railway line (also in Aberdeenshire) called the Formartine and Buchan Way.  After 20 minutes trying to cram my bike into the car without removing any part of it, I drove to Ellon - where my friend lives and we were starting the route - and we cycled part of the Ellon to Udny Station section.

So, I've got to nearly 35 years old and realised I'd never actually climbed a Munro.  I'm sure most of you will know what that means, but a Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914 m).  I've been walking and hillwalking around Scotland for more years than I care to remember, but none of those hills were apparently over 3,000 feet!  My dad has been an avid hillwalker and long distance trail walker for over 20 years, and has inspired much of my walking and exploring, so I wanted to summit my first Munro with him. We chose Lochnagar in the Cairngorms National Park which as one of our closest, and a local favourite (I think you will see why from the photos - it's a beauty) and a couple of weeks ago we did a 12-13 mile circular walk up Lochnagar and then down to Loch Muick.  Some of the views literally made me say 'wow' over and over.  You can follow the route here.

I think there are both positives and negatives to social media.  For me, it's about about being selective about what content you are consuming, and of course creating.  I like to see posts that inspire me, and give me ideas, and try to only follow people or brands that do just that.  It can be a great way to share your passions, 'meet' - even virtually - people you feel you can connect with, and its also a good way to express your creativity.

There are so many people I enjoy following on Instagram, but one lovely lady I wanted to mention in particular is Iona, who runs the account Iona Adventuring   I'm not sure when I started following her, but I love seeing the posts of her adventures around Scotland and she has such a positive attitude towards the benefits of getting outdoors and being active.  She also posts some awesome stories of what she's up to, and watching her cycling stories gave me the push I needed to get out on the bike I'd owned for nearly three years and not ridden! (posts on that to come...)