After our time in Switzerland finished, Rachel and I flew to Scotland with a mission: to complete the West Highland Way. This is a hike that goes from Milngavie, a town northwest of Glasgow, to Fort William in the north, for a grand total of 154 km. This little jaunt took us six days to complete and luckily we had fairly warm weather for most of it. It rained on only two days for about two hours each day (a miracle in Scotland!). It was so sunny that I even managed to get a pretty bad sunburn.
During the hike, we had the chance to meet some great people a long the way. We did a lot of camping and found that we always ended up camping with the same people: an Austrian, a Scotsman and two English men.
Now as great as it was, it was definitely not easy. Rachel had a backpack that weighed about 35lbs and mine was around 30lbs. Rachel also got some pretty bad blisters. There was also one point where we ran out of water but still had a few more kilometers to go before we reached the next little town. This hike really allowed you to see all the parts of Scotland. It took you through the hills, the forests, the fields, the small towns and villages, and even along the beach.
However, the ending was a little unexpected. You come down this hill and then you walk beside a main road for what seems like forever until you reach the finish line, which you’ll know you’ve reached by the Sore Feet statue. We saw all the people who hiked the trail with us, who were very happy and kept cheering us on the whole way. It was an experience of a lifetime.
After our six days of hiking were over, we flew to London and met up with a friend of Rachel’s. During our hike, we saw nothing but small towns and villages, so going to the massive metropolis of London was quite a shock. There was so much commotion and so many people. We were a little worried that we wouldn’t find Rachel’s friends at first, but fortunately we stuck out like sore thumbs with our gigantic backpacks.
This was the first time I had ever been to London and it was very nice. We managed to do a lot of the touristy things, like visit Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, watch the changing of the guards on the Queen’s birthday, and a stop at the British Museum. After only a few short days it was time for us to say our goodbyes. I headed back to Brussels and Rachel back to Canada. It was an adventure that I will never forget!
If I were to do something like this again, I would probably do it a lot differently. Because I’m a student studying abroad and want to see as much as possible, I crammed everything into a shorter period of time. I had already been to Paris and Amsterdam so I was quite all right with only being there for two days each.
I was happy that we got to spend a few more days in Switzerland because it was my dream place to visit. Spending the time to do the West Highland Way hike was also great because it was on my bucket list of things to do in Europe (though I find that list continues to grow!)
I think it is great to do a trip like this when you only have a limited time, but you should definitely know your limitations. Do not plan to visit too many countries because you will be sitting on a train, bus or plane more than you will be exploring the city. I have been reading travel blogs from people around the world and I am a little jealous of people spending a longer period of time in one place and getting to do more of the things they want to do. This wasn’t the first trip I’ve taken while studying abroad but it was definitely the longest.
I have learned that when you travel, you should do the things you love. In the past, I’ve gone on trips with different people and sometimesi t can be difficult because not everyone has similar interests. The thing I loved about this trip with Rachel is we both love being outdoors and we got to do a lot of outdoor activities, which I haven’t been able to do on other trips.
The other thing I would change (and Rachel would agree) is how we packed for this trip. I have learned that a lot of people pack things differently and Rachel is far better at it than I am. I have taken some notes from her packing skills and hope to use them on my next trip.
I would also definitely change my packing list. I was very lucky that it didn’t rain a lot in Scotland because my waterproof pants were not waterproof anymore. My sleeping bag was not the right rating and I was often too cold at night (even with a lot of layers on).
It was also a little difficult to pack for this trip because I only had the things that I brought from Canada in September. I have some great stuff I could have used but sadly much of it is packed away in Ottawa, so I had to make due with what I had. I am very grateful that I brought a hat and mittens, as well as hiking shoes. I find that packing was the only thing on this trip that could have used some improvement because on a 154km hike, you do not want to be carrying 30-35lb backpacks.