{"id":11617,"date":"2022-09-08T19:20:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T16:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=11617"},"modified":"2022-09-10T09:58:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T06:58:42","slug":"mitsy-cullen-skink-jacobites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2022\/09\/08\/mitsy-cullen-skink-jacobites\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitsy, Cullen Skink & Jacobites"},"content":{"rendered":"
Position: 57\u00b028’39″N 4\u00b006’01″W<\/a><\/h6>\n

\"Whitehills\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Criss-crossing Scotland on our way up to and back from the Orkneys gave us a good feel for my ancestorial homeland. My last major trip to the UK\u2019s north was back in 1977 during a year that turned into one of life\u2019s segues. Things haven\u2019t changed all that much. The roads are a bit busier and prices higher, but the scenery still stuns and history runs deep beneath your feet.<\/p>\n

My younger daughter Emma<\/a> and her partner Jarno had generously loaned us their car, Mitsy (a Mitsubishi Outlander<\/a>, appropriately), and their camping gear. Thus, we were fully prepared to bed down with the midges on yon heathery moors. Prepared, in the sense of being geared up. Much less prepared mentally to commit to cold, windswept nights with savage biting insects on the blasted heath.<\/p>\n

Having a car gave us flexibility I lacked 45 years ago. It allowed us to nose our way down country lanes and explore areas not normally accessible to a hitchhiker\u2019s thumb. It also meant we could explore alternative (read less expensive) forms of accommodation. Accommodations a step or two up from nylon canvas. In modern parlance that means \u2018glamping\u2019 in an \u2018eco-pod\u2019. Glamping is very popular. It combines the privacy of your own space with the convenience of WiFi and Netflix on demand for a cost about two thirds that of a hotel room. Securing a reservation in August at the last minute is a matter of pure luck. After all, you\u2019re filling in for someone else\u2019s cancellation.<\/p>\n

Carry On Glamping<\/h6>\n

\"glentruim-ecopod\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking various forms, an eco-pod might be anything from a kit-bashed shed resembling a gypsy\u2019s caravan to a renovated 20\u2019 steel shipping container. Most sport running water and electricity. Cooking is performed in either a small microwave oven, or on a propane grill just outside the front door. For veteran sailors used to cramped spaces, anything larger than 100 square feet with unlimited hot water is always attractive.<\/p>\n

Our eco-pod was literally in the heart of Scotland. Smack dab in the middle with a big stone and brass plaque to prove it. Overlooking the River Spey, itself the source of the world\u2019s finest whiskies, the Glentruim Lodge<\/a> hosts guests in a bed and breakfast. Next door a large country home opens for events like weddings. We slept way out by the duck shed under a big tree. With excellent hiking and the Highland Folk Museum<\/a> in nearby Newtonmore, we had no shortage of fresh air distractions.<\/p>\n

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