Highly Sensitive Extroverted Introvert

Recently I came across a post in Facebook in which the woman who wrote it told about her frustration of being an introvert. How she often stayed away from big events although she would have loved to go, simply because large groups of people made her feel uncomfortable. And how she wished that she was more extrovert. The corresponding quote and the comments that followed were very recognizable and got me thinking of my own personality.

Many years ago a homeapath told me that a am Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). High Sensitivity is a personality trait that’s unrelated to introversion and extroversion and being a highly sensitive person (HSP) doesn’t necessarily mean you’re super emotionally sensitive (although some HSPs are). Rather, it means your nervous system processes things more deeply than most people. It comes with a variety of advantages, which I will not explain here in full, but I can say that I relate to them.

When I was a young girl I often wondered why my dad never went to companyparties or why he always tried to avoid family events like birthdays and other festivities. Although a calm and quiet man, my dad was a very social and wellspoken person, and he was not afraid to stand in front of a large group of people. He was a good listener, interested in many subjects and loved a good conversation, always in a calm and thoughtfull way. But parties and gatherings were not his thing, and it took me a while, to realise that I am just like him.

I often went to parties and gatherings because that is what you are supposed to do when family or friends are involved. And it’s supposed to be nice and joyfull. And you’re supposed to enjoy yourself. But often I went home feeling terribly exhausted and lonely. The reason? No idea. I’m not afraid nor suffer from anxiety when I’m part of a large group of people. Exhaustion probably came from loud music, which kept on going in my head long after I had returned home. And somehow I always tended to end at the wrong side of the table or room, where conversations got in ways that didn’t interest me, or I ended up with the kind of people who hardly listen to what others have to say but who ‘dictate’ the course of conversations. Being not a tall person didn’t help either, and it still doesn’t. People often literally don’t see me because of their own length and ‘break in’ in conversations without even apologising. What happened to “wait for your turn to speak”? Sometimes I feel more alone and lonely in a room full of people than when I’m alone at home or during my walks alone on the moor. Feeling like the fifth wheel on the wagon.

Does that mean I only feel good when I’m alone? Not at all. I like to meet with good friends or go on vacation with family. I like to visit friends and spend a day or evening with them and talk about whatever comes up. I like to attend parties and celebrate with family and friends. Just not every party or celebration or event.

Reading the facebookpost I could relate somehow to that woman’s feelings, but not completely, and it made me look for some extra information about introversion, extroversion and HSP. The outcome of my little ‘research’ surprised me in a nice way. Of course no person is simply just introvert or extrovert, there is always an area in between. According to my findings “An introvert is likely to enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people, though they may enjoy interactions with close friends. Trust is usually an issue of significance: a virtue of utmost importance to introverts is choosing a worthy companion.” This fits me pretty accurate. My extroverted side however also let’s me enjoy parties and gatherings with family and friends too, even if it means a large group of people. But if, when and which ones I attend depends on the company.

Somehow it felt good when I saw this written out on paper. To me it explains why I sometimes have mixed feelings about situations. One part of me wants to participate, another part doesn’t. Not always easy. But there is no need to feel frustrated about it. It’s how I think and how I feel. It’s who I am: a Highly Sensitive Extroverted Introvert. And no, this is not a scientifically approved label, it’s just a combination of characteristics in which I recognise myself and that I can live with. Feels good to me!

There’s more than meets the eye

I work for a cleaningcompany, for more than 10 years now. Cleaning offices in officebuildings. It’s not an exciting, exceptional or important job. Nor does it come with high responsibilities. But I feel good in this job and I know the people I work for respect me and appreciate what I do.

But once I was a qualified physiotherapist and I worked in a practice in Germany for a few years. My patients were mainly children, from 0 – 16 years old. I loved my work. But life had other plans, and I had to choose different directions several times. I don’t regret the choices I made. To me regrets mean that you rather had lived your life differently and that the life you live is second choice. Besides, each job taught me something I could benefit from later.

I helped develop a course how to work with a certain databaseprogram and was a courseleader afterwards to train office employees how to work with it. It scared the hell out of me when my boss suggested this to me at first. I always hated to stand in front of a large group of people and now this?! But saying no was no option, so I did it. And it went well.

When my hubby started a cafetaria I helped him wherever and with whatever I could. I never worked in this branche before, but I learned how to fry snacks and such, prepare takeaway food and serve tables. In the meantime I learned all I needed to do bookkeeping as well.

When we sold the cafetaria due to hubby’s healthproblems, but also for him to spend more time with his family, I started working in a greenhouse, picking cucumbers in summer and lettuce in winter. Physically it was a tough job. Heavy lifting, hot in summer and cold in winter, but I could schedule my working hours in a way that I was at home for my children when they were. Perfect for all involved. When my boss decided to stop with his company I started working for the cleaningcompany I still work for at the moment.

As I said before, I have no regrets. Every job taught me something I could use or that helped me in following years, whether mentally or physically. It kept me in shape and, more important, I was there in times my family needed me the most. I know why I did what I did and still do, who I am and what my competences are. I made choices freely and sometimes was forced to make them, but I took life as is it came, adapted and went on. Some things were meant to be I guess, to push me in the right direction, prevent bad things to happen to me or my family or simply to prepare me for my future.

No, I have no regrets. There’s more than meets the eye, and I am the one who knows exactly what!

Friendship through the Veils of Time

Yesterday hubby and I paid a visit to friends we hadn’t seen in a very long time.Our friendship goes back 35 years, from the time I met her when we started working as physiotherapists in a practice in Krefeld in Germany. After working in that practice for 1,5 years we went different ways, but our friendship remained and both our partners joined in that friendship. Sometimes many years got by without meeting or having a chat over the phone, but every time the 4 of us met it was as if we only met last week and we picked up the thread where we left it. Yesterday was the first time in 6 years….

We have a lot in common besides our profession. Age, married, 2 children, various interests, enough to fill hours of wonderful conversations and visits are always filled with joy, fun, jokes and laughter.

But for more than 25 years we share worries because of health issues too. I with my hubby with multiple chronic illnesses, and she as a 3 times breastcancersurvivor. My hubby started to have issues with his health when he was in his 30’s, my friend was diagnosed with breastcancer for the first time when she wasn’t even 40! And being a partner of one of these people, her husband and I were confronted with all the sorrow and worries that come with it, meanwhile keeping things on track for families with young children.

Above, and despite, all we all share a strong determination to go on, not to quit, no matter what. My hubby still works, despite his pain, poor lungs, a pacemaker and a hipreplacement. And my friend, well, she got back to work as a physiotherapist only 4 weeks after she had both breasts amputated last time the cancer came back, 10 years ago! They both (and we with them) kept on going where others had already quit long ago, saying: “there are always people with bigger issues.”

Keep on going like this is only possible when partners are equally strong and determined, no matter how hard it is. And as a partner you grow in it. It becomes part of your life and way of living, to take your partner’s health into account in almost everything you do.

And now the 4 of us are (almost) all 60 years of age and slowly we start to realise that we are tired, that it’s enough. That a life of taking responsibility, being determined to go on and never quit where others would, took its toll on all of us, patients AND their partner! That we have reached our limit.

Reading our partner’s healthfiles should be enough for authorities to say “you’ve done enough for society, you get the recognition and the rest you deserve”. Instead we have to fight to convince authorities of it and our government expects us to work longer because statistics tell we live longer. We know we’re not alone in this, and that there are many others like us, and of course we won’t give up. We never did, and never will. But with every year that passes it gets a little harder, it requires a bit more effort, it hurts a little more, and we realise:

We are strong, but we are tired.

The sound of Silence

I live in a noisy household, and by that I mean that there is almost always someone or something that makes noise. Whether it’s people, music or television, it’s hardly ever silent when I’m at home. Somehow I’m the only one in this family who can thoroughly enjoy to be at home without having music or television on and since my time alone at home is very scarce it feels like a constant battle to claim those silent moments. And I do love silence so much! And although mindfullness taught me to shut myself off from most noises somehow, it doesn’t work in stressful times.

My first daily walks lead me through the streets of my hometown. Very nice, but mainly paved sidewalks. There is also a road that circles the village, approximately 8km long with a path for cyclists alongside, that I soon used to keep track of progress in distance and time. But there’s always traffic, not constant but it’s there, and so, though the countryside on the other side of the road is beautiful, there is always noise.

Luckily my hometown lies between the Strabrechtse Heide and de Grote Peel, two large nature reserves in Noord-Brabant. Woods, moor and heather are within walkingdistance from our frontdoor and so walking longer distances became not only a way to stay in shape, they became an escape from noise. And when noise was reduced to nature’s own sounds I was able to thoroughly enjoy my surroundings. It didn’t even matter how the weather was. Just being outside, looking around in a mindfull way, discovering hidden paths, beautiful views and extraordinary places was, and still is, enough to relax and collect energy.

There is nothing that brings more peace and gives more energy than a walk in the beauty nature offers.

It’s about the journey, not the goal…

This title is a quote from Cameron McNeish and when I read it on a friend’s Facebookpage I could only agree. We tend to look only at the goals we want to reach, without taking notice of what happens around us to get there, while the whole journey, literally and figuratively, is so worthwhile. A day like today literally shows it so clearly.

Today I drove almost 400 km in my little blue car to join members of my chosen family for a walk. My little car and I share some similarities. Both middle aged and making creaking noises. And both battered. My car from a terrible hailstorm in 2016, and I from lifes’ issues. But we keep on going, as long as we can.

From the moment I set off I slowly felt tension ease and not long after that I could relax and enjoy my ride. I like to drive, and don’t mind the long journey ahead. My days out always start as soon as I shut the door behind me. Although busy traffic needed attention, there was also time to enjoy the passing landscape and enjoy the fact that the sun was coming out in contrast to earlier predictions.

Our walk showed again how beautiful our country is. So small and yet so much variety in landscape. My passion for walking brought me to a beautiful place once again.

But walking here with members of a chosen family, Dutch Peaker sisters, is the best part of it all. The friendship, the conversations and the warmth of their company is all that is needed to bring joy and give energy that still lasts, long after we parted.

And so, when I arrived home after again a 2 hour drive, I could look back on a beautiful day out in great company, a fantastic journey from beginning to end! The goal, another great walk to look back on, was achieved, but the journey to get there and back was worth just as much!

My Peak Challenge, a great choice

In 2017 I joined My PeakChallenge (shortcut: MPC). According to its founder Sam Heughan, who I also mentioned in a previous blog, My Peak Challenge (founded in 2015) is “A healthy lifestyle and fitness program. It offers a workoutplan and nutritionplan and it is scalable to all levels and abilities. It aims to give our community the support and knowledge to help themselves, whilst helping others. On top of that 50% of the membershipfee goes to Bloodwise for Blood Cancer research.”

My Peak Challenge encourages its members to set a challenge (physical or nonphysical) and while working towards it with help of the program, learn to live a healthier, happier and more balanced life. On a private Facebookpage members, called Peakers, can share their stories, worries, goals and achievements. It’s a safe place to find help, encouragement, inspiration and motivation and give the same in return. Meanwhile 50% of the membershipfee goes to charity and worldwide there are more than 10000 Peakers at this moment!

I mainly joined MPC because of the charity. In 2003 my father died of cancer. One of the 3 forms of cancer he suffered from was a rare type of bloodcancer, so this was, and still is, a perfect way to help raise money for Bloodcancer research.

MPC is a global community. It connects people from all over the world, as I experienced myself. And although I may never meet some of these friends in real life, the friendships are strong!

In many countries Peakers also founded national groups and shortly after I joined MPC I joined the Dutch Peakers in the Netherlands. Little did I know at that time how important this group would become in my life. These past 2 years I participated, together with them, in activities I never would have thought of before and we all stepped out of our comfortzone more than once. We come in different ages and shapes, and from different backgrounds, but we lift eachother up, help, encourage, inspire, motivate and comfort when needed.

And so, while not following the mealplan and workouts on a daily basis, I benefit from MPC in more than one way:

Adjustments to my meals helped me to lose the last few kilo’s I never got rid of before (and they stay off!!)
The workouts, goals, progress and achievements from other Peakers made me realise that I set my own limits, my own goals and that age is just a number!

But best of all: My Peak Challenge enriched my life with a group of women, here and around the globe, who have become more than friends, they are my chosen family!

Consequences of watching Outlander on a rainy day

I like to travel. Whether for a day, weekend or a longer vacation, near or far, by car, train or plain, I’m in ‘travelmood’ from the moment I shut the frontdoor behind me. Together with my family I’ve spent wonderful days and vacations in various European countries and we’ve seen all kinds of interesting and beautiful sites. We loved especially Italy, France and Greece, but Belgium, Germany and Luxemburg made us happy as well. For years I also dreamed of travelling around in Norway or Sweden, but hubby’s health required a warmer climate. Scotland though was never on my wishlist, so how did I end up there?! Well, a TV show and a series of books is responsible for that!

Late November 2014, on a rainy and cold Saturday, hubby and I decided to watch the 8 episodes of a series called Outlander. I got hooked from the moment I heard the openingsong “Sing me a song of a lass that is gone”. It gave me goosebumps the same way I had when I heard the first notes of the music from Lord of the Rings in 2001. We bingewatched the 8 episodes and were left with frustration when the last one ended with one of the main characters sitting in a windowsill holding a gun …. WHAT THE ….???? This was the end??? I found out after searching the internet that there was more to come, although not sooner than in April 2015!

Since Outlander is based on a series of books written by Diana Gabaldon I decided to read them until the return on TV in April. Somehow I had heard of the books years before. I’m an avid reader and have been a member of a bookclub where you had to order at least one book every 3 months, and seemed to remember having seen (one of) the books in the catalogue. The reason I didn’t buy it must have been that it wasn’t the first book but one of the later books and that, since the bookclub only had recent books in the collection, the previous ones weren’t available. Later I found out that it takes Diana 3-4 years to write one book. It explained why previous books weren’t available in the bookclub. Searching for books wasn’t as easy as nowadays so I let it be. But now we have internet and Google! Long story short: I found the books, downloaded them on my e-reader and managed to read the 8 existing books before Outlander season 1 part 2 returned to TV in April! All 8995 pages!

Besides the human characters, Scotland plays a huge part in the books, especially the Highlands. So, when I joined social media in order to find out more about Outlander on TV and everything involved, that included Scotland. I found out that there was, and still is, an enormous fanbase on social media, and it didn’t take long before I met a group of likeminded women with whom there was a ’click’. Outlander was the main subject, but the filmlocations and Scotland became important too, and after a few months we, 7 women from 3 different countries, planned a trip to Scotland. We talked about it daily in our private group and when we finally met in person at the beginning of our roadtrip it was as if we had already met before.

Our trip was a real roadtrip, travelling by ferry, train and car. In Scotland Steve McLeish from Outlandish Journeys was our guide during a 4 day tour. By car he drove us from Edinburgh, into the Highlands to Inverness, showing us Outlander filmlocations and historical places and sites during this journey, with the Jacobite Risings as a guideline. This wasn’t just an Outlanderbased tour, it was a journey into Scotland’s history as well, and Steve, being a historian, was the perfect guide. Needless to say it was a trip of a lifetime, leaving all of us with a desire to come back to this beautiful country as soon as possible. It took me 3 years….

From the Dutch countryside to the Scottish Highlands

What started as an hour walk to stay in shape and stay fit after surgery, gradually became longer walks, exploring different parts of my hometown. It’s amazing how much you discover on a walk in a place you live for almost 30 years. Walking not only takes you to different roads, streets and paths than you would normally do by car or bike, but because of the different angles and viewpoints it gives you new and unexpected views! I discovered my hometown and its surroundings in whole new and surprisingly beautyiful way. My appreciation of my hometown has definitely grown!

In June 2018 I watched an episode of The Adventure Show (BBC2) “Take a Hike – The story of Scottish Walking” where host Cameron McNeish, a well known hillwalker and author of “There’s always the hills”, was joined by actor Sam Heughan on a hike in the Scottish Highlands. The two men hiked in winterconditions, showing the beauty of the Highlands, but in this episode Cameron also showed parts of hikes in summerconditions and one of them was The West Highland Way. I had heard of this famous longdistancewalking path in Scotland before, but seeing the fantastic scenery and because of my latest passion, I got completely hooked on the idea of seeing it with my own eyes. My wish and dream of visiting Scotland suddenly revived.

I searched the internet for information and what was necessary to walk the WHW and slowly started making plans to go there myself. My initial plan was to go there and walk the first 3 days of the route, mainly along Loch Lomond, and asked if my brother and sister in law were interested to come with me. Both were, but had to cancel due to important events in the period I wanted to go there. I decided to go anyway, but also started thinking of walking the whole 154 km, instead of a short part now and the following part in another year. Who knows what might happen in between, I might never be able to go back to finish, leaving me with eternal regrets. My hubby, who supported me from the moment I told him about my intention to walk a part of the route, had only one thing to say when I told him about my plan to walk the entire route: “if you think you can, you should do it!”

And so, after our vacation on Crete in September 2018, I told my family I would go to Scotland in 2019 to walk the West Highland Way!

Photo 2-5: Google

What you see is what I saw

I always use this sentence to describe my pictures. To me it refers to the way I take pictures. I don’t use filters or photoshop to enhance my photos, they simply show the surrounding the way I saw it when I took the picture. No more, no less. But when I googled it, to my surprise it’s also the title of a book written by T.H. Ferraro and what’s even more surprising, it’s an introduction to photography.

In a way the title reflects how I am. What you see is what you get. I can’t pretend to feel like someone I’m not. It’s not always easy, sometimes situations or people require a bit of pretending in order to keep it pleasant and agreable. When I’m forced to act like that it feels like being untrue to myself and I usually try to avoid situations like that. I guess that is why I tend to stay away from people, places, festivities and social media when I’m not feeling well. I then lack the ability of empathy and compassion, and it’s better to say nothing at all if you can’t say anything nice. Must be something from my childhood….

Walks & Pictures

When I started my daily walks last year after eyesurgery I gave myself one assignment: take pictures during these walks in order to prevent looking only 2 meters in front of my own feet. People tend to look down while they walk and taking pictures forces you to walk straight up, look around or up and thus take notice of your surroundings. And it doesn’t matter what kind of camera you use, a smartphone, compactcamera or SLR-camera, simply take pictures. I participated a few times in a 7 day photochallenge and as the organising professional photographer said: a well composed photo taken with a smartphone can have more impact than a technically perfect photo made with an advanced supercamera. Since I am a hobby photographer and not a technically skilled one I took either my compactcamera (a Nikon Coolpix) or my iPhone 6 (meanwhile replaced by an iPhone 8plus) with me.

Taking pictures during my walks was the best decision I (almost) ever made. They contributed to the development of my addiction to walking, and made me appreciate my living environment so much more than before, making me want to explore more of it, and each time challenging me to walk further than the time before.

Mine

My family and I are going through tough times. This is nothing new for us, life was never dull over here. Whether it was family, business, emotional, financial, parents, children, we’ve had our share of worries and trouble. We’re no exception to other families I guess. Like we say in the Netherlands: “ieder huisje heeft zijn kruisje” (free translation: every house bears its cross). But there comes a time, and maybe that is age related, that it is enough. And although I’ve been there before and came over it, it feels that this time I need to write it down, to put things in order and have it on paper.

When I was a young girl I kept a diary. I wrote daily about the things that are important in a young girl’s life. The Diary of Anne Frank was an example for me. Not that I could write like her, it came not even close. No deep thoughts or contemplations, I just wrote down what interested me and what went on in my life. When I grew older and met my hubby I stopped. But in difficult times I often took a notebook and wrote about what happened and how I felt about it. Somehow it works liberating to write your troubles down, as if it takes away a bit of weight and room from the brain to make way for other, more pleasant thoughts. More and more I get the feeling that this blog, without knowing it beforehand, is going to do the same.

All kinds of topics come up when I think of what I want to write about in this blog. When I started I thought it would be a kind of summary of reasons, events and steps I took to prepare for my journey in June. But, the more I think about the topics, this blog also becomes a way of expressing my feelings and emotions in a turbulent time where so many people lean on me, and I realise that going to Scotland is not just to go back and walk in one of the most beautiful parts of it. Most of all it’s a way to do something all by myself and for myself, and to have something that is mine!

It’s MY walk, MY journey, MY adventure.

Camera’s, pictures, albums

I must have been 12 years or so when I got my first photocamera, a Kodak Instamatic, a few years later followed by an Olympus camera. I took pictures of things that interested me, had them developed and glued into albums with all kind of decoration. In fact I was scrapbooking before it became a popular hobby.

Soon I became the ‘familyphotographer” following in my father’s footsteps, who until then, had always taken the pictures on days out and holidays. Well, not quite true, he also made slides. I still have the boxes with slides he made after developing, and we spent many evenings watching slideshows from vacations on a big white screen.

Not only from my father’s side I inherited this photohobby, I found out later that one of my mother’s aunts shared that same hobby. Both my father and great aunt are the reason that I have so many familypictures, dating back to 1912!

In the years that followed I had a few other cameras, always simple with automatic settings, and I took hundreds of pictures, especially during familyvacations. And afterwards I always put them in photoalbums, resulting in a nice collection of albums at my parent’s house. My mother still cherishes them. I continued to do so when I started my own family. As the years went by analog cameras were replaced with digital ones, and scrapbooks became digitally created albums, but I kept on taking pictures of things that interested me, at home, special occasions and during vacations. First with just hubby and me, with our first pet, an Old English Sheepdog (Bobtail) and later with our two sons. The dog and the boys each also have their own personal albums, and even our cat got his own albums when he came into our life. The result is a room with shelfs filled with photoalbums, telling the story of my life and that of my loved ones.

Eyes, windows to the world

Foto door Mark Arron Smith op Pexels.com

I have a bad eyesight since I was a young girl. My windows to the world are fogged windows so I wear glasses since I was 10, followed by contactlenses when I was 18, and back to glasses again in my late forties.

Ten years ago my eyesight had become such a problem that a visit to an eyedoctor was required and it showed that I had severe cornea damage on both eyes. My windows were not only fogged but cracked as well. The cause is still unknown but I’m wearing very special contactlenses ever since. These skleralenses transfer my foggy, cracked windows into cristalclear and clean windows and my vision fully depends on them. The only other option is a cornea transplant. After years of trouble I finally had a clear and sharp view thanks to my artificial windows. They literally opened a new world to me.

There was also cataract slumbering in my right eye at that time but it never caused any problems. Until February 2018. My eyesight became blurry and adjusting the lenses didn’t solve the problem, surgery was needed. And that was the second event why I am where I am now, almost on my way to Scotland again.

After cataract surgery the patient is not allowed to bend down, lift heavy or do anything that can cause pressure on the eye. So, since I have a fysically tough job, I knew I had to stay at home for 2 weeks. At least that was the normal procedure, little did I know I would be at home much longer afterwards. I decided to go out for a walk after surgery every day, as soon as I was allowed to, in order to stay fit until I could return back to work and thus prevent living those weeks on the couch. In January I started with walks on Sunday and 2 days after surgery I went out for a walk every day.

And that is how it all started. Stepping out of my front door, ‘armed’ with sunglasses because it was bright and sunny that month, and I simply started walking. Not knowing that I would become really addicted to walking, let alone long distance walking!

There was one condition I gave myself though: take pictures on your walk!

But that’s another blog….

Hiking on Crete

In June 2017 hubby and I spent our first vacation on the beautiful Greek island Crete. We explored most of the island by car and discovered the ancient sites and its beautiful nature. Our travelagency also offered excursions by bus, one of which was a trip to the Imbros Gorge, a popular gorge for walkers.

An 8 km rocky path descends from 600 meter above sealevel, almost to the coast of the Libian Sea. The gorge is not really steep, but pretty narrow (2 meters at one point) and offers a wide variety of flowers. I took my time to enjoy the wonderful world of the gorge and loved every minute of that hike! I wanted to do more of that!

That same year we went back to Crete, together with my brother and sister-in-law, and this time on top of my to-do list was hiking the Samaria gorge!

The Samaria gorge, a 16 km pretty steep rocky path going down from 1230 meters above sealevel direct to the coast of the Libian Sea, is definitely more difficult than the Imbros gorge! But so worth it and its beauty is amazing!

It took us 6 hours to get to the coast, and I won’t say that I wasn’t glad when we finally saw the sea, but this hike gave me so much energy, I didn’t even feel the pain in my shins and feet! The only thing I thought of was to do more of this stuff!

In october 2018 hubby and I went to Crete for the third time. No gorge to hike down this time, but 137 meters going up to an old Venetian fort on Gramvousa. Not such a spectacular hike, but since it was part of an excursion, it needed to be done in limited time. However, it felt great and the views from the top were amazing.

Meanwhile I participated in the Munro Step Challenge of My Peak Challenge and managed to complete the whole list of munrosteps while we were on Crete.

Imbross Gorge
Samaria Gorge
Gramvousa Fortress

Dreaming

Ever since I returned from a trip in Scotland in 2016 I dreamed of going back there. Back to the country, where I left a piece of my heart from the moment I set foot on its ground, and explore more of its beauty.

In fact I made plans for a vacation, several times, but hubby’s severe lungcondition and arthritis made both of us realise that Scotland’s weatherconditions aren’t in his best interest. Instead, in the following years we went to the warmth of Tuscany and Crete and enjoyed the beauty of those countries and places.

And without knowing at the time, Crete, later followed by eyesurgery (yes, that’s right, Crete and eyesurgery to name a combination!!) set something in motion that changed dreaming into doing: going back to Scotland!