scotland

Autumn in Scotland.. it soothed our souls and filled our hearts. (sorry for the long&image-heavy post!) This Scotland roadtrip was meant to be the first big trip with our 1975 Ford Transit firevan (Tatu). We worked for months (years, even) to fix it up and built our own interior from scratch. We couldn't be more proud when we drove into the harbor of IJmuiden, waiting for our ship to the other side. WE DID IT!! 

But two days later, the party was over before it even began. Tatu broke down. Just outside of Glasgow. There was a serious problem with the engine, so driving further up North was irresponsible and risky even. We got stuck on a boring campsite, waiting for the garage to open up (3 days, we broke down on Friday..) and help us. In our waiting time we visited both Glasgow and Edinburgh by train. After a long day at the garage we found out they weren't planning on helping us out. Thanks mates. You could have told us before we waited all day on your parking lot. We called with the Dutch AA and they send out a replacement camper. Again, we waited. A week after we arrived, we finally got to continue our trip. Our hearts broke when we had to leave Tatu behind (he would be shipped back later), but we drove off with the shiny new (ugly) camper. With 1,5 weeks left, we were happy to be on the road again. And even more happy when we reached the Highlands. It was worth it. Like an instagram friend said: The Scottish landscape soothed our souls. Big time. 

We found the best wild camping spots, tried all kinds of whiskey, ate chips, veggie haggis and fist-size scones, apologized for the ugly view to our camp neighbors ("we swear we own a cool van!"), explored unknown roads and places, went on a seabird seafari (not kidding), took hundreds of photos, spotted the Harry Potter steamtrain and got crazy excited about it, went antique shopping, had countless of forest/mountain/lakeside hikes, sang along with our roadtrip playlist, encountered deer, eagles and seals, stumbled upon secluded stone beaches, talked about Tatu, visited castles, drove for thousands of miles and tried to wrap our heads around the jaw-dropping beauty that is Scotland in Autumn.

And now? Tatu is patiently waiting in front of our house until we find a space to rebuild him. All tips are welcome!