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Moose Cree First Nation
I’m not the kind of person who can see a town called Moose Factory on a map and then not go, especially if the town across the river is called Moosonee and the river is also called Moose and it flows...
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Old Long Since
High above Iceland the man began screaming uncontrollably, “Save me! Save me!” It wasn’t his shouting that jolted me from my transatlantic midnight rest, but the sound of total fear in his voice. I...
View ArticleLoony Dook
New Year’s Day is a strange holiday, with fewer fixed traditions than most. It seems that January 1st is a kind of “anything goes” festival where people celebrate the start of a new year in whatever...
View ArticleHow to Drink Whisky
It smelled like bacon. I was afraid to say it out loud, though—I doubt any real food and drink connoisseurs compare the smell of some grand old Scotch to an everyday pork product, but that’s what my...
View ArticleDigital Birdwatching
To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive. Robert Louis Stevenson penned that lined back in 1881 (Virginibus Puerisque) and as I drive east on Scotland’s A1—in the hopeful direction of the...
View ArticleFinding William
All libraries smell the same—the smell of very old paper and canvas, old carpet, old air. It’s the smell of old milk and the scent of history and like a hound sniffing the air, I followed the trail to...
View ArticleRight Place, Wrong Time
“You’ve come at the wrong time.” This is what everyone tells me. They don’t say, “Welcome to Shetland!” Instead they say, “It’s such a pity you came right now, in January.” Then, like an answering...
View ArticleShetland by iPhone 5
Shetland may just be the most photogenic corner of Britain–the weather is moody and dramatic and the light (if it’s there) is always surprising and cinematic. Though I travel with several different...
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Hiking the Highlands in a Kilt
Gale force winds and short skirts don’t mix, but I took the risk all the same. My aim was the great and imposing Scottish mountain called Ben Nevis–the highest point in the United Kingdom (4,409′ ft,...
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Flying to Barra
“Boarding pass?” I dug the card from my bag and handed it to the woman at the shop in the Glasgow Airport—her nametag said “Lauren”, her straight brown hair fell to her shoulders, and her nose was...
View ArticleScotland’s Western Isles
I am always drawn to islands—the more windswept and remote, the better. Thus I always dreamt of visiting Na h-Eileanan Siar, or the Western Isles of Scotland (also known as the Outer Hebrides). Thanks...
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Bagpipes in North Uist
In New York City, your waiter is always an actor—In Scotland, they’re all musicians, or better yet—pipers. By night, David Provan (age 18) serves guests at Langass Lodge on the Isle of North Uist...
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The Storm
Nobody is more weather-obsessed than the islanders of the Outer Hebrides—of this I am certain. From the moment I first landed in Barra, every person I have met has first shook my hand, then told me...
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The Other MacDonalds
I never tasted crushed popcorn dust atop sweet and salty corn soup or whisky foam or caramelized grapefruit—until I came to Skye. Arriving in Scotland, I expected haggis and herring, potatoes and...
View ArticleHiking in Skye
There are two secrets to happy hiking in Scotland: waterproof clothing and lots of time. Show up in the Highlands with a plan to reach such-and-such peak on such-and-such day, and Scotland will laugh...
View ArticleReturn to Knoydart
Thirteen years ago (this month), I traveled to Scotland for the first time. I was a student and I was quite seriously broke—I remember well my empty refrigerator and the simple zeros in my bank balance...
View ArticleForaging in the Forest of Knoydart
It too me thirteen years to travel back to Knoydart, but took less than thirteen seconds for me to fall in love with the place all over again. I owe my entire discovery of this rare corner of Scotland...
View ArticleGlasgow Music
Every city has its sound—Manhattan’s taxi commotion and Sydney ferries, or Cairo’s car horns and New Orleans’ trumpets in the streets—though try and define it too much and you’ll miss the music of the...
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Homecoming Scotland 2014
Back in January, I tracked down my great-great-great grandfather at the ScotlandsPeople Centre. This month, I traveled to the other side of Scotland and saw the land of my maternal ancestors. I walked...
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