I Begin the Journey South

Today was the first of the travel days on my way south and eventually home, but when I opened my curtain and peeked out this morning the thought of leaving all this actually left me feeling a little sad. This last section of my trip, from Ullapool and along the north-west coast has been wonderful, leaving me relaxed and well submerged into the van life. The fact that I am pretty much self-sufficient and can choose when and where I go has been invigorating and I've found that for as long as I can remember I can at last sit quietly and simply enjoy the world around me, without a burning desire to get up and do something after less than five minutes with my head filled with tasks that need doing, the crappy BBC News stories, thoughts of work and my whole situation in life. This has been a real release for me.

Just me, my van and my camera gear. Nothing …. nothing else was important.

My day therefore began with a walk through the heather on such a beautiful morning with the sun bathing my skin with warmth and light as I walked up the hill from where my van was parked. There had been something of a sunset last night but with the midges hungry for a meal and the fact it was completely obscured by the hill upon which I was know walking, no photos were taken.

I decided to walk up that hill (a bit like Kate Bush, but slower) to see if I had I done that last night and braved the midges, perhaps I would have got that elusive sunset photo, but the answer is No! This is because this was one of those hills where when you get to the ridge, all you find is another further on, so after an hour I gave up and headed back. I did have my camera though and took photos of heather, which is very unlike me, and my van within the landscape, which you must have learned my now is very like me.

The rest of the photos here were taken at various stops along the way as I travelled vaguely towards Inverness and my overnight stop. Some of my stops were longer than others if I felt there was a photographic opportunity, but fundamentally this was a traveling day covering around 120 miles from my overnight stop to just south of Inverness. This isn't a huge distance of course, but with frequent stops and a late start that is probably enough to aim for.

I was sad to leave such a beautiful part of Scotland with the weather being so favourable and I really didn't want to come home. I really didn't.Read more