Cameron McNeish – Take a walk!

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!

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!