I spent the weekend on the bonnie (better known as “rainy”) shores of Scotland, and yes, just like in London it rains a lot. The five day trip was phenomenal and made a little better because I was on my own.
After a series of people falling through for various reasons, my increasingly misanthropic self got to head into the Highlands alone. I had my plane tickets and my hostel booked, I didn’t want to waste those.
As a traveler, I like getting as much information as possible. I read books weeks beforehand on everywhere to visit and spend days organizing them in the most efficient way possible. Today, I wrote out seven lists of things to do in Dublin, where I’m going in two weekends, and created a pile of bookmarks of Paris ‘must-sees.’
Generally, it’s hard to convince friends to get up at 8 a.m. and be at the gates of Edinburgh Castle at 9:30 in the morning to avoid the crowds and luckily, now I don’t have to. And, if you get lost on the way, it’s not nearly as stressful when nobody is asking “Where are we?” or “Are we there yet?” There’s no pressure to get the directions right or get right away because someone is hungry — you can just wander when you want.
At the same time, living in a 14-bed hostel room means you’re never alone. Whenever you want someone to hang out with, they’re there and from all over (I made friends with Aussies, Germans, and Frenchies). It’s funny that Kings is a universal game. In Europe they sometimes call it Ring of Fire or King’s Cup but it’s still the same game.
After five long days, I saw all the sights, took a lot of pictures and made new friends — even one who was willing to go to Edinburgh Castle at 9:30 a.m. with me.
Read Jenny’s previous post | Read Jenny’s next post | Meet the rest of our study abroad bloggers