There had been similar situations before, but this time was different. This time I fell hard and fast, head over heels. I was in love. I was eight years old, and I was immediately, hopelessly, in love with London. I loved the buildings, stretching into the sky; I still remember craning my neck to try…
The Hebridean Celtic Festival is a lot of things. It’s nostalgia, remembering revelry with friends throughout the years. It’s an excuse for islanders to have a great big party – you’ll always find a familiar face, whether squashed in front of the stage or in the queue for a cider. It’s a showcase of local…
Mombasa was full of life. You could almost feel it pulsing: chaotic, messy, loud, and exuberant. Whether it was the clamour of tuk tuk horns and calls to prayer, or the whiff of warm, raw meat mingling with curry powder, Mombasa made itself known. Colour caught my attention among the damp, dilapidated old buildings…
There are few people out there – girls or guys – who haven’t heard of Cosmopolitan magazine. Globally, there are 64 international editions available, in countries from Singapore to Spain, and in the UK Cosmopolitan is the most widely read monthly magazine, reaching over 1.6 million readers. That’s a lot of people poring over its…
Boreray, by Sea Harris This month, I’m travelling to the edge of the world. Well, almost. I’ll be setting off to explore an archipelago at the edge of the Atlantic, often referred to as ‘the islands at the edge of the world. Lying 40 miles to the west of the Outer Hebrides, the isolated islands…
As I’ve already mentioned, I love to read. Books, blogs, newspapers – you name it, I’ll read it. And as I’ve got more (digitally) involved in the blogging community since joining Twitter last year, I’ve come to really enjoy keeping up with my favourite blogs, be they on travel, politics, writing, or relationships. So when…
Tucked away in the lovely village of Northon, a picturesque Harris village that is little more than a single street, is The Temple Cafe. The name is understandable, given the small stone building’s appearance, and the fact that the remains of a real monastic temple lie a short hike away across the Northton machair.…
As I write, my body is back in Britain, but my heart and head are still in Kenya, still in East Africa. The unexpected end to my 14-day-stay on the Kenyan coast has meant that the latter is taking some time to catch up with the former. I’m still stuck in the streets of Mombasa,…
A covered bridge over Yellow Breeches Creek, Pennsylvania. What did you enjoy doing at age 10? I came across this question recently while reading an online news article on how to find your passion and apply it to your career. For me, my main pastimes at ten years old were reading, writing, and playing outside. …
Think of the ducklings you see in childhood cartoons – the fluffy, bright yellow, cuddly looking things – and you’ll know just the kind of duckling I was holding carefully in my hands in a barn in Ness, in the north of Lewis. Not carefully enough, though, because a few seconds later the three-day-old duckling…
At times I’ve wondered if there’s something slightly strange about my insatiable need for international adventures. It’s not only your typical travel adventures I crave – the cafés of Paris, or the palm trees of the Caribbean – but more off-the-beaten path places too, like Iran, or the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. People hear that…
Returning to a place you have lived in and loved is always bittersweet. As I turned the corner onto Market Street in the heart of St Andrews this April, the memories and emotions rushed to greet me, hitting me full on. Visiting St Andrews felt like a reunion with an old friend, one you’ve lost…
