I traveled to Scotland, Spain, Morocco, and Gibraltar this summer. Scotland was my favorite, because of the unexpected moments. I traveled with my best friend, Katherine. Visiting The Highlands felt like traveling back to a slower place in time where all of the anxiety of modern life was washed away by the rain, and I was left standing in the beautiful mist beneath a double rainbow. 

Once, we stopped for fuel in a rural area on our way to Isle of Skye. The fuel station didn't sell coffee but I noticed a ramshackle trailer next door said "Whiskey and Coffee for Sale". I went in and discovered a gleaming copper still and "mad scientist" named Seamus who was experimenting with whiskey distillations. He let me try a few of them and then bottled one up for me! 

Another time, we were looking for a "loo" and discovered an Antiquarian bookshop set up in a shed next to the owner's house. The shopkeeper was also a professor at the world's only Gaelic university. I picked up a hard copy of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales with gorgeous illustrations and an engraving of Dunvegan Castle made in 1790. 

While hiking Ben Nevis, I found a very detailed Lego model of a medieval Scottish village. In Edinburgh, we found the grave of Tom Riddell (ha!) and learned that XBox has its own officially registered Scottish Tartan. The things you go to see are of course wonderful, but these little random surprises are what make a trip memorable.

Parts of Scotland are very rural and feel trapped in a bygone time which is at once charming and unnerving if you aren't used to disconnecting (or being three hours from the nearest grocery store!). Embrace it! Don't try to rush to see everything. Stop in the smaller villages, chat with the locals, shop in local artists' studios. Relish the patient wait in "traffic" while innumerable sheep cross the road. 

There is much to see and there will never be time to see it all so enjoy every moment as you come to it. Scottish weather is unpredictable and an umbrella will make you look like a tourist until gale-force winds wrench it from your helpless hands… so leave it at home. 

If the rain keeps you indoors, find a pub and try the Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties (sausage, turnips, and potatoes) or the Cullen Skink (a fish stew) - both are very tasty! Irn Bru is a soda drink beloved by Scotland almost as much as Whisky it seems - it tastes like pink bubble gum. Try it anyway. That's what adventures are for after all!